My first interaction with internationalisation to a major extent was with the Africans. I had to stay in Kedah for two months before entering the faculty; a requirement of the scholarship. When I first arrived there was a man who came up to me full of smiles, and with greetings. He picked up the heavier luggage with both his hands and carried it up to the second floor. I didn’t even ask him, but it happened in a split second. Ever since that day, both of us were good friends. I helped him with English over there because there was hardly anything for me to do; purpose of the complex in Kedah was for scholars to learn English and then enter their faculties.
Last week, while preparing for my Arabic mid term, there were a few things that I couldn’t comprehend. I sent him a text and he said he would come to my room after meeting a friend. True to his word, he came to my room close to 1am. Being a Somali he had his primary education in Arabic, and then made the transition to English in secondary school. He was a bit rusty nevertheless he made great efforts to help me. Wherever he couldn’t comprehend apologies ensued profusely to the extent I had to make him stop saying “sorry.” He is a remarkable man this chap; full of optimism like its never going to run out. One day I was ‘bitching’ about how the current semester is turning out to which he said “don’t worry we have survived 4 years till now, and Insha Allah this will be ok too.” I can’t help but envy him in a way for his perception. God, wish I had that!!
Learning Arabic was only an hour, but our conversation trailed on to other topics. I always like to learn about other countries and their cultures, thus I engaged him in a chat. From what I learnt (I’ve learnt a little previously as well) Somalia seems to be a nice place ruled by a bunch of misguided people. In Africa a person’s clan is everything. He said that if I came to Somalia I would be considered a member of his tribe by default of association. Then if I was in danger his clan would even die for me; emphasis on ‘die.’ Now that is really some hardcore people. Every house over there has a T-56, AK-47, or some sort of firearm, but it’s all confined to private quarters. No one is allowed to walk into town with a gun. If a person kills another out of hate or spite there is only one thing to expect the next day- death! The killer would be pursued, not to mention notifying the killer’s clan to hand over the perpetrator. If he leaves the country, then the killer’s family is in for trouble- a lot of it. We talked about Somalia for hours and I loved everything I got to know. I asked certain critical open-ended questions and my friend was frank in his answers.
I don’t know why Africans are being discriminated so much. Is because their just black?? I mean a lot of locals have a distorted image about them. Even the Malay guy next to me while I was doing my practical training referred to Africans as “niggers.” First time I heard that word it made me a bit uneasy, even slightly offended; its then justified for an African to lose his mind. What’s the big issue with colour anyway? I’m never going to pass any judgement on a personal level, but ignoring stereotypes in a bit difficult as well. Even though my Somali friend is black, I swear that his heart is pure white.
I’m also learning more about Chinese culture from my group mate. China is very fascinating and immensely populated, but there is an allure surrounding it which you just can’t ignore. It’s the third largest economy in the world. In business terms china is a celebrity and scooping all the awards at the Oscars- even at this financial crisis.
Talking about the Oscars ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is the movie to watch. I watched it long before the hype started brewing about the movie. The movie gives you India as it is without the facade; without the glitz and glamour often seen in the dailies and tabloids. The veil is lifted and India is in the nude. I like this movie because it’s real, the reality hits you smack in the face from the beginning. A movie should serve a purpose not only choose to entertain all the time. It should open people’s eyes and dormant minds to reality; regurgitate whatever people try to suppress and turn a blind eye to. This world lives in ignorance!! I knew about the ‘real’ India as a boy before, and narrations from bapa after his visits there. I know that utopia is a figment in an idealist’s mirage-prone imagination. You’ve got make the best of what you have- it’s that simple.
2 comments:
its unfortunate that u had to hear a msian saying that. i spos the guy wasnt used to africans but its no excuse to say it that way. some people are just rascist--wherever they are from.
however, i have had bad experience with several international students here. im sure u know about it hehe. i must say that most of the guys are what they stereotypically are. only a small crop of them, like you and wusley who are normal and nice! i have an african friend, who's a guy and he's very nice. he is genuinely nice and not too overwhelming. now that is one in a million
thank you for the lovely words.. and im very familiar with the internationals and their approach to some aspects regarding locals. A lot of people have this ethnocentric ideas that come from their lands and judge everything by the same yardstick. But there is goodness is a lot of things because I like to remain optimistic :)
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