Failing to appreciate the beauty of our country as much as we appreciate Indonesia’s

I always tell my friends that ‘Sincerity’ or being ‘Sincere’ is one of the most important things in life. You will realize that if you are not ‘sincere’ or do not have the ‘passion’; you will only view things at the surface. This is, taking snapshots of your life experience here and there, without really wanting to understand (or do not have the ability to understand) what does this ‘snapshot’ really mean.

After all my theory of ‘sincerity’, I realized I have not known my country well; I have not sincerely find out more information about the life-style of my fellow Singaporeans well, which I am truly upset about and I must thank Puteri for reminding me about this. According to Puteri’s observations, Chinese (being the majority race in Singapore) have not really tried to understand about other races around them. She explained that this is because the majority will not find the need or the urgency to understand how a minority lives. True enough, I do not know a lot about Malay or Indian’s culture; what I know is just a surface (like what is written on text book). What games do they play? What food do they eat? What does Geylang Serai really looks like? Do Malays really have to be Muslim? Do Indians have to be Hindu? It never prompts me to find this information out before.

Now that we are in Indonesia, Chinese becomes a minority, and the reversed cycle happens, and so we, as Chinese, began to know more about the Muslims’ lifestyle. For instance, their fasting month; how long will this last? Where can we find food? What food could they not eat? (e.g. pork) etc. Hence, we as the ‘minority’ becomes aware of the neglected culture we failed to see in our homeland.

We are so excited to find out about the life style of Indonesians. We said: “Wow, this is the traditional game they play here”, “Wow, this is the authentic food that they eat here.” We got so excited because we believe this is TRUE Indonesian’s culture, but I felt very ashamed (and I should really be) when Puteri said that such games and such food exist in Singapore too. The joke about this is, when we find out the games they play here or the food they eat here, we only take a snapshot of it and pretend that we really know the culture here (at least this is how we present it).

How superficial is this! Being so excited about this and that in a new country and NOT realizing that such beauty exists in our own country too. Why is this so? This is because we are not sincere in wanting to know the people around us in Singapore. Now that I am in Indonesia, I really want to know the culture here. However, I think it is a wake up call for me to look into my country and her people too.

Puteri, I give you all the credits to remind me about this….thank you

~ God gives me ears but I hear not, God gives me eyes but I see not ~