A Tale of Two Pizzas
Looking at the potentially deadly impact intercultural conflicts have had through history, such as the 18 deaths related to the Maria Hertough riots in the 1950, or more recently, the July 2009 massacre of more than 150 Han Chinese by the ethnic Uighurs in Urumqi, the capital of XinJiang province, the importance of having good intercultural communication cannot be stressed enough even on the personal level.
Although I was fortunate to not have witnessed any serious intercultural conflicts, an incident I encountered, which will be described in greater detail in the following paragraphs, while I was at Universal Studios Singapore left me wondering whether it could have been better handled by the people involved.
I was at Universal studios yesterday, and to escape the crowds and satisfy an empty stomach, I wandered into Loui’s NY Pizza Parlour, which claims to sell authentic American Pizzas. While I was queuing up to order, I noticed a group of four women in front of me placing their orders for pizzas. Judging from their appearances, I guessed they were Indonesian Muslim women.
One woman pointed at 2 of the 5 pizzas on display and the store assistant quickly took 2 slices of pizza and placed them on plates. The women then took the plates off the counter, but just as they were about to leave for the cashier, another store assistant who happened to pass by took one look at the pizzas and warned them that all the pizzas they had ordered had ham in them. Shocked, the women almost dropped the plates, and upon learning that almost all the items sold contained pork, left the restaurant visibly upset.
My first reaction was one of incredulity, since he should have known that the pizzas contained pork, and could have at the very least informed them. But on hindsight, he was after all a Filipino, from a predominantly Christian community, and might not be aware of such religious practices. Furthermore, the women were not wearing the traditional tudungs, making it even more difficult for him to have identified them. As for the women, they could have on their part, assumed that the counter staff would inform them of the pizzas’ ingredients.
Personally, I think this issue highlights the importance of not pre-judging a person based on one’s own cultural norms. For both the Filipino and Indonesians, they could have clarified with one another on the issue. Even if it turned out that they were non-Muslims, taking the initiative to ask would be a most sensitive and appropriate move. Navigating through cultural differences can often be a tricky but inexorable task, but if one could adopt an open mind and avoid pre-judgments, cultural conflicts could be minimised while maximising trusting relationships.
Hi Ho Zong,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the intercultural situation that you have encountered. Indeed, I agree with you that the need for good intercultural communication at individual level is essential as to minimize or avoid intercultural conflict.
As for your incident you mentioned, I would like to clarify that do Loui’s NY Pizza Parlour display any Halal certification on its menu or entrance as I have not heard and been there before? From my research, both Pizza Hut and Canadian Pizza do have Halal certifications and are displayed clearly on their menu. Thus, consumers can better make a wise decision whether to patronize the particular resturant. From my point of view, if Loui’s NY Pizza Parlour does not display the Halal certification, the muslims should exercise self-responsiblity and restrain themselves from patronizing such resturants so as to avoid such potential conflict. This is because it is unfair for the restuarant staff to ask every customer whether he/she is a Muslim or not because it is difficult for the staff to do so especially when dealing with a peak hour long queue as they have to serve the customers swiftly to miminize the waiting time and the staff may forget at times. Else customers will complain for the long waiting time and businees can be affected. In addition, it is hard to identify Muslims nowadays because there is even Chinese who is Muslims. If so, then the four women would be blamed for not being observant enough to determine if the restuarant is Halal certified. Just my two cents worth of thought.
Regards
Kent
Hi Ho Zong,
ReplyDeleteI feel that the other store assistant was rather alert in pointing out that the food was not halal. The consequence would be worst if the women had taken a bite only to discover that their food was not halal.
After reading the post, I feel that being Singaporeans allow us to navigate through the inter-cultural differences more easily. This is because being in a multi-racial and multi-cultural society; we would tend to be more open towards other culture and more sensitive towards any cultural differences. Hence, I believe it will allow us to interact more effectively in inter-cultural exchanges.
With regards,
Kar Liang
Hello Ho Zong!
ReplyDeleteBeing part of the crew in Universal Studios, I have tasted most of the great food there. I am sure that Halal sign were issued to respective food stores.
I'm guessing that back in these tourist's country, food do not usually contain pork, so it did not cross their mind to take precaution of food served in Singapore. Perhaps they should be more aware of the food served to them while visiting a foreign country.
I've also observed different attitudes of customers while working there.
Even small acts like queuing can also reflect one's culture! I've observed that tourists from India tend to be less patient than others while queuing, while the ones from Japan were often very particular about queue-jumpers!
Hi Ho Zong,
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed important to take initiative, especially in sensitive issues like this, to prevent any potential conflicts.
