Malaysian Table Setting

Malaysia is a very interesting place. For one, I believe that a table setting like the one shown above can only be found here. Where else can you get a water goblet filled with orange juice with tea cup, and western utensils with Chinese soup spoon and soy sauce? Let's not forget the turn table lazy susan (thanks to my honey bee for teaching me a new word ^^ ).... 

Delving deeper just a little, the setting actually shows the amount of tolerance and respect we show to each other. My company is mainly dominated by Chinese, but we do have many colleagues from other races and nations. While the menu was oriental cuisine and should have only need chopsticks, western utensils were used as the basic table setting for this annual dinner so that everyone can fully enjoy the dinner. 

Instead of focusing on the race of a person as the source of a conflict, people should look at that person for who he or she is. I do not deny that most stereotyping is actually quite true, but this is because of the upbringing, exposure and experience that a person goes through when growing up. However this trend is changing as children go through the same education system and/or is exposed to global happenings through the internet. Note that the key word here is changing, many still stick to the old ways. 

My group of buddies does not consist of only one ethnic. Though our common point is using English as our main language. Perhaps it makes us sort of outcast from the traditional people or seen as traitors for not using our mother's tongue. Can I argue that my mom (and even my dad for that matter) speaks English as their first language, hence it IS my mother's tongue? =D 

Rather than defending a certain trait / food / language as a definition of a certain group of people. Perhaps it is best to pick the best of them and move forward. It is like the Nyonya people who took the best of Chinese and Malay cuisine and now is considered one of the best food around. Think of it as evolution. Species that want to survive will always continue to evolve to better suit the environment through the combination of genes. Last I checked, we were all considered homo sapiens. 

In addition, great civilizations in the past did knowledge exchange when they traveled for trades. There is this series on Discover Channel, "1421: The Year China Discovered the World" (there is also a book). It is fascinating as they traveled for trade, they picked up and passed down knowledge everywhere they docked.  We are not who our ancestors were. A lecturer once said, people praise people that they did not meet for a long time by commenting that they did not change at all. While it is meant that the person did not aged physically, the lecturer asked, is it a good thing to not change at all after years? Not changing means that person is stagnant and never improved. Something for you to think about ^^ 

~ Oops seem to have drifted a bit far from the original simple topic~ ~ ~ ~ ~ good night people!