Sigh... being in transition jobwise is sooo not fun. Luck be a lady today and let someone give me pay! Argh... I know wishing as sure as hell will not get me what I want in life... these things only happen to beautiful princesses with cuddly animals as their sidekicks... *puke*. Disney shouldn't be filling little girls' head with such nonsense dreams and ideas. You know I read an article titled "Alien values in books?' today by Chong Sheau Ching. The article talks about how our local readers are not bothered reading local books bu local authors, "Because you all write about Malaysia. I don't want to read what I know!" apparently a local reader yelled. You know as a young writer myself, who would one day make it out in the local scene, I see what Ms Chong is trying to say. We do not give enough credit and respect to the talents living next door to us. It is all good to read books from the west... but what about the books from the east? After all we ARE asians. Shamefully, I used to think that the western ideals were ideal to my nature. But after studying in Australia, and living the life that I thought I wanted, I find myself clinging to my asian values. I finally understand now that I am Asian and I am proud to be part of a great culture. But then I am not totally chinese chinese either. I still cannot bring myself to appreciate or even value some chinese customs and mannerisms that we see so dominant among some.
But why are we prejudiced against creative materials by our local talents? Fine we compare them to the western ones but we forget that we are NOT western but rather westernised to the core by movies and music and books. Books will broaden as well as narrow our minds. It is up to us to see the author's point of view and then analyse it so that we can come up with our own unique point of view. As to what that reader yelled... why not read what you already know and gain a broader perspective on things? Also, those books were written by westerners FOR westerners; a little fact that many tend to forget. Westerners have tried to write about us but it is still a western point of view. If a westerner and an asian were to write about the same topic, different views will emerge and thoughts are diversified.
Lastly, I would like to quote William Hazlitt who wrote 'On the tendency of Sects' : " There is no prejudice so strong as that which arises from a fancied exemption from all
prejudice."
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