Malaysia
I've been asked to present about Malaysia to the international spouses at the IHouse on November 6th. For the past month or so, I've been piecing together my presentation and doing lots of research on Malaysia for this purpose.
If I were back in Malaysia, this would have been unthinkable. Among Malaysians, I'm the last person you want to ask about Malaysian culture, seeing as I'm not very culturally knowledgeable about the gazillion ethnicities and hybrids that Malaysia boasts. I am Chinese, but I hardly know any Chinese traditions because I was brought up practically anglicized. Being Christians, my parents didn't subscribe to superstitions and old wives' tales, and neither did we. Being mostly introverts, we didn't celebrate festivals on a large scale, much less know about the background of these festivals. Granted, I did pick up some Chinese history and mythology from the Chinese primary school I attended, but knowledge doesn't stick when it isn't applied. =P
If I were back in Malaysia, this would have been unthinkable. Among Malaysians, I'm the last person you want to ask about Malaysian culture, seeing as I'm not very culturally knowledgeable about the gazillion ethnicities and hybrids that Malaysia boasts. I am Chinese, but I hardly know any Chinese traditions because I was brought up practically anglicized. Being Christians, my parents didn't subscribe to superstitions and old wives' tales, and neither did we. Being mostly introverts, we didn't celebrate festivals on a large scale, much less know about the background of these festivals. Granted, I did pick up some Chinese history and mythology from the Chinese primary school I attended, but knowledge doesn't stick when it isn't applied. =P
I remember wishing everyone held to universal values, and I still do now. Wouldn't it be so much easier to get along with everyone else if nobody held any preconceptions about "proper" ways to do things? As long as it is efficient and rational, why should anyone get offended? Aren't universal values of love, respect and honesty good enough to show that a person is well-meaning? Most of all, why did people expect you to be know enough to be culturally sensitive when there are so many cultures in Malaysia? That's just unreasonable, and opens the door to even more racial friction due to perceived offenses.
That's one of the reasons I like being in the States. It's okay to be your own person, and there are fewer cultural expectations to navigate through. I don't feel pressured to act like a "proper" Chinese, because there's not enough of a community here to judge me. Back home I was in the minority among my Chinese friends, but that just made me feel like a loner. Here, I'm also in the minority among my American/international friends, but since I'm different, I can do whatever I want! Don't get me wrong, fitting in here wasn't exactly a walk in the park either, and sometimes I still feel awkward when exchanging pleasantries with strangers. But people here are more open, and hence, less likely to be offended by what Malaysians would deem to be a complete lack of 'budi bahasa'. I probably fell into that category back in Malaysia. =P
Anyway, back to the presentation on Malaysia. Browsing through so many pictures of Malaysian food and tourism spots made me feel warm inside. Being in a different country helps you to evaluate your home country objectively, and I can say I'm actually excited to present about Malaysia because it's different from other countries. Because for all the things that Malaysia could do better, there are also a lot of things that make me call it home. There's no way I can cover everything about Malaysia in 40 minutes, but I do hope that the Malaysian warmth and hospitality gets across to the audience.
And may they salivate over the food pictures. =P
I find it interesting that you have a more positive take on Americans' fewer expectations on culture. I think this is largely because the both of us are anglicized and so we appreciate not having to live under the pressure of being a "proper" Chinese. However, one could easily argue that the lack of cultural pressure is due to the fact that they are quite ignorant of any culture outside their own, and so they wouldn't know what a Chinese [insert other race] is supposed to behave like anyway. For a person raised on very traditional Chinese values, he/she will often find themselves being ridiculed, teased, or discriminated, as in the case with most of my classmates from China (even in a very open state and uni town). I *do* feel like I "fit" in better here, considering that I don't speak Chinese well but am fluent in English, and that I am also much larger in clothing sizes than the typical Malaysian. But I wouldn't attribute my "fitting-in" to the States' openness...rather, my views/character/personality is somehow more aligned with theirs than Malaysians. So even though ethnic-wise I am a minority, I don't feel like a loner. I'm sure other more "traditional" Malaysians (like my parents) argue otherwise. Interesting, eh?
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ReplyDeleteWhether a country being more culturally aware and sensitive or being more ignorant, and thus, inadvertently less sensitive is better or worse for the "in-between" minorities like us is another debatable topic. Interesting topic to study if I was a sociology major. **typo lol
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting - I feel that people here (in Durham at least) are so careful about being politically correct that I've never actually heard racist or discriminatory remarks being made. And I don't mind people being ignorant as long as they don't ridicule others out of their ignorance. Now, if they happen to accidentally do so, then it's the other party's responsibility to communicate clearly the offense and not take it personally. One can be ignorant without being a complete jerk, and likewise, one can be culturally sensitive without being overly sensitive. I'm probably biased but I feel like the American culture is more receptive towards open dialogues about such topics than the Asian culture where the tendency is more towards sweeping things under the carpet while stewing in silent resentment. I'm sorry I went off tangent while responding to your comment, just some thoughts I wanted to add about the culture conundrum. =P
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