Intercultural competence is one’s capability to interact in a proper manner with people

who come from a different cultural background. This particular skillset will be useful during

studies and work environment where people from other cultural backgrounds are going

through the same pathway as us. Cultural background is the ethnic or race that one will be

growing up in. There will be various limitations imposed on how we should act, think and view

things in the world. Language spoken by people may differ according to the culture they were

brought up with. Stereotype is a fixed and simplified idea of a certain person which is often

widely held

Intercultural competence is often in Multi-National Companies. The employees are

expected to work alongside their colleagues from another region. The way they converse and

the way they choose to response to situation are distinct. A common example will be between

Asian regions and Europe regions. It is typical for Asian regions to start work at a particular time

and end the work at a particular time whereas it is common for Europe regions to have flexible

timing as long as the intended work has been completed. In our diverse world, there are

various cultural background. As an example, in Asian countries such as Malaysia, there are

Muslims, Chinese, Indians, Kadazan and Dusun living together with peace and harmony. For

stereotype, it is usually stereotype that Indians are good in Information Technology field while

Chinese are good at Maths.

 The main challenge throughout the Individual Interview is the difference of culture

between myself and the interviewee. The language spoken by her parents were different and I

was not able to directly interview them since they don’t converse in English. There were certain

aspects of her life that is a very different than mine especially the prayer room. I usually go to

Church on every Sunday and pray whereas the interviewee has to pray everyday at home.

Moreover, their food choices are unique as I never tried the type of food that I was served in

my interviewee’s household. My interviewee explained the reasoning behind my curiosity. Her

parents don’t speak English as they didn’t complete their schooling. In their culture, it is a must

to have a prayer room in their house. My interviewee’s mother is used to cook traditional meals

for the family.

Language seems to be a common barrier to understand different culture. Thus, learning

a new language will give me a new perspective and it expands my opportunity to study and

obtain a job in another country. Having a prayer room in our house is a blissful act and I will

indeed follow the act and continue to pass on to my next generation.

As a conclusion, despite having multiple cultures around the world, respect and the way

we interact matters the most and the relationship should be maintained for the future. It is

well-known that almost of the companies and schools will be implementing and encouraging us

to learn new skillset to accommodate the cultural differences.