Fostering Intercultural Communication (Blog Post #2)

Noyak Seats on the Korean Subway

To me, the key in fostering effective intercultural communications is to be sensitive to the culture that one is exposed to. It is important to be aware that we are ambassadors of our home country. When our actions show that we are not sensitive to foreign cultures, this would lead to intercultural misunderstandings. When talking about culture in everyday conversation, the topic usually includes food, heritage and festivals. However, through the peer teaching session, I realised that culture is multifaceted. One aspect of culture that caught my attention is social etiquette. I would like to share a memorable personal experience that taught me the importance of being sensitive to the social etiquette of a foreign culture. 

During the summer break of 2013, my friends and I flew over to Seoul, South Korea for a getaway trip. Unlike Singapore, Seoul is enormous. Travelling from one part of the city to another could take up to an hour on the Seoul subway. On the second day there, after a day’s worth of activities, my friends and I took the subway back to the station where our apartment was located at. However, our destination was more than a 30 minutes ride away. Since we have been walking the entire day, we were tired and desperately needed to sit down to rest. Unfortunately, all of the seats were taken up, expect for the three seats located at every four corners of the subway compartment. 

My friends and I were aware that those seats were similar to the priority seats on the Singapore MRT. Thus, we were cautious of sitting there. However, after a few stops, no elderly boarded the subway, and hence, we decided to sit at the priority seats. We had the mindset of “I will just get up when someone who needs this seat comes.” Unfortunately, as soon as we sat on the seats, we received a few death stares from the locals in the same subway compartment as us. The rest of the journey back to our destination was very uncomfortable. My friends and I were confused at the situation. Clearly, there was nobody around who needed those seats, yet the locals were displeased with our actions.

Upon reaching our apartment, I immediately researched on Seoul subway etiquette. It turns out that the seats my friends and I were sitting on are called Noyak seats, a subway version of the handicapped parking lot. While it may be common for Singaporeans to sit on the priority seat unless someone who needs this seat comes along, this is not the case for Korea. The seats are strictly reserved for the elderly, pregnant women, the disabled and parents accompanying young children. It is proper etiquette to leave those seats unoccupied, unless you fall into the category of people who are allowed to sit on the Noyak seats. Even when the subways are exceptionally crowded, the locals would avoid sitting there. This ensures that the people who really need those seats would be able to sit down readily. Furthermore, I have read numerous accounts of exhausted students and middle aged working adults being chased off the Noyak seats. In extreme cases, abusive comments would be hurled at people sitting at those seats. This is because the Koreans value courtesy and respect for the elderly. Thus, the act of sitting at the Noyak seats would be seen as an act of disrespect for the elderly. The strict enforcement of the seats would ensure that the rights of the minority are protected. 

It was a really embarrassing experience brought about by my own ignorance. Through my actions, I have unintentionally offended the locals, and thus, I felt really bad about it. However, I am grateful that they did not chase us off the seats or scold us. The locals displayed empathy towards the foreigners (us) by not scolding or chasing us away. However, the locals who were on the same subway compartment as my friends and I might have interpreted our actions as being disrespectful. In the worst case scenario, they would have formed an opinion about Singaporeans being disrespectful. This would be a hindrance in establishing effective intercultural relationships with any future Singaporeans they might meet. 

In conclusion, one of the fundamentals of effective communication is empathy. In the case of intercultural communication, empathy could be practiced by being sensitive to the social etiquettes of other cultures. This means that we have to be respectful and mindful of other cultures. Being a foreigner does not give me the right to disregard the culture of the country I am exposed to. In addition, displaying effective intercultural communication by being sensitive to other cultures is a win-win situation for both parties involved. When we display sensitivity to the other cultures, we would be treated with kindness and respect in return. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my experience :)