Debate: Cultural acceptance in UAE

Gulf News readers were given the opportunity to debate on our Facebook page this week - they discussed whether society has truly accepted cultures other than their own. Is it still a highly insular world? We present a selection of their views.

Open mind

It’s not that we as a society don’t accept the culture of others (“Facebook debate: Society has not truly accepted cultures other than their own.” Gulf News, August 12). It is just that we are not always given the chance to experience or immerse ourselves and understand a culture other than our own. Working here in the Gulf, a melting pot of different nationalities and cultures, has made me aware of that. Eating their food, getting to spend time with them, learning their languages and being friends with them has taught me that there’s more to people than just their culture. More often than not, having an open mind regarding things and just being ourselves easily dissolves whatever cultural gaps there may exist.

From Mr Nitsuga Shoj

UAE

New environment

People by nature are open to adapting to a new environment. This is a matter of surviving outside your comfort zone and in order to survive, you need to camouflage yourself and adapt to a bigger group in terms of its culture. There are, however, many stereotypes about people who are not capable of accepting any change.

From Ms Prexie Gui

UAE

Success

In this modern age, one has to accept some aspects of other cultures to succeed and blend in with the world, especially in multi-cultural countries like the UAE. However, people should not forget their own cultures in the process.

From Ms Sarim Mahtab

UAE

Culture and heritage

True — we might be living in a globalised world with multi-cultural societies, but at the end of the day people socialise with their own kind and this is notable all over the world. Even when you go to Western countries, you find people living in neighbourhoods with a majority of their own countrymen or people of similar cultures and they do not try to integrate with the locals. A lot of people also worry about their own culture and heritage being lost or forgotten.

From Ms Aziza Al Busaidy

Dubai

Blending cultures

The UAE is a multi-cultural country with quite an amazing variety. We get to experience different cultures under one roof. But it is hard to take a stand in this debate. We do live in a multi-cultural environment and many try to blend in and respect the religion of the country. However, these days a culture reflects a person’s perspective of making things easy for him or her. People mix different cultures, blend them and even change them for their own convenience.

From Mr Mohammad Asim

UAE

Together

Disagree ... people from all around the world live in the UAE. Society has accepted all our cultures, which is why we continue to live here. We should respect the UAE traditions and cultures, too.

From Ms Archana Sen

UAE

Living in harmony

If we think that society does not accept cultures other than their own then how do two people of distinct nationalities live together in a country like the UAE?

From Mr Raunak Kapur

Dubai

Hatred

Culture, nationalism and individualism are the main reason for hatred amongst many! This is a bitter but true fact.

From Mr Talha Farukh

Sharjah

Accepting traditions

Disagree ... being residents of the UAE, which is actually a melting pot of the world’s cultures and saying that those cultures have not been accepted, is not right. Moreover, we should respect the UAE traditions and cultures as they are the basis of the society that has accepted our cultures.

From Mr Don Joe Martin

UAE

Adapting

Not every culture and tradition is good. Everything old is not gold. That’s why Western cultures are dominating the world. It is a culture of freedom and tailored to the needs of the 21st century. Some cultures resist change, but I do think that they will change and accept the Western norms sooner or later. They seem to already have accepted some of them.

From Mr Behrooz Heidarian

UAE

Be thankful

I think while we should respect our own culture, it is important to respect the culture of the place where we live. Let us be thankful for what we have and why we have it.

From Mr Jameel Tekedil

Dubai

Western cultures

I disagree ... today the whole world is accepting Western culture. You can see glimpses of their culture all around the world.

From Mr Mohammad Haji Mastan

Saudi Arabia

Mindless

People want to live and adopt their own birth culture and it is hard to accept other cultural values. However, every nation has a moderate segment of society that can accept everything. They don’t believe in any cultural values — almost like mindless people.

From Mr Ahsan Ahmad

Sharjah

Cultural practices

People nowadays seem to have no idea on how to behave with people of other cultures. We cannot accept the way they are. Everyone wants to continue following their own cultural practices and be by themselves.

From Ms Hafsa Ifthikar

UAE

A change in norms

I disagree with this statement. Many societies in the world today operate in an environment that is not one belonging to their culture. It is creating issues for some people, while many others have learnt to adjust to this change.

From Mr Benedict Osahon Okosun

UAE

Global culture

Things have changed. Some people try to maintain a perfect picture of their culture but others won’t and so we have mixed reactions to certain scenarios these days. I think that the whole world will eventually have a global culture, similar to how English is the global language that is common amongst all of us.

From Mr Zakir Hassan Mohammad

UAE

Obsolete

In this day and age, every person creates his or her own cultural etiquettes. I think predefined cultures are slowly becoming obsolete.

From Mr Nadeem Ahmad

UAE

Everything changes

I disagree with the statement. Everything is changing, no matter what or how hard we try to keep it all the same. Just give it some time.

From Mr Omar Abdul khaliq

UAE

A better world

I cannot fully agree with this statement because I think today we have become part of a globalised environment where people bring their cultures from around the world. I think this is actually beneficial to society. We are seeing many changes, for instance here in the UAE, in terms of food and clothing. People from around the world stay in this multi-cultural country. We can find food varieties from various different countries here. Such changes may be small, but are slowly being accepted by the people who live here. A Korean side dish called Kimchi was never heard of before in the UAE, but recently people have started to love such exotic food. In fact not only in terms of food culture, but we can see that people in today’s society prefer a wide variety when it comes to trends. They want to experience something new not because they have no other choice but because they want to learn something interesting from it. Some cultures may be hard to accept for our societies, but I think everything is slowly taking a turn. We cannot expect the old traditions to be forgotten within a blink of an eye. I think it is a slow process, which is positively helping the world to become a better place.

From Ms Sumera Malek

Karachi Pakistan

Categories in society

I think people who have some knowledge or are aware of other cultures are willing to accept them. However, those who don’t acquire any knowledge of cultures other than their own simply try to imitate what they see - on a superficial level. Majority of the people in our society are of the second category that I have mentioned. Always remember that artificial jewellery can easily be identified from authentic jewellery by a close look.

From Mr Dinny Kurian

UAE

Accept the people

I think society should accept the people from different cultural backgrounds, but not adopt cultures other than their own. The reason being that their own culture and values will vanish and one day become history, with no one remembering or following them.

From Mr Riyaz Salati

UAE

Civilisation and culture

I do not agree. We accept each and every civilisation and culture — within their homelands and abroad as well.

From Mr Farhan Shaikh

UAE

Superior

People try to provide and keep searching for evidence to show that their culture is superior as compared to others. I have seen many people following or doing things without even knowing their true purpose. Other people unnecessarily make fun of their own cultural norms.

From Mr Vinod Malapati

UAE

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