Okay - so first of all, I loved the graphic novel Kampung Boy, which is based on the author's childhood from birth until secondary school age. The drawings are energetic, funny and full of life, and the narrative is simple but feels fresh and honest. I had never read much of anything by a Malaysian author before, especially not about day-to-day life in Malaysia, and I found it informative and fascinating.
At the same time, I found myself wondering how much childhood has changed for rural Malaysian children in the 50+ years since Lat's first experiences. My previous research on Malaysia indicated that a lot of areas on the peninsula are continuing to be developed as mines to take advantage of huge tin deposits. Urbanization has also increased at a fast rate. For a lot of Malaysians, and for the Malaysian economy as a whole, this has been a good thing.
But financial well-being is not the only indicator of quality of life. The author of Kampung Boy obviously felt that his childhood was magical and fun-filled. I wonder how different his experiences would have been if he'd grown up entirely in an urban setting, and whether his family's financial status would have been more of an issue to him, more keenly felt.
As a kid who grew up far below the poverty level, I didn't really experience the feeling of being poor until we moved to the city of Denver (from a small rural farm) when I was 6 years old. That's when I met other poor kids, like me, who were more aware of what they didn't have, because there was in fact so much they didn't have access to in the middle of the city. Kids who had never sat under a tree to listen to the wind, had never seen a goat, let alone wild deer, ducks or rabbits, had never gone fishing or picked food from a garden. Living in Denver, I felt poor for the first time, not only because I met children who felt their low economic status, but because I no longer had access to the kinds of activities I had loved. Backyards and sidewalks weren't enough. Maybe I was worse off because I knew what I was missing.
To most contemporary Americans, Kampung Boy isn't exactly a story of prosperity. But I don't think the author felt in any way deprived as a child. Would contemporary Malaysian children in the same situation feel as if they were missing out on wealth, as if they didn't have enough? Has globalization changed the world enough in the last several decades that quality of life no longer means the same thing? I think it has. And I think that's sad.
Obviously issues like clean water, sufficient food, good schooling and adequate housing are important. But if those needs are being met, no matter how differently they might appear from our (wide range of) American experiences, is that a life still lacking? So what about media access, cash money, disposable income, and involvement in a larger global community?
I guess I don't think those things are important. Yes, they are on a national level; yes, they are bound up in economic processes. But what is more valuable: to have more national wealth, or to have the resource and experience of a close community, the availability of natural resources, to know and experience diverse and healthy flora and fauna? I feel that development can accomplish some good things. But there's always a price. Prosperity doesn't benefit everyone; often it leaves already poor people completely impoverished, while destroying vast areas of natural resources and ancestral homesites, leading to cultural breakdown and community schisms. Problems like alcoholism, domestic violence, and childhood malnutrition rise noticeably in areas all over the world where poorer communities are heavily impacted by industrial development.
As some of the world's primary consumers, we need to be aware of these impacts. We need to know the environmental and social ramifications of industry not just in the global South, but within our own national borders. Undoubtedly kids in Malaysia still get to experience many of the same adventures Lat did. But how fast is that changing? And what does that mean to us?
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Malaysia: Deep History
I'm writing this as my two-year-old watches Ponyo with a family friend; my reading and writing are punctuated by cartoon voices and loud splashing noises from the movie. Distracted, I'm not sure where to begin. My partner reminds me that "Malaysian" was considered a racial designation by Westerners for most peoples of Austronesian descent - including Micronesians. As late as the 1950s, many Pacific Islanders enlisted in the U.S. military were classified as "Malay." However, in 1826, French navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville had suggested the separate classifications of Malaysia, Micronesia and Melanesia in reference to the various geographical locations of south Pacific islands. These classifications were intended to distinguish these island groups from Polynesia, a term already in use.
In fact, the term "Malay," in contemporary anthropology, specifically refers to descendants of some of the oldest inhabitants of the Malaysian peninsula. Austronesian in ethnicity, this group lived on islands throughout southeast Asia, including Borneo and Sumatra. Multiple ocean migrations from these regions resulted in the populations of outlying Pacific islands. The earliest found evidence of modern human habitation of the Malaysian peninsula dates to about 40,000 years ago. Migrations began possibly as early as 2000 BCE; archaeologists using carbon dating have been able to establish this time frame for human presence on certain Pacific islands, such as Guam.
