Week 11 - PR in Asian Countries

Monday, March 15, 2010 2:16 PM

Public relations in Asian countries are different from that in Western countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Some Asian countries mentioned in the readings are China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, , the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and so on. Not only does public relations differ between Asian countries and Western countries, public relations in Asian countries itself, differ from one another.

This difference is caused by the difference in culture, language and the way the government works in the different countries. Due to these differences, the way public relations is being practised and managed needs to be different. There isn't a “one size fits all” kind of thing.

Take for instance in China, the country is a communist country. That in itself makes circumstances different for public relations. As for their language, Mandarin is their first language but despite these factors, public relations in China is opening up. And as in China, Hong Kong (SAR) is somewhat similar in terms of guanxi. Chinese people holds guanxi in high regard. It is basically building relationships.

The Philippines' public relations comes a long way with its influence mainly from the United States. However, public relations in the Philippines is not always free of corruption which is quite upsetting in my opinion. Another example would be Singapore. Singapore is a small country but public relations has been on the rise over the recent years. What is depressing to know is that Singapore has trouble with understanding the definition of public relations and the consequence of that is that public relations is being mixed and jumbled up with marketing, advertising and publicity. Besides that, Singapore's government is the one controlling the media.

Public relations is not easy to understand and to carry out. There are a lot of lines, boundaries, codes of ethics to follow. Dealing with different countries' public relations, public relations practitioners must be careful and sensitive to the cultural differences. When it comes to dealing with different organizations, they too have a different set of rules to follow; i.e. the way they work and all. Building relationships with others and maintaining them are important and necessary. Through given opportunities and experiences, the PR skills of public relations practitioners can be honed.

3 hugs

Week 11 - PR in Asian Countries

Monday, March 15, 2010 2:16 PM

Monday, March 15, 2010 2:16 PM