Towards A Competitive Malaysia #49
Chapter 8 Culture Counts (Cont’d)
Culture as Society’s Template
When we are born we are a blank slate, culturally. Acculturation paints the full though not necessarily final picture. Culture is society’s template of its collective beliefs, practices, and norms that would be expressed by its members. Culture is to society what genes are to individuals, the blueprint for development. Environment, both normal and abnormal, plays a major role in altering what our genetics and culture have programmed us to be. We are never trapped by genetic or cultural determinism.
I have a friend whose physical characteristics are definitely Chinese. He was abandoned by his biological parents during the Japanese Occupation and was adopted by a Malay family. The physical manifestations of his Chinese genes are obvious and cannot be changed except in a limited fashion through plastic surgery. What surprised me when we were young was his behavior; he could hardly contain his anti-Chinese prejudices. It was jarring seeing a Chinese-looking Malay fulminating in his village dialect against the Chinese. It would be akin to seeing a Negro kid, having been brought up by a redneck family, denigrating Blacks in his unmistakable Southern drawl.
I am pleased that this friend, having traveled the world and now a successful businessman with clients from all races, is a markedly different person. He has obviously outgrown his cultural prejudices, but no, he still has his obvious physical features which are expressions of his genes. This brings me to my point: while the physical manifestations of ones genes cannot be changed once expressed, the expressions of one’s cultural “genes” are never final. They can and are indeed being continually changed by our experiences and environments.
Contrary to common misconception, the expressions of our physical genes can be blunted or even prevented by the environment. Tay Sachs is a genetic disease characterized by the body’s inability to break down a particular amino acid found in the normal diet. The resultant accumulation becomes toxic, damaging the brain. If their diet were modified to remove the offending amino acid, they would be spared. Environment trumping genetics!
Environment may also expose hitherto hidden genetic traits. Many Asians have genes for salt sensitivity; they cannot handle excess salt (sodium). With “primitive” diet where the salt content is low, this trait remains hidden. With “progress” and the consequent high-salt diet, these individuals cannot handle the load and thus would develop high blood pressure. In this situation, the “blame” could easily be with one’s genes or the environment.
The same dynamics occur with expressions of cultural “genes.” In a stable feudal culture, one may readily accept one’s fate as an orang hamba (slave) in the sultan’s palace or untouchable doomed in the streets of Calcutta. However, when the environment is changed as with colonization, all bets are off. If some generous colonialists were to build a school and you benefited from that education and ended up at university, you would no longer accept the fate destined for you by your culture. If your parents back in the village were to ask you to pay homage to the local sultan and kiss his hand, as with the traditional Malay mengadap, you would recoil. Your cultural equilibrium has been disturbed, in this case for the better, at least for yourself though not necessarily for the sultan.
When the environment is stable or not under stress, the society’s culture is faithfully transmitted to its members, and from one generation to the next through acculturation, just as genes are expressed in the individual and then transmitted through our chromosomes to the next generation. Our culture, like our genes, could also be changed, either through the natural process or be specifically induced.
Next: Changing Culture: Lessons From Genetics
March 20th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Dr. Musa,
Your statement regarding a modified diet to treat Tay-Sachs is incorrect. Tay-Sachs is caused by an accumulation of a lipid called GM2 ganglioside. GM2 ganglioside are essential lipids for normal cell function. It is impossible to eliminate or reduce GM2 gangliosides by modifying diet. Out of respect to the hundreds of babies, children and adults living with Tay-Sachs I ask that you please correct or remove this statement.
Please contact visit the National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association, Inc. (NTSAD) website at http://www.ntsad.org for the most current and accurate Tay-Sachs information.
Thank you!
Kim Crawford
Director of Member Services, NTSAD
800-906-8723
March 20th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
the concept of ‘cultural gene’ is an intriguig topic. I directly inherit this’ orang hamba’ genes but have been exposed to a much different environment. Me and my parents have been living in london for almost 7 years now. At the age of 17, i moved to london. Living here alone, meant that i had to adapt to my environment socialy, to gain a new life.i became very open and tolerable and embraced different experiences,cultures, beliefs etc. I didnt know many people of my origins, i made friends with people from different backgrounds. My thingking has drastically changed and opened my eyes. Through my own experiences, I am not entirely convinced by the idea of a particular gene that inhibits people from cultural progress. I trully believe that change and toleration can come through the right and positive attitude. your incorrect claim about tay-sachs has further weaken your arguments as this alone has made me question the truthfullness of your research. I hope this wasnt intentionally done to strenghten your argument as it can be missleading to people. Nonetheless i will continue reading your other articles in detail and with an open mind.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:35 am
Dear Ms. Crawford:
You are absolutely right! Thank you for pointing out my gross error of fact. It is actually PKU (Phenylketonuria - another pediatric disease arising from an “inborn error of metabolism) not Tay-Sachs disease that I am referring to.
The thrust of my argument and the concept that I am trying to advance however remain the same. Substitute PKU for Tay-Sachs.
Again, thank you for pointing out the error.
M. Bakri Musa
March 21st, 2008 at 1:39 pm
CROSS THE FLOOR OF PARLIAMENT, YOU MCA RUNNING DOGS !
