CULTURE OF ASIA & LATIN AMERICA

NOR AIN ZAINAL

• The history between Asia and the Americas dates back to the 19th century large-scale migrations of Asian laborers and traders to Latin America and the Caribbean.

• Today – China among the top three trading partners of most countries in the region, and increasing.

• India, Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries are following closely behind.

• Resulted > spanning trade, investment, technology transfer, development forums, immigration, and cross-cultural exchange, are re-shaping Latin American economic and social realities.

• Regional policymakers and businesspeople look across the Pacific with a blend of intrigue, competitive anxiety, and interest in learning from Asia’s economic success.

ASIA

Harmony

• Harmony is important in Asia • “Feng Shui” is an ancient Chinese system used to create harmony with the

environment to gain peace, health and good fortune.• Most Asian cultures place a high value on balance, harmony and order.• Group interests come before the individual.• The individual in Asia, will not be able to make an important decision on their own –

need to consult with the group to reach a consensus, creating harmony within the group, before progress can be made

• Takes more time than would be necessary in a Western setting, where the responsible individual has been authorized to make decisions on their own, based upon pre-set guidelines.

• In Asia, “group think,” is dominate, as opposed to individualism in a Western setting.• These differences, Western individualism and Asian group mentality can offer lead to

clashing, and the Westerner is the one that will need to adapt, because Asians not going to change their ways any time soon.

Confrontation

• Asians tend to avoid confrontation at all costs.– Once the group has made a decision and "harmony" is

established, anyone seen as disagreeing with the decision, regardless of any unforeseen problems that arose, will be considered disrupting the harmony.

• Westerners usually don't have a problem with confronting a problem head on, getting all the issues out on the table, finding a solution and moving ahead.– Disagreements are not considered a personal issue.

Emotions• Asians, in general, won't reveal their emotions.

– consider it a sign of weakness to show their feelings, particularly in business dealings.

• Westerners tend to show their emotions more readily, what they like or dislike, and often with their facial expressions.– more open

• Except in closer personal settings, Asians tend not to show their emotions, and are thus more "closed."

• When dealing with Asians, Westerners have to learn to keep their emotions under control.

• In Thailand Westerners raise their voice when things are not going their way. Raising ones voice in Thai culture only makes things worse. Although they won’t show it outwardly, Thai people respond negatively to this type of behavior.

Critical Thinking• Asians are linear in their thinking, going step-by-step, dealing

with one issue at a time. • When disagreements arise, say over contract terms or

meanings, Asians tend to see things one way.• There is a tendency for them to not see how other issues affect

the issue under consideration.• This contradiction – being concerned with harmony and yet not

recognizing the relationships of the issues – can be a source of great frustration for the Westerner, as they can see the cause and effect relationship very clearly, while the Asian remains oblivious to the very same interconnections.

• This inability to see these relationships may be because Asians have difficulty thinking in the abstract, thinking "outside the box." ( Asians Can't Think by Satoshi Kanazawa) .

Ethnocentricity

• Westerners have been conditioned to accept the idea that "all people are created equal,"

• Asians aren't, and are under no false set of beliefs. Japan is a racially homogeneous society, and South Korea, even more so.

• This racial centricity means making friends within Asian society a difficult if not impossible task for Westerners, and can lead to some lonely times spent in the region.

• Most local “friends” Westerners make in Asia are with those individuals who have spent a certain amount of time in a Western country, and have adopted at least some of Western culture as their own.

Language• Asian has many difficult languages.• Mandarin Chinese is one of the most difficult

languages for Westerners– it is a tonal system– over 40,000 word-symbols– 2500 which are commonly used

• The Thai language is also tonal and a challenging language– Japanese is a difficult language to learn– one of the most complex character systems in the world– mish-mash of three different systems

LATIN-AMERICA

• Latin American countries are much more closely related to their Western counterparts when it comes to property laws.

• The Spaniards, from Western Europe, brought their culture, their customs, their legal systems, their architecture, their language and for better or worse, their religion to Central and South America. The Portugese did the same in Brazil.

• The influence of Christianity, distinctly a Western concept, is prevalent over the entire Spanish speaking Americas, from Mexico to Argentina.

• There are few Buddhists in Central or South America. Or Buddhist temples. Or Hindus and Hindi temples for that matter.

Spanish Pillars

• The architecture, the language and the religion, are three dominate pillars of Spanish influence that help make the Western expat feel more at home in Latin America than in Asia.

• Americans, and Europeans who have traveled to Spain, are familiar with Spanish architecture.

• The Southwestern United States has many examples of Spanish style homes, for example Texas and California.

• Spanish is the easiest language to learn.

Culinary Differences

• Comparing the differences between Asian and Latin countries, Westerners find it easier to adapt to a breakfast of flour tortillas, beans, fried eggs, fruit and coffee for breakfast, than to say, kimchi, seaweed, fish, rice and tea.

• Therefore, they did not worry to offend the other person.

Learning Spanish

• Traveling in Latin America is much easier when it comes to language

• Spanish is understood from most of Latin countries.

• A traveler in Asia goes from Japanese, to Korean, to different dialects of Chinese, to Vietnamese, to Laotian, Khmer, Thai, Malay, Burmese and many others.

Purchasing Real Estate

• Owning land in Central and South America is much easier and legally secure than in Asia.

• Any foreigner in Ecuador with a valid visa is guaranteed by the Ecuadorian Constitution the same legal rights as Ecuadorian citizens.

• The same can be said for Mexico. Lake Chapalla just south of Guadalajara, Cabo San Lucas on the Baja Peninsula and Playa del Carmen are examples of locations where foreigners have moved in and drove up local property prices.

REFERENCES

IDB and ADB look at future of Asia-Latin America relationshttp://www.iadb.org/en/topics/trade/idb-and-adb-look-at-future-of-asia-latin-america-relations,6688.htmlThe Culture in Latin Americahttp://www.bizymoms.com/vacationsandtravel/latin-america/latin-america-culture.htmlLatin America and Asia Contrastedhttp://fleeamerica.com/latin-america-and-asia-contrasted FleeAmerica.com

. Transferability of Asian Experiences to Africa and Latin Americahttp://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y5098e/y5098e09.htmhttp://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/intelligence.aspx Intelligence across culturesResearch in Africa, Asia and Latin America is showing how culture and intelligence interact.By ETIENNE BENSONMonitor StaffFebruary 2003, Vol 34, No. 2Print version: page 56American Phychological Association