Islam women and 4 Da Jing Gang!!
October 11, 2009 
In this article, you can see that culture is actually a “template for living”. It tells us who we are, what group we belong to and how we live our lives. The people have to obey the cultural norm and this can be seen in the article that a woman who enters Masjidil Haram has to wear a telekung (women’s prayer garb) that covers their hands and feets.
Similarly, this culture is also passed down from generation to generation. Once you are a muslim its impossible to change the fact. The Islam is a collectivism culture whereby social behaviour is determined by the views, needs, and goals of the ingroup rather than of self. It is seen clearly in the article that the country is going to ban the wearing of veil if it poses danger to the security of the country
link :http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_439667.html
Next, I am going to talk about one of my group (“a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent, developing shared patterns of behavior and a collective). Firstly, is 4 da jing gang it means four big super robots in chinese. They are my secondary one to two friend best buddies. From the name, I think you could guess that we have four people in the group.
All of us have a common trait is that we like to find a good place to eat dinner and we sit at the restaurant to talk and chat because we are lazy and chatty. Similarly, we always do things that are really embarrassing. Last Friday, we actually sat outside Plaza Singapura late at night to celebrate Sam’s birthday as we could not find a seat. We sang the birthday song and we forgot to bring lighter so we actually have to do stupid things like blowing on candles that are not lit.
Compared to individual, groups do have complex decision in a sense that we often have decide on where to go and eat, where to go for fun and where to relax. Four people means four decisions and sometimes we may take about 20mins just to think of a place to eat. We often have to balance between group needs and individual need. For example, one of my friend, JH do not eat fish and I do not eat spicy food so Jas and Sam often have to compromise and they cannot go to places like Thai Express and Fish and Co. If there is no full support on the places that we want to go none of us can go so we often took long time deciding.
We are a cohesive group that lends each other support and commitment. When any of us has any problem, we will try to talk and and try to solve their problem although I am always not any help but I tried. I am also grateful to them for always listening to my rubbish and complaints. Three of us except one insist on not using face book (haha) but I don’t think that is considered a commitment but I still stick to it till now.
When I am with them, I don’t have to process my thinking and I am comfortable because what I have to do is just be myself. Thanks Jing Gangs, all of you are missed.
LOL i’m amazed..The way i see the 4 of us is just normal clique hahaah and i see the 3 of u as best friend!(:but reading your post, LOL we’re like so well analysed by you..
are you sure about the 4 people mean 4 decisions and that we may take 20 min to decide where to go?LOL you forgot to mention how long it takes for a particular someone HAAHAHA to decide what to have for dinner..
MISS YA(:
Cultures changes over them and I think culture is set by the people who is in control ,like what you have posted the government have the right to change culture anytime as long as they feel that wearing veils will post a danger to the life of the civillians.
Im glad that you have such good friends, remember to keep in contact with me too.
I think it’s nice to have a group of friends that you feel really comfortable with and not having to think when you act crazy or silly, or even do stupid things together.
But stay away from groupthink okay? Haha.
Anyway, I agree with you that Islam is a collectivism culture whereby social behaviour is determined by the views, needs, and goals of the ingroup rather than of self. I feel that the wearing of the veil is more of a personal choice rather than being forced. However, in a way, of course, it is also affected by the culture, which is that of collectivist. Hence, most of the females have to comply with that when living under that culture.
=)Kai Ting
Ok i promise you and no worries all of us are opinated people with our own views and thoughts so that is why we took a long time to settle on just a venue to eat.
I also think that wearing of veil is a personal right however in a collectivist culture for the sfety of others i thinks it is understandable why the government wants to ban the veil.
Shuang hui, you go out with your friend did not go out with me. I think it is really quite stupid to sit down outside plaza Singapura and do stuff like blowing an invisible flame but I can see that you have enjoyed yourself greatly. I can see as a collectivist it is really quite a hussle to get things done quickly.
I agree that it is dumb and embarrassing but a lot of people are like us too sitting at an open area as long as it is empty when they cannot find a seat. I did enjoyed myself, it is always a joy going out with them although we always do unglamorous things. But in the process of deciding we learn to compromise and be patient with each other.
I didnt really think too much about what culture is but after reading your post I agree that actually culture is a template for living as the malays in Singapore also have to wear their veil but they do not have to cover ther face. Chinese also celebrated Chinese New Years and we see it as a very common thing.
Next, going out as a group is really a hassle as there are normally more opinions and suggestions and there are certainly people who have to compromise so that an agreement can be reached.
Collectivist may be good and bad depending on how you see it. If it is all bad but no good, this thing would not have existed isn’t it. I think it might be due to easier administration of things in that country itself.
I concur to what you said for the decision making in a group, especially so when you are out with a group of casual friends. Personally I think coming to a consensus within a close group of friends is actually easier!!! =)
Yes, there is two sides to a coin. Collectivist culture have its pros and cons, at least the group are very bonded and they would always stand by you if you encounter any problem, however, being an individualist allows you to have more freedom. It all depends on how you look at it.
I think making decision with casual friends you tend to sacrifice and compromise with them more and with closer friends I tend to voice out my opinion more and we will argue until we reach a concensus so the level of difficulty in reaching a concensus actually depends on the people involve.
though going out in groups may be a hassle, considering the n times of happiness we are going to enjoyed, i am willing to go through the process( my personal opinion).
during the times when i’m organizing gatherings, i get really irritated sometimes to cater to everyone’s needs, but it is really worthwhile doing it.. however, i still wish you guys to be cooperative( pls make things easier for me !!!! )
Yes, it is a hassle but I am really thankful to you for spending time to organise the outings, you are a collectivist who sacrifice your own time to organise events so that we will keep in contact. However, you succeed, we enjoyed ourselves in most of the outings, through our collectivist behavior all of us enjoyed our outing and become more bonded which means we achieved our goal. I am always very cooperative by the way.