This chapter focuses on how public relations are practiced in different Asian countries compared with Western countries.
Asian countries have started to realise the importance of engaging the public which is similar to western countries as well. However the huge difference between Asian countries and western countries is government. In Asia, the government controls everything ranging from economy to democracy. This is a huge difference when compared with the western countries. Thus, strict government controls in certain Asian countries restricts PR practices from expanding as the government is watchdog for companies in Asia.
The language barrier and cultural aspects in certain Asian countries may pose a problem for PR practices as English is the general language for PR practices. Thus, countries whose second language is English may struggle when trying to expand their company. Furthermore, the size of a country and other aspects also affects PR practices in Asia. Thus, PR in Asia has to work around these problems and use it to their advantage in order to expand their business.
Coming closer to home, Singapore is a country which has limited land mass and is controlled by the government. Thus, government propaganda has definitely restricted Singapore’s PR practices. Another important factor for PR in Singapore is that it is completely ethical due to the Institute of Public Relations of Singapore. Thus, this helps to boost its PR market to organisations as they would want to invest their money on a safe PR practice. Furthermore, Singapore has definitely used its limited size to its advantage as business and industries most likely requires the services of PR practitioners located in small area (Stanton, 2009).
On the other hand, PR is Taiwan is politically driven as political parties use it for their campaigns. Furthermore, another advantage for them is that English is the language for their business sectors eliminating the problem of language barriers. Furthermore, scholars go overseas to study about PR methods and when they return home, they use it in their own country as well. Thus, there is a small amount of western influence in Taiwan’s PR practices as well. Furthermore, they have a liberal media allowing practice to be much easier there when compared with Singapore’s media.
In conclusion, I think that different countries adapt different methodology for their PR practices depending on their culture, government and even language. Thus, there are varieties of PR practices available to us currently. However, one must know when to use what sort of practice in what country or place. Thus, practitioners have to be adaptable as they have to cope and
manage with different culture.
I had a great read for this post
ReplyDeleteyou highlighted the main concern in Asian contexts w regards to PR - government
As a Singaporean, i know first hand the system we're governed in and while it's not the worst but there's definetly room for improvement in terms of acceptance n tolerance towards new creative ideas deemed inconservative :)
Hey, interesting post! Yeah, I agree with the fact that government propaganda has definitely restricted Singapore’s PR practices. Singapore today encompasses a wide range of cultures: the ethnic groups native to Singapore, i.e., Chinese, Indian, Malay, Eurasian, as well as foreign talent from around the world. Anyhow, cross cultural differences can make or break a PR campaign. It is therefore crucial that PR personnels dealing with PR campaigns that incorporate a cross cultural element analyze likely cross cultural differences.
ReplyDeleteI agree that cultural and language may pose as a barrier to implement PR in Asian countries. In China, it took a really long time for them to accept PR as a business practice as they believed business relations is more important than public relations. However, now they are beginning to open up to integrate both values into their practices.
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