Chinese Culture

[wawa]

Well, I think what she did was right.
She should have got him to stay in hotel until they're sure that he's SARS free..
I've read about sad cases where almost entire families are wiped out by SARS because they welcomed family members who came from SARS country..
She still has the children's safety to consider, rite?

[wawa]

Well, I think what she did was right.
She should have got him to stay in hotel until they're sure that he's SARS free..
I've read about sad cases where almost entire families are wiped out by SARS because they welcomed family members who came from SARS country..
She still has the children's safety to consider, rite?

[jiinjoo]

Weird combination of topics Let's take them apart? I'll do the first question.

Q. Do you think that chinese culture is a burden?
A. Instead of generalizing, I shall answer in a very specific context, which is whether Chinese in South East Asia, most notably in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia is a burden. To give more perspectives in Malaysia we can just peek at our neighbors.

Singapore is the odd one out in this respect. They are volunteerily giving up more and more of their roots, in favor of the modern outlook. The government had since tried to reverse the trend, most notably by enforcing this speak Chinese campaign in 79. In many parts of Singapore, being Chinese makes you better off, entering high levels of governance, military, etc.

Indonesia used to be on the other end of supression. No Chinese characters, no Chinese names, no Chinese schools, no Chinese cultural practices. Nothing. One country, one nation, one language. In exchange for stripping the Chinese of their culture, they were given leeway to control the economy. The rest is history. Just last year, they finally "reintroduce" Chinese culture. Finally you get to see temples in operation, lion dances, etc on the streets.

Thailand embraced democracy. But this says nothing about the 50 families that control the economy of the country. Not to the extend of Indonesia, Thais all have Thai names, they are predominantly buddhist so there is less of a clash in beliefs. Chinese can be in power (Thaksin is a Chinese), and most Chinese simply assimilate. Culturally, they are unique - and it has been many generations since they assimilate.

What does this tells us about the Chinese cultural burden in Malaysia? The Chinese in Malaysia are not in agreement on assimilation, some of our dirtiest political soap opera comes out of our Chinese practise in general. Yes we can avoid Indonesia's riots and our own May 13 by doing so, but at the same time we will not reach the Thailand stage where it doesn't matter. The Chinese are not out in the majority and the chances of this happening is extremely slim so Singapore's justification of continuously carrying your culture in hopes of better life doesn't fit the mold. If you see it in this light, then it is justifiable to say that carrying the Chinese culture has no future.

What about the other way round? Practising your culture in a multicultural setting freely with friends from other cultural background respecting you might be the best feeling ever! My own experiences says that having Malay and Indian friends coming over for Chinese New Year gatherings is very very valuable. I felt good because I served a number of my Malay friends "Yu Sang" last CNY. Maybe this is why Indo is reintroducing Chinese culture? (save the political ploy) But at the same time, the Chinese carry their culture out of routine and habit, rather than government coercion. Isn't this better than the Singapore story I just made? People actually feeling proud of what they do instead of people doing things that the government telling them it is good for them.

The last thing is about Thailand's way of carrying culture. I'm not sure if I can find any reason not to pursue it in Malaysia. Given a chance, I'd still like to see a multiracial Malaysia, doesn't have to be Meritocratic, but at least everyone stands a chance to be the leader. We shall see.

[jiinjoo]

Weird combination of topics Let's take them apart? I'll do the first question.

Q. Do you think that chinese culture is a burden?
A. Instead of generalizing, I shall answer in a very specific context, which is whether Chinese in South East Asia, most notably in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia is a burden. To give more perspectives in Malaysia we can just peek at our neighbors.

Singapore is the odd one out in this respect. They are volunteerily giving up more and more of their roots, in favor of the modern outlook. The government had since tried to reverse the trend, most notably by enforcing this speak Chinese campaign in 79. In many parts of Singapore, being Chinese makes you better off, entering high levels of governance, military, etc.

