Sunday, April 30, 2006
Free your mind - En Vogue
It is surprising how narrow minded some people can be. Actually, it is more than surprising - it is truly sad.
I was reading a mate's blog and she was indignant about the treatment received by a Filipino boy in a school in Canada. You see, he was punished for eating his lunch using a spoon and a fork!!!!
It appears that that is the common and accepted way to eat in the Phillipines - you eat from a plate using a spoon and a fork. The food is pushed onto the spoon using the fork.
This method of eating is very common in Malaysia also. Of course, being a multi-cultural society, we are accustomed to many different ways to eat. Most of the time, i eat my meals at home using a plate, a spoon and a fork in the manner described above. Other times, i eat using chopsticks. When i go to an Indian restaurant, i sometimes use my hands to eat. I eat steak using a knife and a fork!
Dinner for me here on 20/11/2005 - using me nice green fork and spoon!
These are just different methods of eating by different cultures. Who is to say that one culture is superior than the other and hence the practices of another culture is wrong?
Well, unfortunately, some Westerners think that way.
When the mother of the child above complained to the school Principle regarding the punishment meted out on the child, the response was "Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat". When she questioned him further about punishing students for their table habits, she said he replied that, "If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time."!!!!!
You can read all about it here.
It is so pitiful - no, not the poor boy only but the children in the school having teachers with that kind of mentality!!!!!
Even here, i have a flatmate - and he just refuses to accept practices and preferences which are different from his! For example, i like to travel down to London on me own. To him, he would never do such a thing. So fine. I respect him for that. But unfortunately, he can't do the same for me. He constantly mocks me and laughs at me for doing that.
And another thing - he simply can't accept the fact that i'm Chinese! I have Chinese parents - whose parents are Chinese. I speak a Chinese dialect. I have a Chinese name. I follow most Chinese cultural practices. But to him, i cannot be a Chinese guy cuz i'm from Malaysia.
There are many people like that. They have formed an opinion on how people should be and how they should behave - basically, like how they themselves are and how they themselves behave. If anyone does not fall into such a category, they are either weird, stupid or wrong. Or all of the above.
It is indeed very sad.
I'm just glad that so far, these people are in the minority. And many locals here do make an effort to learn and appreciate the culture of people who come from different lands - and to respect such cultural practices and beliefs, even tho they may not necessary agree with it.
I was reading a mate's blog and she was indignant about the treatment received by a Filipino boy in a school in Canada. You see, he was punished for eating his lunch using a spoon and a fork!!!!
It appears that that is the common and accepted way to eat in the Phillipines - you eat from a plate using a spoon and a fork. The food is pushed onto the spoon using the fork.
This method of eating is very common in Malaysia also. Of course, being a multi-cultural society, we are accustomed to many different ways to eat. Most of the time, i eat my meals at home using a plate, a spoon and a fork in the manner described above. Other times, i eat using chopsticks. When i go to an Indian restaurant, i sometimes use my hands to eat. I eat steak using a knife and a fork!
Dinner for me here on 20/11/2005 - using me nice green fork and spoon!
These are just different methods of eating by different cultures. Who is to say that one culture is superior than the other and hence the practices of another culture is wrong?
Well, unfortunately, some Westerners think that way.
When the mother of the child above complained to the school Principle regarding the punishment meted out on the child, the response was "Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat". When she questioned him further about punishing students for their table habits, she said he replied that, "If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time."!!!!!
You can read all about it here.
It is so pitiful - no, not the poor boy only but the children in the school having teachers with that kind of mentality!!!!!
Even here, i have a flatmate - and he just refuses to accept practices and preferences which are different from his! For example, i like to travel down to London on me own. To him, he would never do such a thing. So fine. I respect him for that. But unfortunately, he can't do the same for me. He constantly mocks me and laughs at me for doing that.
And another thing - he simply can't accept the fact that i'm Chinese! I have Chinese parents - whose parents are Chinese. I speak a Chinese dialect. I have a Chinese name. I follow most Chinese cultural practices. But to him, i cannot be a Chinese guy cuz i'm from Malaysia.
There are many people like that. They have formed an opinion on how people should be and how they should behave - basically, like how they themselves are and how they themselves behave. If anyone does not fall into such a category, they are either weird, stupid or wrong. Or all of the above.
It is indeed very sad.
I'm just glad that so far, these people are in the minority. And many locals here do make an effort to learn and appreciate the culture of people who come from different lands - and to respect such cultural practices and beliefs, even tho they may not necessary agree with it.
# posted by imissw : 1:51:00 am
