Saturday, June 16, 2007

Bird Flu & Yellow Fever

Have a look-see below. This article was from many moons ago (slightly over a year, to be specific) and I had no idea it was still posted up until it recently got pointed out to me. It surprisingly garnered some comments and while I always welcome and respect any feedback geared towards my written literature -- some of these comments just sent some belly laughs my way.

Seriously, sometimes we just need to see some issues in the light of humor :) Do enjoy!

Asiance Magazine Article -- Yellow Fever

I can't help but wonder sometimes if stereotypes will ever vanish. Maybe they will -- to make way for the creation of more. What do you think?

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice work Princess and thanks for drawing your more recent readers to the article. I live in a building with many Asian, I work with many Asians, our city is now full of Indian and Sri Lankan students and they are in many shops working part time. I have had some strong connections with some o/s born Asian guys. But the older I get, the less I understand about the west/east connection. Australia is now at the stage that when you speak to an Asian person, you may get a blank un-comprehending look back, or be responded to in perfect Australian. It does keep one on one's toes. Fascinating subject.

7:30 PM  
Blogger fifi said...

Oh, Princess, that was interesting.
I live on Asia's doorstep. One of my besty friends is half chinese, one all chinese. There are "Gold Rush " chinese families, and there are new ones who fled Beijing. There are plenty of Filipinos here, in our waterpolo team an adorable girl with lovely parents...( I get stories about holidays and fishing in the Filipines)
I don't differentiate between people, everyone is an individual, but I must say I find most asian families I know to be high achievers with a strong work ethic and respect for education.

That said, my other friend who is a very tiny chinese girl, has a problem with being typecast as some kind of porn fantasy cos she is so little.

I have another friend, an aging rock star, ex heavy metal guitarist, who married a chinese ballet dancer two years ago. I don't know why: she speaks no english, he no chinese.
I assumed the language of love kept them together, but as it happens, amazingly, they have NEVER had "relations".

He broke down crying and said he must be the loneliest person on earth. I was shocked: what was he thinking? I know NO chinese, I can't talk to her!
It's awful!!

anyway, just felt like telling somebody that! So I've told you!


Ahh, folks is curious things indeed...anyway.

oh, ps
you is pretty...and so young!

8:44 PM  
Blogger Princess of the Universe said...

Wow! You created some emotional responses from some of your readers there.
I think it was an excellent, thought provoking article.

I have some Asian-Canadian friends, but I honestly never thought about their cultures that much until some of my male friends kind of went ga-ga over them. I think it's just the "exotic" looking woman thing.

9:37 PM  
Blogger X. Dell said...

Hmmm. One could approach this subject from all sorts of angles. You have the biological angle ("all species seek complementary DNA, almost always on a level that is below consciousness--hence the desire for the exotic other"), sociological, anthropological, psychological, historical, aestehtic, and personal angles.

You chose an angle that's more personal, relating your experience, and including the observvation/speculation of others. Is this something that's interested you in a manner other than personal? Is this a subject you're still pursuing, one you put down, but might come back to, or have no desire to revisit?

2:35 AM  
Blogger thisisme said...

Princess, that was very thought provoking and reminded me of some conversations I've had lately with one of my Filo friends. Thanks for sharing some of your earlier writing with us. Some very strange people commenting on it though :)

9:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Asian - the very word has been stereotyped, leading people to picturise exactly, the image anybody, who's not Asian would be seeing in HIS mind, while reading this :) ..... I know this guy from Boston who thinks Asian chicks are 'hot' because its difficult to communicate with them?! Most people have similar, distorted lines of thought, thus making Asian girls 'hot'. The saddest part is the word 'Asian' is used to refer only to the people from the far east... others (hailing from the rest of Asia), are called pakis...or even worse - arabs.
ps : I thought few comments on the article were hilarious too.

3:46 AM  

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