Hour,” held his fist with his middle finger stuckout on top of the head of an actress who stood in front of him. When his photo appeared in thenewspapers, the station received dozens of calls from Westerners living in Hong Kong complainingabout the indecent gesture. As many of us may know in western culture, the middle finger represents anindecent gesture, However when Chan applied this gesture, he meant to suggest that his friend hadgrown horns on her head for fun. Chan refused to apologize because his gesture was not intended to bean insult as the gesture is not considered indecent in Chinese Society. Examples such as these mayseem funny, but severe punishment might have come to those who failed to observe the rules in anearlier time and today as well. Another Example of cultural differences may be found in religion. manydenominations hold Sunday as their “holy” day or day of Sabbath. Where as others feel that it shouldbe held on Saturday. seventh day Adventist are a sect which feel that it is the latter. So on Saturday theyare to stray away from all secular practices. This includes watching television, listening to radio orpartaking in any activities which is not in reverence of their religion. To a Christian however this practicewould seem absurd. Their reality does not carry the same beliefs. Although these are just a few examples it gives you an idea of how a persons geographical location andcultural background can shape their individuals belief. Many of which are not practiced by othercultures. If you wanted to better understand a persons ways or why it is that people of different ethnicbackgrounds have different beliefs and practices. It would be best to start with trying to understand thatpersons culture and their socialization process. Once you begin to grasp an understanding and they waythey have grew up then it will be easier to understand why they do things in a certain way....
