Embracing Diversity

A friend once called me an ethnocentric (ie someone who has the the tendency to believe that one's own race or ethnic group is centrally important). I thought nothing of it at the point of time, thinking of it as nothing but a good natured ribbing that friends give each other because truth be told, I believe one cannot find a more liberal person than moi (though being liberal does not mean you have to compramise on your moral and religious beliefs). And the more diverse my companions and surroundings, the happier I am.

Then came this current fracas about my neighbouring country's 'Sweeping Malaysia' campaign (over a mistake that an international TV station innocently made in airing an Indonesian dance within a Tourism Malaysia promotional stint) and a more internally spawned 'food fight' (about which dish belongs to which state within Malaysia).

For a while there, my nationalistic (if not ethnic) sentiments rose to the fore and I was as quick to jump on the 'bicker bandwagon' as the rest of them.

Til I read two very fair and optimistic write ups by Dzof Azmi (Cultural Conundrum, The Star, 27 Sept 2009) and Malaysia's owned cook extraordinaire Chef Wan (Eat & Let Live, The Star, 25 Sept 2009) on the two subjects respectively. The articles made me take a step back and think of the topics and myself in total.

Since slews of opinionated people and subject matters have already discussed the matters to death, I shall not go down the same path but rather speak of how one should and would react to the matters instead.

I believe how we react to the issues generally relies on how confident and comfortable we are with ourselves and sense worth.

My mother is part Thai and Chinese with a liberal dosage of Malay; while my father comes from Javanese, Bugis and dare I say Pakistan lineage. While I prefer to claim some Saxon or Normandy blood within me or the fact that I wish I was part Japanese instead of Javanese, does not make me any less proud of being myself.

At the end of the day, I believe God has created us in the best possible way He can and it is up to us to accept it the way it is and make the best of the situation you are born in elst strive to be better.

For instance, once my sister sent me an article that says that Muslims should not drink Cappuccino bacause it was created by a Christian Monk who got the coffee beans from one of the numerous raids the Christian Crusaders made during their invasion of the Muslim World in the 11th to the 15th Centuries.

My answer to that was 'well, that's just too bad for the Muslims, but things that goes around will come around eventually (we shall not go into that debate today). However, the Lord has created coffee beans and milk and taught us to steam things. Hence, in the mean time, I'll go on enjoying my steamed milky coffee in whatever name it may come in as'.

In other words, if you are comfortable with yourself and the world in general, there is little need for you to jump into petty squabbles and meaningless arguments over whose dance belongs to whom, whose songs they were originally created for, which state the food we are eating really originates from and so on and so forth.

So, since I'm generally happy with who I am and where I come from, I will still continue to enjoy watching the Pendet Dance in Bali because I can afford to, I will still enjoy the Malaccan or Muarian Hainanese Chicken Rice because I have learned to cook it myself, I will still sing my National Athem with the gusto even though you might say that it is originally Terang Bulan (tho, if you insist on being petty I would insist that it actually stemed from Hawaii's My Mula Moon) and I will still continue to spatter my Manglish with the word 'lah' even if those across the causeway have 'branded' it as theirs.

Another realated example (since I am already on the roll) is the phrase 'Bite my thumb at thee' made popular by Shakespear's Romeo & Juliet. Though the term is widely accepted as an English one, some says that the term actually originates from the Middle East whereby when Saxon armies took prisoners in Southern Europe in the middle ages (then under the Muslim rule), the prisoners would sometimes be offered the chance to earn their freedom by eating a fig from a mule's anus. As the captors taunted their captive, offering them this degrading method of escape, the prisoners would bite their thumbs as a sign that they would rather eat their own finger than to earn their freedom in such a degrading way (Urban Dictionary). Relating to that incident and caption, one hardly use the term nowadays preferring the modern way of signaling 'Fie on You' and could not really care less where the sign truly originates from (a clear evidence is when you try to google where the caption comes from and you will only get the Urban Dictionary that does so).

