Just Sayin' That elusive thing called Asian values

SOMETIMES I have to wonder at how weird things can get. A couple has been charged for kissing and hugging in public? It’s outrageous that they were even confronted by City Hall officers, but now they’re in court, and in the national — and, most likely, international — news.


Let’s not make it seem as if this is a legitimate debate about our values and mores, because it isn’t. It’s simply a case of those in power over- reaching their authority. After all, is their "indecent behaviour" an issue even if the general public doesn’t think it is?

Again, the concept of Asian values is brought up, because Asians constantly need to be told what values are important to them. To be frank, I loathe that term. Like bad traffic, "Asian values" has too often been used as an excuse for bad behaviour. To be Asian, it seems, means being meek, unassertive and for the most part, tremendously dull.

I don’t remember anyone going on about Asian values when they should matter, like in relation to justice, corruption and poverty eradication.

Likewise, the invasion of foreign, usually Western, cultural elements raises alarm bells from time to time, though those usually doing the raising seem more concerned with projecting themselves as some sort of guardian of all that’s sacred.

Yet there are few qualms about building something as clearly foreign as the Arab Square in the middle of KL.

But this whole concept of foreignness is, well, foreign to me. What exactly is foreign, really?

Is it Indonesia, with their Playboy-allowing liberalism? Sure, they might be the world’s most populous Muslim state, but their pop stars dress sexily, they have local beers, and, apparently, religiously mixed marriages are tolerated.

Or is it Amber Chia who subscribes to foreign values, for posing in that very issue of Playboy? Then again, the photo spread looks very much like what you’d find in magazines here anyway. So why all the fuss over a brand name?

Is it Singapore with its blatantly consumerist society, where citizens are mall rats who shop, eat and drink their time away, spending to fill all that’s missing from their lives? Then again, I could’ve just been describing KL. Or virtually any metropolitan city in the world.

Is it Brokeback Mountain, with its empathetic portrayal of the love between two gay men? From what I’ve heard, the pirated DVDs are doing very brisk sales. So many people obviously don’t have a problem with that film or its Asian values-forgetting director Ang Lee.

Or maybe it is socialism that’s foreign, making the for- mation of Parti Sosialis Mala- ysia "a threat to our national security"? Perhaps. After all, it’s been eight years since PSM applied for registration, which continues to be denied. But that begs the question: If socialism is as foreign as kimchi, then how would the party appeal to enough people to be deemed a threat?

Is it the English language, once widely and well spoken here, but is now like bitter medicine that needs to be forced down students’ throats? No, not really, considering it’s the language of choice for most middle-class KL-ites. And that includes everyone from ministers to businessmen of all races.

Or is it the national language, with its Roman characters and imported words like motorsikal, kompromi and yes, roti? I’m still not quite sure what inforia is, though.

Or is it Mak Yong, once local, but now deemed foreign and unacceptable in Kelantan? How easily our heritage can be erased, and how easily we let them erase it. What’s next? The rewriting of history?

Was P. Ramlee foreign, too? The legendary actor-director did feature cabaret girls and drinking in his movies.

Is it freedom of speech and assembly? Even though without speaking up and organising against British colonialism we might not have the KLCC towers today?

Is it the imported Korean cars that Malaysians are preferring to local ones? Those Koreans sure have a plan to sap Malaysia’s economic strength.

Flood the country with affordable cars so traffic will become so bad that people will spend more time cursing in traffic jams, and less time being productive.

Or, finally, is it the concept of a secular democracy, even though that’s what our Constitution states this country is? As we creep towards what I think is a permeation of religious morality into every aspect of our lives, from law to uniforms to discourse, perhaps even the document Malaysia is founded on is foreign.

This isn’t too surprising, actually. After all, those hugging and kissing English had a hand in it.

The columnist is a writer at a monthly Klang Valley magazine, KLue. E-mail him at brianyap@mac.com.