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| Issue 10 | March 2004 |
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Australian Egalitarianism - A well-known Australian Prime Minister fraternising with the people One of the noticeable differences between Indonesian and Anglo Australian culture is the way the two see relationships. It’s very natural in Indonesia to talk about some people being “above” or "higher" than others. People are expected to recognize someone else’s higher status or seniority by using a nice tone of voice, by not saying too much and by not opposing or contradicting. This is called “hormat” which is usually translated into English as “to show respect” or proper politeness. In Indonesia, people are not equal in face to face communication. In contrast, Australian culture follows the principle of egalitarianism. This means that people are seen to be equal and are free to communicate and express their ideas with anybody. For example a garbage man can talk openly to a prime minister. Similarly, a student can openly debate with a teacher or a university lecturer. It is hard for Australians to accept that one person is higher than or above others. (Rusfandi)
The thing about Australia that surprised me, when I learned about it in CC study, is the way Australians ask for help. I thought before that Westerners were very informal in their manners and language, as I'd always seen in Hollywood movies. But I was wrong; I didn’t realize that although they are very informal in daily speaking they have to use special words when asking for help. For example: “Would you please”, “Could you please”, “Would you mind”, and so on. The word “please” is a very common word in asking for help, and if we don’t use it, Australians will think that we’re being very rude. And after we receive what we asked for, we must say “thank you” or “thanks”. This is quite different in Indonesia, people do not say “thank you” as often as Australians do. Moreover, Australians speak like this to all people, whether they are children or elderly people, a taxi driver or the prime minister. |
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This issue focuses on cultural differences in face to face communication. Other themes include:
Thank you for all your great contributions - it was hard to choose! I'm pleased to say all contributions not selected have been published under the DPDF forum on the IALF website, so don't forget to visit. You can post a response too!
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Another
Edition of DPDF and another editor as well. Jo Woolley returned to England
just as I began with IALF and since cross cultural studies has long been
my passion I was thrilled to have the chance to step into Jo’s shoes.
It’s been great working with such an experienced editorial team
and thank you all for your tremendous support, Denise, Vlad, Caroline,
Indah and of course Pak Bun. I really love the way Bundhowi’s cartoons
remind us not to take ourselves too seriously when we cross cultures!