Of Words, Of Speeches, Of Interactions

Just finished reading ST...there was an interesting article by playwright Huzir Sulaiman, on the oft-written subject of Singapore-Malaysia ties.

His take on the sometimes strained ties between the two countries is that it's due to a matter of how politicians in the two countries speak. Not in the sense of intonations or pronunciations or accents. But rather in the sense of openness, directness, clarity and straightforwardness of speech.

Just to paraphrase Mr Sulaiman’s article in a condensed form. Malaysian political speech is hardly straightforward and can be seen as sometimes playful. They do not take each other literally and on the same note, do not expect to be taken literally. On the other side of the causeway, political speech in Singapore is precise and calculated, clear, measured, and thought through. Singaporeans expect to be taken at face value and similarly, view others at face value.

I think his theory, while hypothetical as he claims, definitely has truth in it and can be extrapolated to people-people relations too. I dare not speak for the majority but at least for some of us, haven’t we been faced with situations where you say one thing and mean that one thing, but the other party perceived it differently? Guess that’s how tensions and misunderstandings occur?

Still on the same note, the Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus theory speaks of the same thing. Just think of Women as Malaysia (hardly straightforward) and Men as Singapore (direct & straightforward)?? hmm.....though there are always exceptions to the case...

Two cents worth.