Culture refers to the customs, practices, languages, values and world views that define social groups such as those based on nationality, ethnicity, region or common interests. Cultural identity is important for people’s sense of self and how they relate to others. However, it could cause some problems if people of the same cultural group have their behaviour misinterpreted.
There was one time when I was standing in a train. When the train reached the next stop, two Bangladeshis boarded the train and stood beside me. I noticed that they were holding hands, I felt quite embarrassed then. Soon, they began to hug each other. It was then when I really could not stand it and I alighted the next stop. At that point of time, I thought they were homosexuals and being a conservative Singaporean, I am not that open minded. As I was the only youth on that train, I believed people of the older generation on that train would have the same feeling as I had. I guess the two Bangladeshis have no idea how the others view them. It was only when I spoke to my friends about this that I know it is a norm for Banglasdeshis men to hug each other with no homosexual connotations to it.
In conclusion, relationship between culture and communication is an intimate but complex one. Without communication such as human interaction and communication media, it would be impossible to pass along cultural characteristics from one person to another. As such, culture is transmitted and learnt through communication.
