CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: A DA PTATION OF CU LTU RE I N PETAL ING STREET
I n ter m s of the standar ds of living , pu bl i c s a fety cultur e and community h ealth standar ds.
RE -PRESENTING PL ACE CL S60103 Pr oject 1B: Resear ch Str uctur e
submitted by Team 3 Taylor ’s U niver sity Lect ur er : Haf iz Amir r ol
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
TABLE OF CON TE NTS
i) Reseach Back g round
ii) M ain Resear ch Q uestions
iii) Ob j ectives
iv ) Sig n if ican ce o f Study
v ) M eth o ds an d Ex p ected Ou tcomes
v i) Ref er en ces an d C i tations
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
R E SE ARCH BACKGROU ND
T he adapt ati on of cultur e is the pr ocess of chang e and tra n s itio n of the ar ts and tr adition of a specif ic community with r eg a r d s to the envi ronm ental chang es of which the community is situ a ted in over ti me. T his condition is appar ent in our chosen site, Peta lin g S treet, i ts ri ch h istor y shaping the g eog r aphical, demog r aph ica l a n d a rchi tectu ral a s pect of the place, allowing its cultur e to con f o r m to its advancements g r a d u a lly. A s a res u l t, the conver g ence of customs cr eate a new way of livin g. A bu s tl i ng pl ace wher e hawker s and vendor s dominate the s tr eets, where templ es r ose and house pr ayer s, wher e tour ists g ath er a n d barg ai ns are made, and above all, wher e cultur e and civi liza tio n continue to a d a p t. T hi s tra ns i tion in cultur e g ives bir th to numer ous issues o n s ite, i ncl u di ng complications r eg ar ding the standar d of living o f th e cu r rent community, its public saf ety as well as its health sta n d a r d s. Ou r s i te tu r ns into a demog r aphical f ocus. Cong estion of veh icu l a r traffi c and people is inevitable, subsequently f or ming a r is e in cri me ra te a nd pollution. Other than that, it challeng es the a u th en ti ci ty a nd q uality of the g oods, ser vices and f acilities provid ed , wh ile g r eatly decr easing the hyg iene levels of th e s ite. Nonethel es s, Petaling Str eet is a platf or m f or chang e as its cu ltu r a l as pect conti nues to g r ow and evolve. As the str ug g le to s o lve th e i s s u es s ta ted continues, we str ive to under stand the people’s p ers pective on the matter with hopes to shed some lig ht on wh eth er thi s cou rs e of adaptation is moving towar ds a positive or n eg a tive n o te.
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
MAIN R E SE ARCH QUE S TI ONS
1.Standar d o f L ivin g How does th e incr easing number of f or eig n wor ker s and f o r eig n tou ri s ts i n Petaling Str eet af f ect the living standar ds of th e lo ca l com mu n ity?
2. Public Saf ety C u ltu r e How does the neg ative behaviour of unlicensed hawker s a n d s ellers, l ow-i ncome f or eig ner s, tax i dr iver s in Petaling Str eet af f ect th e level of public saf ety of the local com mu n ity?
3. Community Health Sta n d a r d s W hat a re s ome envir onmental f actor s that constantly ex ist i n Peta li ng S treet tha t would thr eaten the health standar ds of the co m mu n ity?
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
OBJE C TI VE S
T he obj ectives of the r esear ch ar e to ex amine, f r om the p er s p ec tive of tour ists, local hawker s, vendor s and occu p ier s :
• To i ncrease accessibility to inf or mation about the ada p ta tio n of cultur e in Petaling Str eet.
• To i nvestig ate var ious community backg r ounds and es tim a te the standar d of living f r om the investig a tio n .
• To anal ys e the statistical association between the publi c s a f ety level and public saf ety status in Petaling Str eet.
• To col l ect the opinions about health standar ds among th e co m munity of Petaling Str eet.
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
SIGNIFICANCE OF S TU DY
Intr o d u ctio n Cu l tu re i s th e way of lif e shar ed by people who live in th e s a m e pl a ce. Cu l tur al adaptation is when a per son adjusts to th e n ew cou ntr y i n a positive or neg ative way. Each per son adapts to n ew cu l tu re i n a unique way. T he theor y of cultur al adaptatio n r ef er s to t he process and time it takes a per son to assimilate to a n ew cu ltu r e.
Standar d of L ivin g I n today’s co nnected wor ld, the need to communicate ef f ectively wi th peopl e f r om diver se cultur es, r aces, f aiths and natio n a lities has i ncrea s ed ex ponentially. Cultur al dif f er ences usually in clu d e l a ngu a g e, r elig ion, political or g anization, customs an d m o r e. S tandard of living that utilises the cultur al knowledg e an d ex p e ri ence of member s of dif f er ent subcultur al g r oups to in f lu en ce a cu l tu ral constr uct that could oper ate as a mediator of ch a n g e e.g., enhancing cultur al id en tity. For exa mpl e, Petaling Str eet’s living standar d is studied by typ es of commu n ities, authenticity of or ig inal community, an d m a in tenance of f acilities. Petaling Str eet’s community con s is ts o f s el l er, hawker stall oper ator s, tour ists, and homeless peop le. T h e hi gh i ntake of f or eig n wor ker s as pr oduct seller s, hawker s a n d cooks ha s i nd ir ectly diminished the authenticity of or ig in a l co m munity in ter ms of local f ood, pr oducts, and cu ltu r e.