However, in this case, the Filipino assistant and the Muslim women might not be fluent enough in English when processing the order. For this, I believe the store manager should be responsible for the selection of counter staff and ensure that he is familiar of the food culture within different races. Nevertheless, I believe the Muslim women could have clarified with the counter staff before making a purchase, as pointed out by Kent and Jia Ai.
Regards
Chung
Hello Ho Zong!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your encounter. I have experienced similar incidences, when around friends of other racial groups. It takes initiative and sensitivity to understand and relate to the values or customs of another cultural group. For instance, we will want to avoid barbecue during the month of the Muslim fast, or eat at food outlets that are not halal certified when with Muslim friends. Doing otherwise would communicate an offence to them.
It could have been an oversight on either party. The Muslim customers could have verified if the food is indeed halal before purchasing, and the counter staff should have been observant in recognising the type of customer they are serving (it is part of service to understand customer’s preferences and serve with their needs in mind). In any case, even after the incident has occurred, the staff could follow-up on the situation, by offering other pizza range that is halal, or suggesting nearby outlets that the ladies can go to. Though we should always build on our cultural knowledge to prevent such incidences from occurring, intercultural communication also deals with how one react when placed in such a situation.
Regards,
Jerina
Just a question! The large population of Muslims in Singapore has enabled the proliferation of halal food. Increasingly, halal meat is being sold right across the food chain, from supermarkets to fast-food outlets. This has resulted in many of us (non-Muslims) unwittingly eating halal when the food place does not label so, and it has become a point of concern because our food choices have become limited. This is the video that brought up this thought: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cXKPYPMrkE&feature=player_embedded
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Jerina
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback, I think the cultural differences that were brought up placed much emphasis on the intricacies of cultural differences.
In reply to Kent's query, I recalled not noticing any halal certificates placed prominently within the restaurant's premise. Having checked Universal Studio's website, I ascertained that the restaurant was indeed not halal certified.
In addition, I thought Kent's point that it will not be fair for the staff to ask every customer, a very interesting problem that it poses for the restaurant. As Jia Ai had pointed out, they could have assumed that food sold here are certified, and had thus thrown any precaution to the wind, and coupled with the difficulty of recognizing Muslims, can indeed pose a problem for the restaurant staff. Perhaps the pamphlets given out at the Universal Studios entrance could group restaurants that are halal certified together, and state prominently so, removing any ambiguity, and thus a cinch for Muslims customers to locate restaurants serving halal fare.
Fluency could also have been a problem, as was stated above by Wing Tai. The Filipino spoke with a thick accent, which posed quite a challenge for people who are not proficient in the language. As a result, the ensuing misunderstandings could have been one reason why both parties were not aware of the other's cultural requirements.
Lastly, contrary to Jerina's views on the matter, I think that having a larger number of halal food choices is actually a boon to Singaporeans. This is especially so since having Muslim friends to join us for meals can now be made even easier. Instead of having limited choices of food, I think there could even be a larger variety of food that we could now choose from.
With the inclusion of Muslims as the restaurant's customers, there is an even greater incentive for the restaurant chefs to continually develop new taste titillating dishes to outshine their rivals. Pork is after all just one ingredient amongst many others, and by simply adhering to the rules of preparing food, restaurants could still come up a great number of dishes for their customers.
Best regards,
Ho Zong
Hi Ho Zong,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post.
Jerina's link to a news clip is also interesting because you can see how others in a different country react to not being given a food choice.
I am just curious about your reaction to the situation. As you were queuing behind the women, did you know what they were ordering? And if you knew what they ordered, were you aware there was ham in the pizzas? And if you did know about the ham, why didn't you warn them?
Regards,
Happy
Dear Ms Goh,
ReplyDeleteWith regards to your question as to the contents of the pizzas, I was just as clueless as the women, as the pizzas were given fancy or neutral sounding names such as margherita or NY cheese. Even a "localised" version of the american pizza, the tandoori chicken pizza, according to the staff contained bits of pork.
Had this not been the case, I think it would really be interesting to see the average Singaporean's reaction to the situation. Should
I be in such a situation, I think I would have hesitated between informing the women and keeping mum. Having been brought up in a multi-racial nation, having enjoyed many decades of peace, I believe I share the common sentiments of many Singaporeans of being sensitive to people of other races or religions. The question that I would be asking myself is "would I be insensitive by pointing out that the food sold here is non-halal, and they should eat at another restaurant?" They had after all entered the restaurant on their own accord. Could I guarantee that all the pizzas on the menu are non-halal? Could I end up embarrassing myself if that was not the case?
I think with all these questions running through my mind, the resulting hesitation may have prevented a successful aversion of the inter cultural situation described above. Having said that, it will still be interesting to see how many Singaporeans could have reacted in a similar manner.
Best regards,
Ho Zong