Indonesia used to be on the other end of supression. No Chinese characters, no Chinese names, no Chinese schools, no Chinese cultural practices. Nothing. One country, one nation, one language. In exchange for stripping the Chinese of their culture, they were given leeway to control the economy. The rest is history. Just last year, they finally "reintroduce" Chinese culture. Finally you get to see temples in operation, lion dances, etc on the streets.

Thailand embraced democracy. But this says nothing about the 50 families that control the economy of the country. Not to the extend of Indonesia, Thais all have Thai names, they are predominantly buddhist so there is less of a clash in beliefs. Chinese can be in power (Thaksin is a Chinese), and most Chinese simply assimilate. Culturally, they are unique - and it has been many generations since they assimilate.

What does this tells us about the Chinese cultural burden in Malaysia? The Chinese in Malaysia are not in agreement on assimilation, some of our dirtiest political soap opera comes out of our Chinese practise in general. Yes we can avoid Indonesia's riots and our own May 13 by doing so, but at the same time we will not reach the Thailand stage where it doesn't matter. The Chinese are not out in the majority and the chances of this happening is extremely slim so Singapore's justification of continuously carrying your culture in hopes of better life doesn't fit the mold. If you see it in this light, then it is justifiable to say that carrying the Chinese culture has no future.

What about the other way round? Practising your culture in a multicultural setting freely with friends from other cultural background respecting you might be the best feeling ever! My own experiences says that having Malay and Indian friends coming over for Chinese New Year gatherings is very very valuable. I felt good because I served a number of my Malay friends "Yu Sang" last CNY. Maybe this is why Indo is reintroducing Chinese culture? (save the political ploy) But at the same time, the Chinese carry their culture out of routine and habit, rather than government coercion. Isn't this better than the Singapore story I just made? People actually feeling proud of what they do instead of people doing things that the government telling them it is good for them.

The last thing is about Thailand's way of carrying culture. I'm not sure if I can find any reason not to pursue it in Malaysia. Given a chance, I'd still like to see a multiracial Malaysia, doesn't have to be Meritocratic, but at least everyone stands a chance to be the leader. We shall see.

[Cadence_hope]

I'm totally agreed with what luminodreamer89 had mentioned in the thread 'Chinese Articles to Share' which stated that the usage of a language is not to differentiate the people, but instead to bring us closer to understand and communicate with each other. Therefore, language should not be a barrier to explore the uniqueness of Chinese culture.

It seemed like there was a bit digression in the thread 'Chinese Articles to Share'. So I created this thread to enable every recom-er, regardless of race and religion, to discuss and understand more about the Chinese culture. All discussion should be in English. The topic 'Chinese culture' covers a very wide scope, which ranges from Chinese language, literature, music(opera), to martial arts(KungFu) and believes(Feng Shui, Yin Yang). Well maybe we won't touch so deeply in so many things.

I would like to give out some questions as kickstarts for discussion. How much do we, as a malaysian, know about Chinese culture(including Chinese language)? How many of them willing to learn Chinese culture although they are not growing up in Chinese speaking/learning environment? What do you think of those 'bananas'? (I'm sorry for using this word, no offense)

[nickvl]

An interesting thread....i think i'll touch on the banana-ness ....lol
These two groups exists...in school there are usually groups where some just speak mandarin and the other just English and they don't really mix socially...

I don't think xiang jiao-s (banana) are any less chinese...they just grew up in a different environment where ppl around them happen to speak English.

I grew up with my granparents and parents who spoke english...as a result i don't speak chinese (my mum sent me to learn chinese but i was a total failure..lol) but it doesn't make me less a chinese. I know most customs and traditions n i follow them (eg rolling tong yuen for winter solstice)....

Another thing...chinese-speaking ppl tend to think that english speaking chinese are usually christians...what do u think?

[Miracle_seed]

Originally Posted by nickvl

Another thing...chinese-speaking ppl tend to think that english speaking chinese are usually christians...what do u think?

Because Christians are more predominant in English-speaking society than Chinese-speaking society? However I've seen some friends attending Chinese church too... And guess what? I think Penang has most number of Christians after Sarawak (Among Chinese).