Public Saf ety C u ltu r e Pu bl i c S a fety Cultur e helps def ine the r ecog nition of th e s a f ety cu l tu re a ttained f r om the people in Petaling Str eet in ter m s o f the bel i efs a n d pr actices that they apply. T he conce pt of cu ltu r a l adapta ti on is dir ectly applied to any or g anisation or ag en cy th a t affects or i nter acts with public saf ety issues to ensur e h ig h levels of saf ety per f or man ce to o.
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
SIGNIFICANCE OF S TU DY (co nt. )
To i l l u s trate this point, Petaling Str eet’s public saf ety is h a r m ed by i ts s treet and r oad cultur e, unlicensed hawker s and p r o d u ct s el l ers, and public tr anspor tation cultur e. L ocals and to u r is ts have to b e war y of pickpockets and snatch motor cycl is ts. B e s i des, u nl i censed hawker s and pr oduct seller s who may s ell u n s afe produ cts ar e also a thr eat to public saf ety. L astly, th e p u b lic reg ard tax is as an unsaf e mode of tr anspor t due to i ts overl y-char g ed f ar e and poor attitude of most tax i d r iver s.
Community Health Sta n d a r d s Commu ni ty H ealth Standar ds that show r ef er ences such a s g r een s pa ce da ta l inked in a Geog r aphic Inf or mation Systems (G IS) o r experi ences f r om individuals with dif f er ent backg r ound s to in crea s e the per ceived r elevance of inf or mation in health co m mu ni ca ti on a n d health education inter ventions in Petaling Str eet. For i ns ta nce, Petaling Str eet’s community Health Stand a r d s a r e exa mi ned by ar ea of g r een spaces, noise level, and str eet hy gi ene. Green spaces such as par ks f acilitate physical activity a n d rel axa ti on , and f or m a r ef ug e f r om noise. On the oth er h a n d , s treet hygi ene should be pr oper ly maintained in Petaling Str eet, a s i t i s a cuisine par adise with a wide choice of str eet ven d o r food,
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
ME THODS A ND E XPE CTE D OUTCOME S
Meth o d s T he i nfor mation we need or ig inates f r om a wide r ang e of s o u r c es, thu s ther e should be a var iety of techniques used when g a th er ing data f r om communities at Petaling Str eet. S everal meth ods f or collecting inf or mation and quantitative d a ta for thi s res ear ch will be done ar e inter views, questionnair es a n d dir ect obser vation a t s ite. • I nter views - conducted by dir ect appr oach (inter viewee and i nter vi ewer ) with questions that ar e f ocused and clear wh ich encour ag e open-ended r es p o n s es. t • Qu es ti onnair es – shor t questions with answer s pr esen ted a s mu l ti pl e-cho ice and numer ical bar to g ather concise data a n d to ease analysis af ter wa r d s • Di rect obser vation – car ef ul investig ation allows da ta to b e col l ected q u alitatively and quantitatively, allowing the stu d y o f a wi de rang e of a situations, besides pr oviding additional in f o r m a tio n .
Ex pected Ou tco m e T hrou gh the questionnair e sur vey and inter view, the ex p ected res u l t i s tha t the standar d of living in Petaling Str eet will b e low. T hi s i s due to hig h number of f or eig n wor ker s hir ed by lo ca ls to work as f ood hawker s and pr oduct seller s at site. T h e r a te of pu bl i c s af ety cultur e at the site will be thr eatened du e to th e hi gh ca s es of neg ative behaviour happening on the str eet, s u ch as ba d road cultur e, unlicensed stalls and also public tra n s p o rta ti on. La stly, lack of g r eener y, hig h noise level and low s tr eet hygi ene will indicate a poor standar d of community h ea lth .
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
R E FE R E NCES A ND CITA TI ON
AECOM. (2010). Asia Beyond Growth. ORO Editions: Singapore. Barley, N. (2000). Breathing Cities. Birkhauser: London. Lim, W. (1990) Cities for People – Reflections of a Southeast Asian Architect. Singapore: Select Publishing. “Petaling Street in Chinatown - Bargain Hunter’s Paradise.” Kuala-lumpur.ws. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2016. Kong, Sai Mat. “Top 10 Must-Have Foods in Petaling Street (Chinatown) - I’m Saimatkong.” Im Saimatkong. N.p., 2015. Web. 04 Oct. 2016. Clarke, P. (2008) Metricity: Exploring New Measures of Urban Density. London: Royal College of Art. Teasley, D. (c2016). Study. Retrieved 3 October, 2016, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/cultural-adaptation-definition-theory-stages-examples.html Mishra, S. (c2016). Businesstopia. Retrieved 3 October, 2016, from https:// www.businesstopia.net/communication/cultural-barriers-communication
Research Str ucture
CONVERGENCE OF CUSTOMS: Adaptation of culture in Petaling Street
IS THIS ADAPTA TI ON FOR THE BE TTE R ?
En d o f paper.