As Dzof wrote, culture is 'organic and unfixed', so I say 'get on with life, people and put on your best batik shirt while you're at it'.

True enough one should be sensitive about such things, but one should really not blow things out of proportion - lest people would think you are being overzealous and perhaps have developed a sense of insecurity complex about the situation.

Thus, maintaining a rationale outlook over the issues at hand (as how our Malaysian students have done with their counterpart; and our internal foodie factions have not) is probably the best way to handle things while maintaining your self respect along the way.

Hence, our neighbours should be confident and secure enough in knowing that God has bestowed upon them such creativity and abundant resources rather than trying to tell the whole world that such and such belong to them. The world already knows that. Why, Indonesia is a way popular tourist destination than Malaysia, and we Malaysians are not upset over that. And as for the people of Malacca, Muar and Penang, go settle down and start cooking already!

After all, if one is confident in being part Thai, Chinese, Javanese, Bugis and Pakistani which equates to one being a Malay, one is being Truly Asian without even trying - and embracing that particular diversity in oneself is the beginning in trying to embrace others.

Why Do Men Have Buttons on Their Jacket Sleeves?

It scares me to think of how many trivia I know.

I remember having this huge book of facts and fancies when I was young and lugging it everywhere I go. One trivia I remember most is how the button on the jacket sleeves came to be.

And so, I wanted to post that little fact here, but could not really remember which era or country it originates from. So, as always, I turned my friend Mr Google. And lo and behold, true enough I was directed to this site called The Big Site of Amazing Facts. It is awesome!

So the trivia goes : Why Do Men Have Buttons on Their Jacket Sleeves?

"The buttons on the sleeves of men's jackets serve no real purpose today. But there are many stories explaining how they came to be there. One story involves Frederick the Great, who was King of Prussia in the 1700s. Frederick's armies were involved in a great many wars, and he was often on the field of battle with his troops. One of his concerns, so the story goes, was the appearance of his men. Once, as he went about inspecting his soldiers, he became quite upset at the dirty sleeves of their uniforms. When he asked why the sleeves were dirtier than the rest of the uniforms, he was told that the soldiers wiped the sweat from their faces on their sleeves. Frederick refused to have this habit continue, so to stop it, he ordered metal buttons sewn on the top side of all soldiers' sleeves. That way, if the men wiped their faces, using their sleeves as a towel, they would get badly scratched. Eventually these buttons were put on civilians' jackets as well, but only as decoration. So if you notice buttons on your father's jacket sleeve, don't think that your mother put them there to stop him from using his jacket as a towel. The buttons are only for decoration!"

So, that's it, folks how button on the jacket sleeves came to be. See you next time!

......huh? You expected an anecdote or moral of the story type of thingy? Nope, just wanted to share the trivia, tis all! Cheers.

Finding your Neverland

I've always wanted to be a singer.

One of my earlier dreams was to be the female alternate lead for Spandau Ballet (in case Tony Hedley ever got the flu).

Since young, I've always loved being on stage, singing and dancing, with the many costume change, being whomever I choose to be at the time.

In school I always looked forward to the concert practices, if not the concerts themselves, rather than the sports day or examinations for that matter.

But no...my dad told me to go get an education instead.

So, here I am, working 9 to 5 (or 7 or 8 or whatever time my management wants me to work till) and frequenting the Karaoke bars as many times a month I possibly can (with family and friends, mind you, lest you think sordid thoughts of me).

Non the less, tho I still dream of dancing and singing away at Wembley one day, I have to admit that the lord has been extremely kind to me. My life till now has been quite blessed and I have no regrets.

Which comes to my point of discussion - would one opt for the simple yet stable environment that the ordinary life provides or the glitz and glamour, but ladelled with inconsistencies and sometimes sadness that the celebrity life begets.

