Culture and Public Relations in Singapore | Desklib

Running Head: Public Relation
Public Relation

Public Relation 1
The purpose of this task is to provide a brief overview about the cultural dimensions of the
country Singapore and how it affects the public relations and communication in the country only.
Culture of a country and public relations has direct link with each other as public relations
activities helps in managing relationship with people in the country. So, if people know the
culture which is being followed in the country then it becomes easier for them to maintain a long
lasting relationship with other people. Further it shall also be noted that the communication
process is totally dependable on the culture and ethnicity of a country (Holderness, 2017).
According to culture people living at different places use different languages for communication
with each other in the environment. Communication plays a vital role in initiating all the
activities in the environment. So, details about culture of Singapore and its link with public
relations are discussed below:
The task explains culture and history of Singapore and its impact on public relation activities
prevailing in the environment. The public relation is maintained by observing the culture of the
country. So, the below mentioned task explains the culture of Singapore, a literature review of
public relations, relation of both the aspects, and the impacts of culture on entertainment and
social media industry.
Singapore is a sovereign city and island country present in south East Asia. The territory of the
country consists of one main island and 62 other islets. Official languages spoken in the country
are English, Mandarin, Malay and Tami. The multi-ethnicity society consists of 77 percent
Chinese, around 6 percent Indians, around 15 percent Malay and expatriate around 2 percent.
Further the Hofstede cultural dimension clearly explains about the culture and history of a
country. It is a framework for cross cultural communication; it enlightens the reader about five
different dimensions prevailing in the environment which are discussed in the latter part.
The dimension of power distance deals with the extent to which the less powerful members
present in society accepts and except that the power in distributed unequally in the society. High
degree of this index explains that hierarchy is clearly established in the society. The country
Singapore captures the 74 in the international market in terms of cultural ethnicity present in the
country. The country has syncretic approach to religion with the background of Confucian
teachings (Hofstede Insight, 2018). This approach is a dominating factor in the country, these
teaching relate to the nature of attaining unequal relationship with people that are divided into

Public Relation 2
five basic relationships that are, ruler-subject; father-son; older brother-younger brother;
husband-wife; and senior friend-junior friend. These relations are based on mutual understanding
and complimentary obligation. So, there is high degree of power distance as people keep the
nation and community above themselves (Liu, Meng, & Fellows, 2015).
The individualism refers to the degree of interdependence in the society with its members. The
country has a score of 20 in being collectivist society which states that the people exchange
loyalty with each other. In this country people defines self-image as ‘I’ instead of ‘WE’. The
norms of Confucian teachings states that a person is not an individual but he is a part of a family
and society. Further in the country communication is indirect where yes does not always means
yes, people are more considered towards politeness in the society. Masculinity has a high score
in the country which states that working women are not preferred in the society and not admired
as well (Dinnie, 2015). Low score of females states that the dominant gender of the society is
responsible for the livelihood of women. Score in this case is 48 which is inclined towards
women. The dimension of uncertainty avoidance talks about the fact with which the society
deals, that the future can never be known. Further in this country, the score of uncertainty
avoidance in very less up to eight. There is low score because more people in the country focus
on power distance due to which they abide rules in the culture. The people of Singapore call their
society a fine country because they get a fine for every act which is not performed according to
the decorum (Schechner, 2017). The next dimension talks about the long term orientation, which
refers to the ways in which the society deals with the present and future challenges by
maintaining links with the past. Under this aspect, the country showed a high grade of 72 which
states that the cultural qualities of the country supports the long term missions and visions as
well. Lastly, indulgence dimension talks about the extent to which people try to control their
desires and impulses. If there is relatively weak control of culture then it is called indulgence
whereas if there is strong control then it is called restraint. Further, it is not possible to judge the
indulgence or restraint of culture of Singapore as the score is 46. (Hofstede Insight, 2018).
Jun, ki Eyun and Childers Hon Linda (2007), explained that perception of people about their
relationship with organization will influence their attitude towards the organization. It refers to a
planned process which is initiated to influence the opinion of public on a whole. This process
tells about the image of an organization of country in the eyes of the people. Further Broom