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So not PC but …

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P1000781

This is so politically incorrect that I almost didn't post it ... but then I did to show how cultures are different and sensitivities are not the same.

As I left Singapore, I saw this and felt quite offended:

P1000781

Yet Singaporeans are desperate to avoid offending foreign visitors, as are most Asian countries, so how could I be offended?

Well, look more closely ...

P1000780

I'm sure that my Western colleagues will get the point.

No wonder, following on from Damian Glendinning's points raised earlier, that we don't always agree:

But then we arrive in Asia and handout business cards with one hand and immediately put a received business card in our pocket without reading it. 

In Asia, the protocol is that we should offer the business card to the receiver as a gift, with the upper top corners held in each hand so that the card is presented the right way round to be readable.  Similarly we should take their card with honour, and read the details of title properly before putting the card away.

These nuances of societies are brilliantly described in Richard Lewis's book, When Culture Collide, and have been used in HSBC's advertising to great effect for the past eight years.

It was 2002 when this ad first aired ...

... and it's true.

When global, think local, so I wasn't offended after all, as the meaning of the word is not intended.

Now, who was it called me ****** just now?

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Chris M Skinner

Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...

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