RE: I Love Potatoes
Oh! Received a comment on my "I Love Potatoes" post.
Missmowie said:
"You hit it on the dot. I was sitting in a garden when it struck me why I have been having so many problems with my life. Why I am having difficulty finding my own voice, passion, true self.And it dawned on me - asian culture instills fear. We are raised to fear authority, to give up any right to think, believe, be. Our parents dictate what we eat, wear, do, who we hang out with. Then, when we grow up we're thrown into a world and people wonder why we're so f'ed up. I get it now. I will not let my culture bring me down!"
Thanks for your comment, Missmowie. It's always comforting to know that someone else out there isn't drawn into our myopic culture's web of deceit.
I am blessed to have parents that are rather westernised compared to most of their peers.
But not everyone is so lucky. I would say that the majority of older Singaporeans continue to embrace Asian values, which if i could sum it all up, is to basically talk less and obey more. And because they embrace Asian values, they raise their children in accordance to these values.
Their children may be caned at home or in school for disobedience but the reason behind the caning may never be brought to light.
Asking questions with regards to why a certain rule is in place, for example, may also be deemed as an act of defiance rather than an act of curiosity or plain ignorance.
Career paths may even be chosen for them even before they decide one for themselves. Any career "out of the ordinary" is vehemently opposed. The usual lame reasons like "I know what's better for you" and "You will not survive doing this in Singapore" are given so as to oppress their children into submission.
Eventually, their children end up obeying just for the sake of obeying, and not obeying for the sake of knowing what's right, and doing what's right.
I dread to wonder how I would be like now had I been brought up in a typical, conservative Chinese family.
Just look at our so-called labour unions. More passive than they are active, I'd say. We live in a society where many workers are so subservient to authority, they'd walk away with a "$3 an hour pay check" saying thank you very much, not realizing how much they've been underpaid.
Why are we so afraid and continue to be submissive even in situations when we are injustly treated? Well we won't have to look far really, just consider what the Asian culture has done to make us the people-machines we are.
To others the Asian culture may be their ideal culture. For people like the both of us it will forever be a third world culture. A low class culture worth forgetting. And forsaking.
I couldn't be more blunt.
Missmowie said:
"You hit it on the dot. I was sitting in a garden when it struck me why I have been having so many problems with my life. Why I am having difficulty finding my own voice, passion, true self.And it dawned on me - asian culture instills fear. We are raised to fear authority, to give up any right to think, believe, be. Our parents dictate what we eat, wear, do, who we hang out with. Then, when we grow up we're thrown into a world and people wonder why we're so f'ed up. I get it now. I will not let my culture bring me down!"
Thanks for your comment, Missmowie. It's always comforting to know that someone else out there isn't drawn into our myopic culture's web of deceit.
I am blessed to have parents that are rather westernised compared to most of their peers.
But not everyone is so lucky. I would say that the majority of older Singaporeans continue to embrace Asian values, which if i could sum it all up, is to basically talk less and obey more. And because they embrace Asian values, they raise their children in accordance to these values.
Their children may be caned at home or in school for disobedience but the reason behind the caning may never be brought to light.
Asking questions with regards to why a certain rule is in place, for example, may also be deemed as an act of defiance rather than an act of curiosity or plain ignorance.
Career paths may even be chosen for them even before they decide one for themselves. Any career "out of the ordinary" is vehemently opposed. The usual lame reasons like "I know what's better for you" and "You will not survive doing this in Singapore" are given so as to oppress their children into submission.
Eventually, their children end up obeying just for the sake of obeying, and not obeying for the sake of knowing what's right, and doing what's right.
I dread to wonder how I would be like now had I been brought up in a typical, conservative Chinese family.
Just look at our so-called labour unions. More passive than they are active, I'd say. We live in a society where many workers are so subservient to authority, they'd walk away with a "$3 an hour pay check" saying thank you very much, not realizing how much they've been underpaid.
Why are we so afraid and continue to be submissive even in situations when we are injustly treated? Well we won't have to look far really, just consider what the Asian culture has done to make us the people-machines we are.
To others the Asian culture may be their ideal culture. For people like the both of us it will forever be a third world culture. A low class culture worth forgetting. And forsaking.
I couldn't be more blunt.
posted by dlauposer | 5:44 AM
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