[nickvl]

Originally Posted by Miracle_seed

Because Christians are more predominant in English-speaking society than Chinese-speaking society? However I've seen some friends attending Chinese church too... And guess what? I think Penang has most number of Christians after Sarawak (Among Ghinese).

While it is true sometimes, it is a misconception because certain things are assumed before you eben get to know the person...

[yanno_yamster]

Originally Posted by nickvl

While it is true sometimes, it is a misconception because certain things are assumed before you eben get to know the person...

Yes, I agree. This has happened to me before. There was one person who was so surprised that I am a Buddhist instead of a Christian just because I speak English. And we know each other.

My case is almost like nickvl, but I do speak chinese with my grandparents (usually in cantonese). According to my friend, if you observe your surroundings in NS, you will notice there are mainly 4 groups of people: The malay speaking group, the Indian language speaking group, the chinese speaking group and lastly, the English speaking group... The so-called bananas seem to be indirectly treated as if they're outsiders... I don't know if this is true or not though, so correct me if I'm wrong.

[henry_yew]

Originally Posted by yanno_yamster

The so-called bananas seem to be indirectly treated as if they're outsiders... I don't know if this is true or not though, so correct me if I'm wrong.

This happens as we speak or write in this forum. I know because I am English-educated and honestly, my main language is English. I speak Mandarin and I could still write a bit of Mandarin but nothing very advanced. I have often encountered situations where students who speak mainly in Mandarin would shy away from me. As I was a staunch English user back in school, I made very few friends from Chinese schools.

Now that I am in university, I can't help but feeling that in order to be easily accepted, it would be better if I start conversing with people in Mandarin. Those who are comfortable about using English with me would find that I am more than willing to use English in my daily conversations, while those who are more comfortable in using Mandarin would find that I am equally proficient in the language, although they may need to explain some more technical terms.

Recently my university had a Chinese orchestra performance where we had also invited four schools, three of which are Chinese schools, to perform with us, namely SMJK Hua Lian (Taiping), SMK Valdor (Penang), Chung Ling Private High School (Penang) and SMJK Keat Hwa (Alor Setar). Students from these schools are definitely more comfortable with me speaking to them in Mandarin. I have, in the past, used English to converse with my own orchestra members in front of the school students, and they have cynically passed remark about us university students speaking "difficult" English. However, the moment I used Mandarin in giving instructions, they are significantly more at ease. Of course, I would need to provide my instructions in English as well, as there are indeed "bananas" and non-Chinese members.

However things are not black and white all the while. There is always a grey area. You see, "bananas" are often referred to Chinese who do not know how to speak or read Mandarin, while "non-bananas" are, of course, Chinese who can speak and read Mandarin very well. But there are people who are always "in between things", like me. So what are the prospects for such people who are "in between things"? There are Chinese who can speak well in Mandarin and yet they do not know how to read a single Chinese word. There are Chinese who, like me, can speak and write in Mandarin but possess a limited vocabulary.

Those who do not know Mandarin may not have the interest to study about Chinese literature at all, but what about those "in between things"? People like me may have the intention to further understand Chinese literature but could not do so because of our poor command of Mandarin. Oftentimes it is not that we do not want to learn but rather the steep learning curve that we will need to face, especially at our age now. You will find that at this time, more effort would be put into your medical, engineering or other subjects rather than for picking up a new language, unless you take it as part of your university course.

P/S: The recent performance I put up in university really put my Mandarin to the test. We invited a soloist from Shanghai, and I had to correspond to her via e-mail about our programme, so I had to use Mandarin. Also, while corresponding with representatives from the secondary schools, I also used Mandarin and they sent me details of their performers in Mandarin, too. The worst part was that I was given the biography of the soloist in Mandarin and I had to translate it to English there and then, and my other friends were not around to help me! It was agony at first, then gradually I have got myself used to communicating in Mandarin even through SMS. I am particularly happy when I received a compliment from one of the Keat Hwa performers saying that my Mandarin has improved.