Speech about cross culture
The culture of any region normally associates to the habit of the people residing in the area. This applies the same in Shenzhen where the food culture is outstanding in Canton and people embrace dim sum custom. Dim sum has its origin from the Cantonese who linked it to taking tea. Its dominance relates to the popular belief that drinking tea always aids in digestion. This made most of the local houses in China to prefer taking tea on a daily basis leading to the birth of dim sum. In the China, every community has adopted the serving of dim sum. This many people from the other countries to refer to China as a dim sum country. Even though, the adoption of dim sum faced several challenges, the perception of its health properties made it thrive.
The Cantonese people emerge as unique in their food culture, which constitutes everything that individuals can associate to food. There is no restriction on which food to eat as witnessed in other cultures. In Canton, the restriction to eating food bases on whether the subject has is digestible or not. They will eat everything considered digestible with the only exception being the non-digestible for example, stones. Conventionally, the Cantonese people eat anything that has legs except a table and anything with wings except an airplane (Linda, 281). Almost everybody in the Cantonese community embraces this food culture making it difficult for an individual to go against it. For instance, in our family, I do not observe this culture but my dad does because of the community influence. It will be against community values if he does not settle to eat with his partners, who in this case, embrace the culture.
The Chinese, Indian and Malaysian culture have significantly influenced the dining etiquette in Singapore. Much tradition and customs govern how people eat even in larger five star hotels existing in the region. This has led to an enormous impact on the business carried by the country considering that most of the components of the meal are from the local people. The dining etiquette has led to the growth of the local industries that usually produce utensils used for while serving. For instance, the etiquette requires that an individual eat with chopsticks rather than the spoons in so doing promoting the local business that involves producing chopsticks (Kett, 84). The dining etiquette in the region has equally affected the involvement of the Western countries.
The Western countries, especially those dealing in the manufacture of utensils and production of foods, experience low market in Singapore. This arises because most of the foods taken in the restaurant are from the locality. This has led to the growth of the local industries while deteriorating trade, regarding food products, with the Western countries. The impact on Western country’s involvement in Singapore has also arisen from the strict etiquettes. Most of the Western business people have shun coming into the country because of the restriction that they view as going against their rights. The Western people always consider that an individual should eat to his or her comfort without restriction from the culture. Consequently, the strict dining etiquette has led to the deterioration of business between these two regions.
Work cited
Kett, Alexandra. Passport Singapore: Your Pocket Guide to Singaporean Business, Customs & Etiquette. Petaluma, CA: World Trade Press, 2009. Print.
Civitello, Linda. Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2011. Print.
