Culture Ebbing Away…
Last Saturday the South East Asian Network had their annual SEA Night event on campus. The SEA Network comprises of the Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian and Thai Student Associations. The SEA Night held this year was the second one since the Network’s inception slightly over a year ago.
This year’s event was slightly larger than the one before with the addition of the Vietnamese and Cambodian Student Associations as collaborators. The expansion was expected after the roaring success of the first SEA Night held about a year ago. The event basically is a cultural show held in conjunction with an ethnic food fair.
However I was quiet disappointed with the outcome of Saturday night’s event. My fear which stemmed from the lack of quality control in terms of performances from last year’s event escalated with the ones that were put on show this year. Last year, I made a big fuss about how the Singaporeans did not follow through with the theme/spirit of SEA Night with their skit about the Singaporean Education System.
Not only was the skit devoid of any elements that were uniquely cultural or traditional, it further exacerbated the stereotype that Singaporeans lack a cultural identity of their own. For those of you who aren’t aware of it, Singapore was part of Malaysia at one time. As a result, the folk that are known as Singaporeans now were essentially Malaysians before, inheriting their culture, traditions and religions from the motherland. The only redeeming grace the Singaporeans had was their Lion Dance performance; which of course came from China.
This year, the bleaching of our South East Asian values hit another high, or should I say another low. The Vietnamese Students Association kicked off the event with a music video of a rap song done in Vietnamese. The MTV featured some young thug-wannabes bopping in front of some very hilariously recognizable locations on campus. The only thing Vietnamese about it were the students in the video (this too questionable) and the fact that no one else knew what the heck they were rapping about. A fantastic way to kick of a night of South East Asian Culture, I would say.
Then came the presentation by the Thai Student Association. The stage lit up revealing a row of young girls dressed like hookers looking all giggly and absolutely distasteful. At that point of the night I was wondering if I was at the right event. The Thai girls proceeded to prance around the stage flirtatiously to a song which oozed sexual innuendos. Ok, maybe it didn’t because I don’t understand Thai. But it was a very sultry song.
The performance did nothing to help Thailand clean up its image tarnished by its sex industry. Someone should really talk to the organizers. But I don’t see how it would have helped as one of the dancers was actually the President of the Thai Students Association. Thai culture? Maybe after WWII when the locals found out that foreign war veterans developed a taste for Asian women.
Call me biased, but once again it was the Malaysian Student Association who saved the night with their truly unique cultural performances. The first one was a Zapin presentation, which got the crowd warmed up. Then there was the trademark Wayang Kulit (shadow puppets) presentation which really brought the house down. Kudos to the Malaysian Student Association, who despite the very tasteful insertion of modern day MTV values, kept the performances true to their origins.
And what did the Singapore contingent have to offer at the end of the intermission? ………………….A troupe of dancers gyrating to “You’re the One that I Love” from the Grease movie. Need I say more?
It’s no question that the South East Asian Night event is losing its luster. Such a shame considering it’s only been two years. I remember while I was on the board of organizers we had a clear focus, which was to promote the awareness of our respective countries. We wanted to expose the locals to our fascinating traditions and colorful cultures. Now it seems that the current organizers have somewhat lost their focus. SEA Night is slowly becoming an event for the South East Asians instead of the original target audience, which were the locals. It’s now more like an Asian talent show than a cultural awareness event.
I do urge the future leaders of the respective student associations to take a hard look at the ongoing trend and fix it before the grossly imbalanced audience ratio (locals to South East Asians) ceases to become a ratio at all. Don’t let the South East Asian night transform into the sellout the University’s Lunar Ball is.
This year’s event was slightly larger than the one before with the addition of the Vietnamese and Cambodian Student Associations as collaborators. The expansion was expected after the roaring success of the first SEA Night held about a year ago. The event basically is a cultural show held in conjunction with an ethnic food fair.
However I was quiet disappointed with the outcome of Saturday night’s event. My fear which stemmed from the lack of quality control in terms of performances from last year’s event escalated with the ones that were put on show this year. Last year, I made a big fuss about how the Singaporeans did not follow through with the theme/spirit of SEA Night with their skit about the Singaporean Education System.
Not only was the skit devoid of any elements that were uniquely cultural or traditional, it further exacerbated the stereotype that Singaporeans lack a cultural identity of their own. For those of you who aren’t aware of it, Singapore was part of Malaysia at one time. As a result, the folk that are known as Singaporeans now were essentially Malaysians before, inheriting their culture, traditions and religions from the motherland. The only redeeming grace the Singaporeans had was their Lion Dance performance; which of course came from China.
This year, the bleaching of our South East Asian values hit another high, or should I say another low. The Vietnamese Students Association kicked off the event with a music video of a rap song done in Vietnamese. The MTV featured some young thug-wannabes bopping in front of some very hilariously recognizable locations on campus. The only thing Vietnamese about it were the students in the video (this too questionable) and the fact that no one else knew what the heck they were rapping about. A fantastic way to kick of a night of South East Asian Culture, I would say.
Then came the presentation by the Thai Student Association. The stage lit up revealing a row of young girls dressed like hookers looking all giggly and absolutely distasteful. At that point of the night I was wondering if I was at the right event. The Thai girls proceeded to prance around the stage flirtatiously to a song which oozed sexual innuendos. Ok, maybe it didn’t because I don’t understand Thai. But it was a very sultry song.
The performance did nothing to help Thailand clean up its image tarnished by its sex industry. Someone should really talk to the organizers. But I don’t see how it would have helped as one of the dancers was actually the President of the Thai Students Association. Thai culture? Maybe after WWII when the locals found out that foreign war veterans developed a taste for Asian women.
Call me biased, but once again it was the Malaysian Student Association who saved the night with their truly unique cultural performances. The first one was a Zapin presentation, which got the crowd warmed up. Then there was the trademark Wayang Kulit (shadow puppets) presentation which really brought the house down. Kudos to the Malaysian Student Association, who despite the very tasteful insertion of modern day MTV values, kept the performances true to their origins.
And what did the Singapore contingent have to offer at the end of the intermission? ………………….A troupe of dancers gyrating to “You’re the One that I Love” from the Grease movie. Need I say more?
It’s no question that the South East Asian Night event is losing its luster. Such a shame considering it’s only been two years. I remember while I was on the board of organizers we had a clear focus, which was to promote the awareness of our respective countries. We wanted to expose the locals to our fascinating traditions and colorful cultures. Now it seems that the current organizers have somewhat lost their focus. SEA Night is slowly becoming an event for the South East Asians instead of the original target audience, which were the locals. It’s now more like an Asian talent show than a cultural awareness event.
I do urge the future leaders of the respective student associations to take a hard look at the ongoing trend and fix it before the grossly imbalanced audience ratio (locals to South East Asians) ceases to become a ratio at all. Don’t let the South East Asian night transform into the sellout the University’s Lunar Ball is.
posted by Mike Ng at 8:32 PM
1 Repercussions
