All Things Southeast Asian

Perhaps I come from a less developed world. Surcharges for paying a bill seems ridiculous to me. Do we have surcharges when we pay our bills at the post offices back home? I don't think so, but if I'm wrong, someone tell me. I pay all my bills by GIRO.

Perhaps I come from a much more humid and hotter world. People don't seem to understand that trash needs to be cleared very day. Not here maybe, but back home, food waste especially, stink really bad after just a few hours. And the trash here is cleared once a week, or less. Of course it doesn't stink as bad but it still smells nonetheless.

Perhaps I come from an Asian world. When I have stomach discomforts, the first thing I think of is the Po Chai Pills and/or charcoal tablets. I used to be repulsed by swallowing Po Chai Pills. The Reborn many years back, in his secondary and JC years, was a snob and turned his nose on all things remotely Chinese. Cheenah equates low class (lc).


Until the army that is. When I had no choice but to self-medicate taking the lc Po Chai Pills and found its miraculous powers. It is really effective. And worked just as well as lomotil or charcoal tablets. LC packaging nonwithstanding, the Po Chai Pills are effective. In any case, they have a different packaging for sale in Canada - Po Chai Pills of the 21st century.

Perhaps I come from a country that is blinded by its apparent harmonious relations between races that we think we are colour blind. When in fact, we are not. When I see an Indian or a Malay, I'll automatically switch to English, but when I see a Chinese, Mandarin may be the choice language for conversing. But this anomaly doesn't really occur in other countries, I think. When someone in Sweden sees me, he'll automatically speak to me in Swedish. No matter what colour your skin is, people from France, Sweden, Spain, and so on, will converse in their national language first, without a second thought; by instinct really. So are we colour blind, when we 'see' race and skin differences so much more acutely than others? Of course not. We are far from that. Perhaps the first thing we should do is to remove the 'race' portion on our identity cards. What good does it do? And now when there are more mixed marriages, what determines your race? I come from a rather mixed heritage, but I'm still labelled as a Chinese. Is this label necessary in the first place?

Perhaps I'm a southeast asian through and through. Global citizen, I am not.