a comment from the guest seated on my right, " ... I couldn't almost believe my eyes ... a be-spectacled ang-moh, in the MacDonald's at Boat Quay, reading a thick book in traditional Chinese text, top to bottom, right to left, and he got a stack of other Chinese books with him!"
I politely inquired when this happened, and when told the answer, I thought I could make a good intelligent guess to the identity of the culprit who almost gave Singaporeans a heart attack.
If it turns out to be him, I must caution him about it.
However, according to the eye-witness, said culprit was at a McDonald's?? Hmm..
ReplyDeleteI don't want to make hasty judgments, but the potential suspect did post a series of photos taken along the banks of Boat Quay during his trip here ...
ReplyDeleteIndeed, circumstantial evidence to point to said suspect.
ReplyDeleteCan't be... According to reliable sources, who required to remain anonymous, the only McDonald's the angmoh you seem to suspect ate at was in Changi, and it was all Kitmeng's fault... Beside, the picture trip to Boat Quay didn't involve book buying.
ReplyDeleteBut he most certainly did read some books in chinese in public places, generally on some kind of route connecting Bras Basah to the AMK Hub.
And btw, aren't all interesting chinese books written top down and right to left?
Sigh..this looks like there another angmoh running about Singapore with loads and loads of Chinese books.. and for that matter, rather ancient texts that even modern day Chinese don't even read...
ReplyDeletehmm, this should be a common sight soon.... especially if China continues to become the main focus of the world... so history and the works belong to the world.... welcome any angmoh with a thirst for Chinese history, culture and language... :-)
Hehe...
ReplyDeleteWe should track down this top-down-right-left-chinese-book-reading angmoh. He sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh Fransuah.... you just simple CANNOT leave without trying our MacDonalds. I merely did you a favour, but no thanks required... no, no really... no thanks required... MacD ice-milo, $1.60... the look on your face.... priceless.
Yeah... time to send someone there to check the man out... how about the zee french maid... at least she would be less threatening... :-)
ReplyDeleteFrancois wears specs? Hmmm this is something I was not aware of..
ReplyDeleteYes try McCafe too, not bad.. but do ask for less sugar or milk.. rather sweet.
Yes, when in his not-so-vain moods he does.
ReplyDeleteMcCafe tastes like long kang chwee to me...
ReplyDeleteGive me my kopitiam kopi anytime.
well since we were on the subject of Mcdonalds... McCafe definitely tastes better than any other HOT beverage serves there.
ReplyDeleteof course, my Indian kopitiam's teh is still my all-time favorite.
Yup...teh tarik is best served by these old-timers.
ReplyDeleteIt does say something when a Chinese Singaporean's eyes popped out at the sight of a Caucasian guy reading thick traditional Chinese books in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine any French blinking an eyelid at the sight of a Chinese Singaporean reading a thick Latin volume in the heart of Paris.
sad ain't it?
ReplyDeleteThe sad part is that incredulous Chinese Singaporean can't or wouldn't read said text.
ReplyDeleteHow true.
ReplyDeleteI won't say it's sad ... after all, it all depends on what being Chinese means to individual Chinese Singaporeans.
ReplyDeleteTo some Cantonese, it is unthinkable to turn up one's nose at mahjong ... if one is supposed to be a Cantonese, that is.
I'm Cantonese but I will never play mahjong - probably because I see how my grandmother has been addicted to this form of gambling that is so sadly...debilitating.
ReplyDeleteAnd furthermore, the sight of other non-Chinese taking keen interest in Chinese texts might inspire some to take a second (or first) look at their heritage.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it happened for Taiji, Daoism, Buddhism etc.
True. There is a Eurasian in my Taiji group too.
ReplyDeleteWe had this discussion before IIRC and my stance is still the same, its not an individual thing, if it was I can jolly well say I am French/German/Japanese/fill in your own ethnicity can't I?
ReplyDeleteAs a cultural group and ethncity there are the expectations of the group which feels right from the group's perspective. Thus, we, as the collective Chinese, can label folks like Straits Times columnist Andy Ho as Chinese only as far as his skin colour and his identity card goes. Everything else he does seems to be a attempt to deny his Chinese roots and culture. In fact I can probably locate a recent article where he explicit says the same thing.
Likewise I have a very good friend, an Indonesian of Chinese descent. I don't think of her as Chinese because nothing she does is Chinese, she neither speaks nor writes nor observes any of the customs. And she happens not think of herself as Chinese either except in a distant sort of way.
Culture is something that has to be constantly strive for and retained and coming together as a community. Use it or lose it. As a Christian you must understand the imperatives of retaining culture by immersing in it, why else the need for church gatherings and frequent attendance, and constant bombardment with Christian messages within the community? Merely another way of propagating culture, in this case the Christian culture. Therefore for Chinese Singaporeans to continue to have a identifiably Chinese culture they will need to continuously engage in it in all its myriad ways and make it a part of your everyday lives. We will not all do it the same way, some are illiterate, some can't speak the language, some dont know much about the customs but collective as a group the culture can be retained and flourish.
So again once ethnicity cannot be viewed on a personal level. By definition, it would depend on how others in the community view and accept you. I look forward to the day when the reaction of said eye-witness will be,' oh good, foreigners are taking a deeper interest in our classics/culture/literature'
No culture survives unscathed in contact with another. But we can mediate the speed of change such that the general core is retained from generation to generation such that it is recognisable by one's parents or grandparents or those within living memory.