Settlers from India and China arrived on the Malay peninsula by the first century CE, establishing trading routes and bringing their own religion and culture with them. The kingdom of Langkasuka rose to power in northern Malaysia during the second century, lasting until the 15th century. Southern Malaysia was dominated by several powerful kingdoms during these years. By the 1400s, an independent Muslim state known as the Malacca Sultanate was founded by Iskandar Shah, and spread over most of the peninsula and to surrounding islands, including Sumatra. Malacca became important not only commercially, but as a center of Islamic learning. Development of the Malay language, arts and literature became the hallmark of the Malaccan era, issuing in a sense of Malaysian identity that is still influential today. Malaysia became a maritime power during this period, and Malacca's series of Sunni Muslim dynasties disseminated the religion throughout southeast Asia.
European colonization began for Malaysia with the fall of Malacca to Portugal in 1511. Despite resistance efforts headed by former Malaccan rulers, and fierce opposition from China, the Portuguese were not expelled from Malaysia until 130 years later. Allied with the Dutch, the sultanate of Johor, established by descendants of the Malaccan sultans, was instrumental in dislodging Portugal . However, authority over Malaysia was handed over to the Dutch. Malaysians did not regain independence from European colonial powers until 1946, and the road to autonomy has been slow, as it has been for many former European colonies in Asia and elsewhere.
My daughter watches as Ponyo's father, an eccentric scientist in love with the sea, reminds us that humans rarely have an understanding of the balance of nature. I'm reminded constantly, in studying the history of colonization, that Europeans rarely understood it either. Neither did they understand the cultures they encountered, typically seeking to either document them as curiosities and then to insistently alter them by adding their own religions and cultural heritages, often quite forcefully. Malaysia, as we know it now, is still recovering from a long history of colonialism. It's prior cultural and historical heritage is still intact, but few Americans are acquainted with it. I was struck by how little I know about a culture and place that had a great deal of bearing not just on the south Pacific, but - through the medium of history and genetics - a great deal of influence on people I know and love.
I'm thinking, why didn't I know any of this before? I could barely place Malaysia on a map.
In fact, the term "Malay," in contemporary anthropology, specifically refers to descendants of some of the oldest inhabitants of the Malaysian peninsula. Austronesian in ethnicity, this group lived on islands throughout southeast Asia, including Borneo and Sumatra. Multiple ocean migrations from these regions resulted in the populations of outlying Pacific islands. The earliest found evidence of modern human habitation of the Malaysian peninsula dates to about 40,000 years ago. Migrations began possibly as early as 2000 BCE; archaeologists using carbon dating have been able to establish this time frame for human presence on certain Pacific islands, such as Guam.
Settlers from India and China arrived on the Malay peninsula by the first century CE, establishing trading routes and bringing their own religion and culture with them. The kingdom of Langkasuka rose to power in northern Malaysia during the second century, lasting until the 15th century. Southern Malaysia was dominated by several powerful kingdoms during these years. By the 1400s, an independent Muslim state known as the Malacca Sultanate was founded by Iskandar Shah, and spread over most of the peninsula and to surrounding islands, including Sumatra. Malacca became important not only commercially, but as a center of Islamic learning. Development of the Malay language, arts and literature became the hallmark of the Malaccan era, issuing in a sense of Malaysian identity that is still influential today. Malaysia became a maritime power during this period, and Malacca's series of Sunni Muslim dynasties disseminated the religion throughout southeast Asia.
European colonization began for Malaysia with the fall of Malacca to Portugal in 1511. Despite resistance efforts headed by former Malaccan rulers, and fierce opposition from China, the Portuguese were not expelled from Malaysia until 130 years later. Allied with the Dutch, the sultanate of Johor, established by descendants of the Malaccan sultans, was instrumental in dislodging Portugal . However, authority over Malaysia was handed over to the Dutch. Malaysians did not regain independence from European colonial powers until 1946, and the road to autonomy has been slow, as it has been for many former European colonies in Asia and elsewhere.
My daughter watches as Ponyo's father, an eccentric scientist in love with the sea, reminds us that humans rarely have an understanding of the balance of nature. I'm reminded constantly, in studying the history of colonization, that Europeans rarely understood it either. Neither did they understand the cultures they encountered, typically seeking to either document them as curiosities and then to insistently alter them by adding their own religions and cultural heritages, often quite forcefully. Malaysia, as we know it now, is still recovering from a long history of colonialism. It's prior cultural and historical heritage is still intact, but few Americans are acquainted with it. I was struck by how little I know about a culture and place that had a great deal of bearing not just on the south Pacific, but - through the medium of history and genetics - a great deal of influence on people I know and love.
I'm thinking, why didn't I know any of this before? I could barely place Malaysia on a map.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)