This train of though came about from the recent demiss of the King of Pop. I did shed a tear or two at the announcement of him passing away. Not that I was ever a huge fan, but more of the fact that Michael Jackson was a global institution.

I remembered the time when my sister and I used to rent VHS (the video format of yester years) of Tops of the Pops and Solid Gold. We were more into the pretty boys of the 'British Invasion' like Kajagoogoo, Limalh, Duran Duran. Ultravox, Boy George and Spandau Bellet, of course. But somehow we made an exception for the 'Black or White' American, MJ, to be included in our list of favourite artistes.

Those were the days when Thriller, Rio, Gold, True, Beat It, Do They Know It's Christmas and We Are The World filled our airwaves. I even managed to catch Jacko at his 1993 Dangerous Tour in Wembley. It was the only concert that I saved for with my meager scholarship money (never did manage to get that summer job).

MJ was the ultimate entertainer. He was the IT Boy, Wow factor and Glamour Puss all rolled into one. Musically he ruled the world and all our hearts. He brought excitement, love and happiness to all of us. Sadly, though he may have the excitement and love, we do wonder if he attained that happiness he craved.

My point is...celebrities always seemed to have it good and some of them really did. They had or have them all - the fame, the money, the good looks (before or after going under the knife, we sometimes wonder), the beautiful spouses and children, almost everything one could hope for. but I believe most of them have the biggest share of sadness and despair as well. As the fame and perks magnify so does the heart aches in most cases. Even long standing, happy, stable celebrity couples like Will Smith-Jada Pinket and...and...(you see what I mean) may also have problems that us mere mortals do see or can even begin to comprehend.

However, when you list down the celebrities who have or are going through difficult times or pure desparation, the list can go on forever : think Elvis, Britney, Marilyn, Lennon and Carradine, just to name a few.

Hence, perhaps some of us are better this way, living the life of the ordinary and reaping simple pleasures of life - karaoke sessions with the gang, screaming and shouting to get the kids to brush their teeth properly and then cuddling them to sleep, working your behind off for weeks and then getting the pats on your shoulder from your boss for it, getting that long awaited designer hand bag from your lovely hubby and kissing your parents on their cheeks after your weekly visit with them.

The wonderful world of mediocrity and loving every minute of it. After all, Neverland is what you choose it to be.

To blog or not to blog

We used to call them writing.

Now they are doodles, blogs, posts, rambles and many more. But then again, a rose by any other name…

So, people tell me, “if you want to write, write about things that are close to your heart”. Well, I certainly love to talk, but writing is a totally different matter all together.

Thus, here I am, on a journey of self discovery before I truly find my niche.

Hmm, where do I begin? Right then, let’s begin listing the things I do, know, love and good at (not necessarily in that or any particular order) and put a sanity check on all or most of them :
At the time of writing, I am one year short of turning the Big Four-Zero : sane

• I’m happily married with 3 lovely children : very sane
• I have a well paying, respectable job with a reputable organization : quite sane
• I love all aspects of the entertainment world : normalcy
• I am an Xphile (the Netizen’s name for the X Files fanatics -yup, the Mulder and Scully brand) : borderline normalcy, or maybe not
• I read online manga : Hmm…for a 39er, maybe not so sane
• I love watching animes : again for the age group, borderline lunacy
• I read and write fanfictions : bring out the warning bells
• I love J and K pop cultures : hmm…ok, back to a positive sanity check (being soap opera fanatics are quite normal for the ageing population, I heard, regardless of the language)
• I live in a household of 21 people (3 families with children, with 1 father in law, 2 domestic helpers, 2 headgehogs, 3 cats, 5 arawanas as well as 4 cable TV connections and counting : beyond normalcy

Ok, 6 out of 10 is not so bad, right? Well, at least in my book.

Ok, enough ‘blogging’ for one session. Will figure out my ‘Niche Area’ (a term currently popular in my area of work) in my next post.

So, til next time…