SILENCE: GOLDEN OR GOLD-COATED?

Today  morning I watched a programme on the Japanese channel NHK (DStv 433). The programme was called Begin Japanology and it focuses on aspects of Japan that people tend to overlook. Today's topic was Zen Buddhism. Now, this has overally nothing to do with the topic I am just about to discuss but it is the foundation.

The Zen head priest called Noelke Muho was telling the presenter of the challenges he faced while becoming a priest and then he stopped talking. The air was filled with utter silence and it spread over to my living room. What was the silence for? Was he thinking of what to say next or did he just fill that it was necessary? The answer to those questions are irrelevant at this stage.
Anyway, there is a saying that states that speech is silver and silence is golden. What does that even mean? Well, most people would state that it refers to the idea that a lot more can be gotten from silence than from speech. How is that so?
When I was a child my mother always wondered why I was so quiet. That would then lead to a squabble which would end with her telling me that whenever I had a problem I should learn to speak up about it. What did I learn from that? I learned that silence isn't golden but gold-coated.
What can silence get you? It can get you a lot of things such as the nickname "push-over", a headache from people constantly pushing you over and people's assumption of your weakness. Yeah, not much good comes of it.
In the far east (Japan to be specific), they have symbols which tell us more on silence and outspokenness.This symbols "Deko and Beko" refer to ideologies. Deko speaks of the the state of mind used by the Japanese. That state of mind refers to the fact that they do not need to speak up to know that something needs to be done i.e. they understand the aura exerted by those around them and beko refers to the state of mind commonly around the west which states that you need to speak up to get what you want.

Which of the two idealogies is correct? Do you think that silence is golden or is it gold-coated or is speech silver or is it just shiny aluminium? You be the judge.