Friday 1/13

*＊✿❀ Final Day of Asia and Asian Culture Studies ❀✿＊*

Written by Vee Atkinson ('23)

        On our final day of J-Term, the day began with an hour-long seminar on the final chapters of Lion City. Discussing how Singapore has managed to sustain a thriving technological society whilst using soft authoritarianism, we analysed the many aspects of Singaporean society. From language barriers, to religious differences, to restrictions on free speech, several factors have played into the development of Singapore's industries and government. I was personally fascinated by the importance of language within Singapore-- especially how Singapore has established its elite with the use of an English-based education. There appears to be an eminent social hierarchy of race and language within Singapore, with ethnic Chinese being the vast majority and additionally being taught in English-speaking schools. Following this seminar, we dove into the cultural norms of the city-state through the movie "Ilo Ilo". 

A movie poster from
"Ilo Ilo" (2013).

        The 2013 movie "Ilo Ilo" follows the story of the Lim family living in Singapore during the 1997 financial crisis. The mother, who is pregnant at the time, needs assistance with housework and gets a maid to help her. This maid's name is Teresa, or "Terry". Jiale, the only son of the family, is a 10-year-old delinquent and does poorly in school. Each character undergoes their own struggles, allowing us to understand social norms and cultural separations within Singapore's society. After having a few laughs during the movie and sharing popcorn, we all headed to lunch and enjoyed the wonderfully humid weather of Houston.

    

Jackson T's ('23) father David Taylor (right) presenting
to the class on his experiences in China.

    Filling our stomachs with homemade meals or Uber Eats orders, we headed back to class to hear from Jackson T's ('23) father, David Taylor, on his experience in China. In the 90s, Mr. Taylor travelled to Lanzhou for a cultural exchange program. I found it fascinating that not only was Mr. Taylor an alumnus of the University of Washington in Seattle (one of my top colleges!) but also that the same program was through UDub. Studying Mandarin Chinese, attending cooking classes by making 包子 (steam stuffed bun, pronounced bāo zi) and 饺子 (dumplings, pronounced jiǎo zi), and simply immersing himself in the culture of China, Mr. Taylor was able to learn several valuable lessons during his time abroad. His first piece of advice for those who will travel to Singapore was to possess patience, humility, and a willingness to learn; extremely valuable wisdom, in my opinion! In addition, he also encouraged us to understand that "it's not wrong, it's just different" and urged students to go with the flow when travelling abroad. While discussing the highlights of his experience, such as bargaining in street markets and eating cheap meals, Mr. Taylor also brought up several interesting topics further relating to cultural relativism. Considering China's late "one-child policy", he talked about how many locals found it baffling when he revisited the country with his 7-person family a few years ago. Diving into the topic of censorship, Mr. Taylor elaborated on the repression of free speech, especially regarding religious ideals. As the conversation came to a close, we asked any final questions we had and said our goodbyes. The end of the day consisted of working on our presentations for the next week. Some chose to use art to communicate the week's events, while others used digital technology. 

        In essence, this J-Term allowed students to become further familiarised with Asian culture, from conducting research for personal projects to trying new foods from several different cuisines. I am certain that each student learned or tried something completely new, and I want to give a huge thank you to Mr. Zhou for helping run this course and our speakers Jeremy C. ('23), Mr. Han, Ms. Agrawal, and Mr. Taylor for making this J-Term all the more interesting. Thank you all for a wonderful two weeks!