The Western Influences has Blinded Us

What is it about ang mohs that we Asians find so fascinating? I know that they are very different from us in terms of looks and accents. Why do Asians go crazy over blonde hair and their slangs? Of course, I admit that ang mohs do get my attention when I see them on the street. It helps that they stick out immensely in a crowd back home. Perhaps this is one reason why we can't help but stare at them. However, what I don't get is the fact that many Asians actually feel that ang mohs are "superior" to us. Be it liking an ang moh teacher, trying to get the attention of an ang moh at a party or hooking an ang moh partner, it seems that almost everyone wants to show off their connections, however little, to any ang moh. For example, before I came over to Brisbane, I had numerous friends come up and tell me to come back with an ang moh boyfriend. Does this mean that coming back with a Chinese boyfriend is less appealing? Does this mean that having an ang moh boyfriend would raise my status in society? I seriously wonder why this is so. Yet I do not frown upon such thoughts because I was once like that. Yup, previously, ang mohs were like the cherry on top of the cake. They were special, unique, incomparable to anyone else. Having an ang moh boyfriend would mean that your friends would be envious of you, even jealous. I knew friends who would go crazy and ga-ga over an ang moh teacher, even though he was not that good-looking. Now I'm not condemning their actions here but I wish to use their examples to emphasize on my points.

I also wonder why so many teenagers and people from my generation want to have Christian/English names. Ok, you can't blame them if their parents decided on these names and had them put into their birth certificate. But what about the ones who were not given any Christian names at all? A lot of them give themselves Christian names and go by that name from that moment on, totally ignoring the Chinese name that their parents chose for them. I wonder if it's purely because they find people remember Christian names much better than Chinese names or is it because they wish to emulate the ang mohs and what better way to do this than by changing your name to suit them? It's strange but I realised that many of those who give themselves Christian names actually abhor their Chinese names and feel ashamed to use them. They can dislike it so much that they absolutely refuse to acknowledge it and also refuse to let anyone know about it. I find this very sad. What has become of our Chinese values? They seem to be slowly disappearing with our culture, only to be replaced by the Western ways. This is 1 reason why I don't like people asking me if I have a Christian name when I've already introduced myself with my Chinese name.

We are fixated on the Western world and a lot of these influences come from the media. Music, movies and tv are all promoting ang moh culture to us. It's a pity we don't value our own culture enough to hold on to it. We want to become like them, to live like them. But then I ask, does becoming an ang moh make your life better? Does it mean that you will be rich and successful overnight? No, we still have to work hard to reach our goals. Riding on the coattails of the ang mohs will not help us at all. It's weird how S'poreans will look up to ang mohs, no matter their position. I feel that in the working world of S'pore, many employers hold this stigma that ang mohs are superior to the Asians and will prefer to to hire or promote an ang moh, even though there may be a higher qualified Asian available. Is it because they feel that having an ang moh in the company will aid them?

We need to open our eyes and wake up to the fact that ang mohs are not superior to us. Having a one-night stand with one of them does not make you superior to the rest of us. My friend let me read an article written by an ang moh who talked about this. In the article, this guy came from a poor farming state in America and he did not have much education. Yet when he came over to S'pore, he had no lack of girls who threw themselves at him. He was able to have almost any girl he wanted and because of this, he looked down on them. Just because he was white and foreign made him king in this country, even though he held a construction job. I felt disgusted when I read this and I'm sure you would too. Imagine us bowing down to an ang moh who was poorer, less successful and lower educated than us!

I think it's time that we Asians stood up for ourselves and held ourselves with more pride and self-esteem. Being white does not mean you are from a more outstanding race. Please understand that many of these ang mohs are actually not as good as you might think.