The Chinese have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the opposition DAP or PKR and it was only in constituencies where the predominance of Malay voters caused the return of MCA candidates. This voting pattern demonstrated the community support of the Chinese for the opposition and therefore if those MCA Chinese Members of Parliament have any ethical and moral sense, they have a duty to cross the floor of Parliament and join with the opposition. That is the right thing to do since if the MCA claims to represent the Chinese community, then the voting pattern shows that they are on the wrong side of Chinese preference. If on the other hand such members of Parliament would rationalize their stay with UMNO on the argument that since it was the Malay votes that got them elected then they are morally committed to stay with UMNO in Parliament; but that argument will be turned on its head because the MCA claims to represent the Chinese not the Malays. That being the case they are morally obligated to either resign their seat or cross the floor of Parliament because the Chinese supports the opposition.
The Malaysian general election of 2008 is the first election in Malaysian history that makes any sense at all because in all past elections the voting was rigged to return the UMNO led alliance to form government and consequently does not represent the true will of the minority voters. In the first election previously in 1967 the voting pattern of the minority races demonstrated that they would prefer to return an opposition to government and that was the election that prompted UMNO to organize a pogrom of minority races; and this time around all the indications point to a preference by the minority races to vote OPPOSITION, hence the childish symbolic actions of Hishamuddin wielding of that bloody Malay keris that instead of frightening the minority races provoked them to vote en bloc for the opposition. The keris scared no one, it only helped the opposition to really win support and the smell of possible success and to put UMNO out of government for the first time in Malaysian history. The general election for 2008 spell the end of race based politics and it is this if not for anything else that MCA must take heed that they bear a special and heavy responsibility to cross the floor of Parliament because it has always been the betrayal by the MCA & the MIC that has given UMNO the pretext to pervert the Malaysian Constitution to ENTRENCH MALAY SPECIAL PRIVILEGES FOR AS LONG AS UMNO IS IN POWER. This election marks the end of that distortion of our Malaysian democratic rights. We the Chinese & Indians have for the first time in history put our rights as Malaysians in proper context; we have the last chance to be what we really are, MALAYSIAN CHINESE OR MALAYSIAN INDIANS OR MALAYSIAN MALAYS; we are truly for the first time CITIZENS OF A MALAYSIAN MALAYSIA; and it took us 50 years of hard slough to get there AND ….. MCA OR MIC OUGHT NOT AGAIN SELL US OUT TIS TIME. The MCA is duty bound to cross the floor of Parliament to join Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim to form the GOVERNMENT of a truly Malaysian Malaysia that represents all Malaysians.
I want to further emphasize my point of view. I suggest that for those Chinese from MCA who are obligated to cross the floor of Parliament should do so in their personal capacity as Members of Parliament and not as representing MCA because they have a duty to remove RACE BASED POLITICS for the good of future generation of Chinese & Indian and Malays. Race based politics is and has been totally unacceptable and it has always been divisive and an abuse of our human rights; let MCA & MIC fade into the background of history as a failed model for good governance. I suggest that MCA should become a sports club for Chinese.
I had earlier stated that at this time in Malaysian history MCA carry a particularly heavy duty to act in the best interests of the Chinese people. This victory for the Barisan Alternative has come about due to the incompetence of PM Abdullah Badawi and to the power of the internet and the accident of history that Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim was expelled from UMNO under very treacherous and bitter circumstances.. Were it not for the power play between Mahatir Mohd., and Dato Seri Anwar, UMNO will still dominate Malaysian politics and the condition for a democratic change of government will not emerge for any fore-seeable future. I say that these circumstances will not converge again for a very long time IF MCA ACT IRRESPONSIBLY and not cross the floor of Parliament. This window of opportunity exist for only the life of this parliament and if MCA Members of Parliament REMAIN IN COALITION WITH UMNO & MIC then the UMNO government will survive until the next general election when let me guarantee you Malaysians all (of all races) that UMNO will heavily GRASP GOVERNMENT sans election or with election, no matter what BECAUSE THE HIGH COURTS ARE CONTROLLED BY UMNO JUDGES AND THE POLICE ARE CONTROLLED BY UMNO APPOINTEES. I cite a precedent in the election of the MP for Bukit Bintang, when issues relating to the legality of the elections ( I believe it was one relating to the counting of the votes ) went to the High Court for decision; and the federal court was headed by TUN Fairoz. The Court decided that there were irregularity and promptly awarded the seat to MCA candidate. This was a glaring MISCARRIAGE OF LAW AND JUSTICE, because if his decision was that there was irregularity his duty is to declare the election VOID and declare the seat vacant and call for a by-election for the same seat. THIS WAS BECAUSE TUN FAIROZ IS AN UMNO JUDGE. The present Court of Appeal have a majourity of UMNO judges as for example Dato Zainon binti Mohd. Ali and the President of the Court of Appeal Tan Seri Zaki Azmi.
In these circumstances UMNO can rigged all elections and have a parliament of all UMNO Members of Parliament and any challenge will be decided by UMNO Judges. Malaysia will revert to the Malaysia of old. I say to our running dogs of MCA members of Parliament that you cannot seal and condemn all Chinese to a fate that is as good as death. This year 2008 is the tipping point in the history of Malaysian history, will we survive as Chinese or Indians depend on our running dogs from the MCA to act honourably and responsibly ! CROSS THE FLOOR YOU MCA BASTARDS.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:19 am
Please don’t! You might dirty the floor with your excrement.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Interesting lesson on how to win people over to your side. You’d want “dogs” and “bastards” over on your side? For what, to fetch your obnoxious terompah, perhaps?