"This is really stupid but..."

As my previous post will tell you, my International Media class recently had guests speakers.  These international students spoke about the media in their country and compared it with the United States.

One phrase that struck me was when on multiple occasions these international students say, "This is really stupid but..." and then proceed to explain their culture and its "oddity".

I found it fascinating because it tells me that America has such a big influence on the world. People have a perception that what is not of America's normalities is deemed as odd.

Who made America the norm?

Seeing the World through a different set of lens.

MCOM-3990 International Media, a journalism elective class recently had eight international students speak about the state of their countries’ media. This interactive session was held in room 105 of the mass communication building from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

The eight international students were representatives of Ecuador, South Africa, Nepal, France, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Venezuela. Their UCO standing ranged from freshman to graduate student and had majors from computer science and sociology to MBA and elementary education.

Among some of the issues touched on were differences between the respective countries and the U.S. in media censorship, where people get their news and freedom of speech.

Serliara Rumbiak, from Indonesia, said that freedom of speech is not prevalent where she is from. She mentioned that she heard on the news about Obama being a homosexual before he became president.

“In Indonesia, the person would have been sent to jail for bad mouthing the president. We are not as outspoken as America. In Indonesia, we only report the facts, not opinion.”

Lana Koch of South Africa agrees with Serliara.

“The U.S. media fascinates me with how open they are.  They just say everything often without censoring. South Africa is outspoken as well, but not nearly as daring and outspoken. And you will get into trouble for spreading rumors. It will be huge, whereas here, it’s often overlooked as freedom of speech.”

The geography and landscape of a country influences how news is spread. Bibash Lama from Nepal explained that the mountainous structure of his country makes broadcasting news through television and radio difficult due to the lack of wiring poles. Also, the broad spectrum of dialects within the country makes it hard to broadcast in one language.

Saudi Arabian representative, Ahmad Ali Khiswi said that although citizens get news every day from different sources, they choose to only believe the religious leaders’ interpretation and comments.

“On our holy day, Friday, the people gather at our place of worship to listen to what the leaders have to say. We trust them because they are in charge of the country. They do not have selfish motives but serve the country by doing what is best for society.”

Dr. Terry Clark, director of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and professor of International Media was very supportive of this activity.

Walk in one's shoes before flinging yours at them!

Variety and heterogeneity in the world is what give our world color. However, our differences hatch a number of sensitive topics. Politics is one. Religion is another. The term "freedom of speech" is the political right to communicate one's opinions and ideas.

 Somehow nations that have "freedom of speech" seem to be oblivious to the fact that people have feelings.

I believe that when the forefathers envisioned the concept of "freedom of speech", they meant it as a means to free oppression. But now, I feel that "freedom of speech" is doing just the opposite.

The New York Times reported that a newspaper in France published crude caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. There was even the intention to publish Muhammad "naked and  in pornographic poses".

I think that this portrays an extremely high form of oppression and disrespect. Just because you can, doesn't mean you must.

Growing up in a melting pot society, Malaysians are taught to be courteous and respectful to differences.

To be honest, I think that some form of censorship by the government might not be such a bad idea. It prevents problems that could break out to wars.

Maybe i'm just tired of hearing of one man disturbing peace of the entire country.

Adapting Feet

When my feet first stood on Oklahoma ground two years ago, I thought that adapting would be a breeze. Growing up in an english-speaking Christian family, I daresay I had enough "western mentality" to fit right in without having too much trouble. After all, I

a) I have a good grasp of the english language.

b) My religious beliefs probably matched a decent amount of the bible-belt region of the United States.

c) I had friends who studied at UCO ready to help me.

d) I spoke good english

e) I watched enough American television to give me a good (I thought) overview of the culture here

f)  I spoke English, fluently.

So, not long after my arrival, I was conversing with my RA (I lived on campus my first year) and found that I had to leave to another appointment. At the end of his sentence, I took my chance.

 I drew out my hand for a hand shake and said,

 "I'm going to make a move now".

He stepped back quickly, like the hand jerk reflex when touching a hot surface and looked stunned. There was a moments pause before he said, "You're going to make a move on me? Dude, I'm straight".

Yes, i'm straight too. In Malaysia, saying, "I'm going to make a move" was the polite way of excusing yourself, NOT hitting on someone.

This experience quickly taught me that my "fluent english" is tattered with British english, which will be explained shortly, earn you awkward situations and Manglish, which is Malaysian english, or some say, "mangled english".

Another interesting one is the word, "follow". In Malaysia when you ask somebody if you can "follow" them in a transportational situation, it means that they want to ride with you, NOT trail behind you. Please don't leave them behind assuming they have a mode of transportation.

And of course, being under the British reign for decades, Malaysians stuck with the British education system. Therefore,


When I say I need a trolley for shopping, I mean a cart.

When I request for a serviette or tissue, I am asking for a napkin or paper towel.

If I ask you for a rubber in the classroom, I need to erase a pencil marking. And no, I do not want to have sex with you.

My "rubbish bin" is the equivalent for "trash can" and colour and flavor  and realise are not spelt incorrectly. Dang you squiggly red lines auto-correct!

When I say, "Can I put my bag in your car boot", I mean your car trunk. I do not intend on stuffing my bag into the slit for your feet. And no, cars in Malaysia do not have feet wear.

British army

So yes, there you have it. Two sides, with the poor Malaysian in between.



American army



Blogblog Assignment

One aspect that is lacking on my posts are pictures. This makes my blog very wordy and unattractive. Humans are designed to like visual and color. Dave Rhea, a professional blogger has long posts too, but his pictures break up his posts, which eases the eyes and makes it more appealing.

Rhea's blog also has links, which is useful for readers if they need more information on the subject. These are some of the tips that could improve my blog. So, thank you, Dave Rhea!

The kick off!

Blogging is hard. Not because it literally is, but because of the commitment it entails. Let’s face it, a blog is not a blog without posts. How many times have we seen “blogs” left to rot?

But perhaps I have high expectations of bloggers. I expect a post everyday. Just because I don’t have a life doesn’t mean I should expect the same of others. So I have decided to try it, but with less pressure and dropping the bar way down low.

 I can be a hobbyist, only sending 2-3 posts a week, sacrificing 1-3 hours. That doesn’t seem so bad since I probably spend too much time on Facebook anyway. I would then join the backbone of the blogosphere, 60% of bloggers who “blog for fun”.

I will work on expressing my “personal musings”. If readers find it a-“musing”, then, great! If they don’t, they can just dismiss it as a personal joke, something I don’t expect them to understand. Either way, I win.

 So, let’s go. Let’s kick it!