How a Spontaneous Token of Help on a Bus Illustrates the Power of Social Environment in Shaping Culture

"Hey, do you want to grab a seat?" The middle-aged black man tapped on my shoulder as I walked to the back of the bus, resigned to the reality of having to stand for the hour-long ride. He gestured toward an empty seat on the window side in a four-seat configuration facing one another. With the other three seats occupied by fairly large men with long legs, cramping another man into the midst was hardly ideal. Indeed, when the black man announced his intention to have me scootch in, his two seatmates only reluctantly shuttled their feet to make room.

While I turned down the offer, the man's question only reminded me of another incident of helpfulness earlier in the day. A lady was running toward one of Malta's most crowded bus stops, where one bus arrives perhaps every two or three minutes. Seeing the lady wanting to catch a bus, a middle-aged black woman shouted to the nearest bus to stop, telling the bus driver to stop and wait until the lady could catch up. The black woman's frantic shouts to the bus driver stand out from the general vibe of the Maltese bus stop – no one in a rush and everyone minding their own business.

But these are not stories of how "foreign" Malta's sometimes invisible African community can seem to be in public. Instead, it is a story of how, despite being so visibly out of place in looks and mannerisms, members of this community can also instinctively reach out to help others in the smallest ways without the slightest hesitation. Indeed, for someone like me, used to the massive social distance that Japanese people, in particular, are prone to put between themselves and complete strangers, seeing someone so fearlessly put themselves out there in a foreign culture is admirable and respectworthy, to say the least.

Yet, the phenomenon of Africans, almost as a reflex, helping strangers in need, also begs the question of why they do so and others do not. The answer may come from the social environment that they grew up in. As an NGO professional in Tanzania, I saw that mutual support among locals is not just a friendly show of good neighborliness, but an essential tool for survival. In villages where street addresses did not even exist, knowing where people, food, money, and other resources are required constantly inquiring with strangers.

To ensure that help from strangers is always forthcoming, it makes sense to be helpful simply to earn those brownie points for a rainy day. The result is a general atmosphere where a town is always interactive, where strangers approach others with little hesitance, knowing that no one will see the approaching stranger as disruptive or bothersome. Such as a whole-of-community camaraderie cannot be any further from the Japanese belief in minimizing meiwaku. A society that sees all unsolicited greetings and questions with suspicion cannot be expected to find spontaneous support from others.

However, one should not misinterpret mutual support as simply a side effect of coming from a poorer society where people need to depend on collective assistance rather than institutional ones. Instead, whether it be the government or community service organizations, systematic help is ultimately still provided by people; the only difference is that the people who dispense help from institutions are paid to do so. Whether they are genuinely willing to go above and beyond, or merely make the motions to justify their paychecks depends more on the social environment than the institutions themselves.

Certainly, this truism holds even beyond the example of mutual support. In a social environment where education is considered paramount, whether it be in China, India, or Korea, an instinctive norm, akin to Africans' support for the needy, also emerges. An ostentatious arms race of classes, internships, and extra academic support ensures that the result is a dog-eat-dog style beating down of the weaker students so that the strongest gobble up the limited resources available. Even when taken out of the environment, those who grow up in such an environment display excessive aggression that others find disheartening.

As I witness the Africans offering help without being prompted on the streets of Malta, I am once again glad that I am here to witness firsthand how the country's diversity allows me to learn about differing social norms without having to step outside the little island. Perhaps the social environment that bred the mutual helpfulness of the Africans, as Malta becomes more multicultural, can one day become a Maltese trait as well. It will be a great day when I no longer notice, and better yet, partake in, the spontaneous offerings of small support I was offered on the bus.