My HDB flat was undergoing lift upgrading and there were many Indian and Chinese labourers around. I was walking towards the lift when I saw the foreman, who was a Singaporean, briefing the workers at the lift landing. The Chinese labourers were nodding their heads at the foreman's instructions. To my surprise, I saw the Indian labourers shaking their heads as the foreman was talking. However, the foreman ignored the non-verbal cues that the Indians were sending and continued his briefing. As he finished speaking, he asked on a final note, "You understand?" to all the workers. The Chinese labourers nodded and walked off to get a wheelbarrow while all the Indian labourers shook their heads vigorously.
To my further chagrin, the Indian labourers subsequently took a spade and starting laying tiles. Unable to contain myself, I walked up and asked the foreman, "Excuse me sir, but how can you let them start work when they don't understand your instructions? Our lift may collapse!"
The foreman was startled and replied, "They know what to do. What do you mean?" I said, "But they were shaking their heads!" This time the foreman laughed, "Young lady, when an Indian shakes his head, it means he agrees with you. If he keeps quiet and has no head shaking motions, it means he does not understand you. If you actually see him nodding his head, you are in trouble. He is totally lost. So basically you must explain to him until he shakes his head at you. They are different from us Chinese."
I confirmed what the foremean had said with my father, who was the Department Head of Painting and Blasting at Drydock World. My father had always worked with large numbers of Indian labourers at the shipyard. He verified what the foreman had said, "Yup Indians shake their heads when they agree with you or to show that they are listening. They sway their heads for at least one circle, from the left to the right back to the left. If they are interested in what you are saying, they shake their heads even faster."
I was enlightened after that day!
6 comments:
This is something new! I didn't know about this unique information. I think it is really important to understand other cultures so as to prevent any miscommunication. This is very important for something like lift upgrading. If something goes wrong, it may cause an accident. The foreman is culturally aware about his workers. In this scenario, we must learn from the foreman's attitude. I feel that we should take the initiative to find out more about other cultural habits for our own benefit and others. I am enlightened after reading your post too!
Hi Yun Nian, this is certainly a very interesting point you have brought up! Majority of us know that Indians have a tendency of shaking their heads. However, not many of us understand the meaning behind this non-verbal cue of theirs as the shaking of the head is usually related to a negative response.
It is clear that the foreman is aware of this unique gesture and the meaning behind it. This is crucial as it not only reduces conflicts between the Indian workers and himself, it also helps to avoid mishaps that might be caused by miscommunication due to cultural differences.
Hi Yun Nian, your experience has certainly shed enlightenment on me too! It is very true that we so often, and conveniently, assume that everyone is just like us. We expect them to act, talk and express themselves the way we want them to. However, we tend to forget that every individual is unique, more rightly so for individuals from other nationalities and cultures as they have their own traditions and practices.
In your case, the Indian’s non verbal cue of nodding and shaking of heads, have directly opposite interpretations from a Chinese’s. From your situation, I have learnt that it would be better to clarify matters through verbal, rather than non verbal channels, especially when communicating with people from other cultures.
Hi Yun Nian! When I was reading your post, I was greatly amused as I had a similar situation when I was working part time at a tourist attraction in Singapore. Here's what happened. An Indian tourist came over to my stand and asked me what I was selling and I replied I was selling lemonade. I asked him whether he wanted one and he swayed his head from side to side. Confused with his gesture, I asked him again. Once more, he swayed his head in that manner. At that point, I thought he was playing a prank on me! So I asked him again, "So you want or don't want?" I must admit my tone was not of the friendliest. Then he said that he wanted one. Looking back years later, I felt guilty that I had raised my voice at him. But now I understood that gesture of his. This is why we have to understand at least some basic forms of intercultural communication. This is especially relevant for people who would come into contact with people from other cultures often, such as customer service or sales personnel at tourist attractions.
Cheers,
Chong Guan
Hi Yu Nian, I'm thankful that you posted on this because it seems like most of us are unaware of it! To think that the nodding and shaking of head has 2 contrasting interpretations for 2 cultures. I guess we can never be too cautious when interacting with people from different culture lest we cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
The foreman must have been pretty amused at your response. But I guess he understands your concern perhaps because he might have misunderstood it once before. This situation proves how understanding different cultures are required in the workplace and it might prevent a lift from collapsing!
Interesting story! This is the first time I get to know that Indian people actually present their agreement by shaking their heads! I learned something new here.
In this scenario, it was lucky that the foreman was experienced enough to know the difference between Indian and Chinese. If the foreman was new in the field and had no idea about the cultural difference, some miscommunication might be caused. The foreman might keep repeating and explaining the instructions to Indian labours while they already understood.This ineffective communication would cause a delay of work progress.
In addition, instead of using this non-verbal way of communication, the foreman and the workers should also respond to each other verbally. The workers can just say 'yes' to show that they understand the instruction. This verbal communication might be more efficient.
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