Face and politeness: It's an everywhere thing

So we realise that the concept of face and politeness again boils down to the culture of an environment. I think although positive politeness is largely associated with the Asian context, Singapore with its Western influences, may be gradually heading the way towards negative politeness. This can be seen in people's (including me) reluctance to give up seats in buses or trains for fear of offending the other party.

Also, in another instance, as my sister is working in a Japanese organisation, it is interesting to note that they add 'san' when addressing everyone, even if it is from Singaporean to Singaporean. Hence it would be like 'Teresa-san' instead of just Teresa. This is like what they say, 'When in Rome, do what the Romans do.'