I worked in Malaysia with a manager who was Malaysian born, educated in England, and lived in Singapore. His code-shift was seamless: leaning in with a hand on the listener’s shoulder when talking to Malays, standing close but stiff and upright when talking to Malaysian or Singaporean Chinese, and at least five feet away when talking to white people. The language, accent, slang, and hand movements would all shift instantly and never stumbled. I was in awe.
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