Online Vs Offline Identity

We all have an identity. Some of us might have even more than one. Which one is YOUR true identity?

Seeing life in different colors

"Before this, I learn how to stay alive, but now I learn how to live"

There's a couple of things in life that left us to ponder. To accept the difference and embrace the similarities is one of them. We really had fun and enjoyed our time with Jade. She teaches us what is meant by life and bounties. She also gives us an insight of what is like being her, as the international students in IIUM. We, humans are sometimes take things for granted, we won't be able to understand one's action until we're in their shoes. To understand and to be understood take two to tango thus empathy is the key to both. We were so stunt of what is meant "Before this, I learn how to stay alive, but now, I learn how to live" by Jade. As most of the people in her country prioritized money more than anything, they are always in competition with each other thus it creates some sort of pressure/tension among them. Meanwhile in Malaysia, she learn to live her life to the fullest and make the best of it. To make it simple, she really enjoys her time here. 

Before ending this blog, we would like to say Thank you for spending your time reading our blog. We hoped that you'll enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed blogging about it. 

Verbal & Non-verbal Ques

Language and culture cannot be separated.
Before coming here, Jade learnt English in order for her to fill the gap of language barrier. She knew that English is the second language of Malaysia and we could said that her English is quite good as the interview session went smooth. The verbal communication that she's having with the locals sometimes required her to speak the native language which is Bahasa Melayu. Thus, she feel the urge to learn the Malay language in order for her to understand the verbal ques better. Besides that, she did mention that most of the Malaysian talk/speak really fast and the tone of their voice is rather high as compared to Chinese. The Chinese, particularly at her province, they talk/speak in a low voice and normal which is not to fast nor slow. Apart from having to understand the verbal communication, Jade did share with us about the non-verbal ques of her culture which we found it interesting.

In the non-verbal communication in Jade's culture, it is consider as inappropriate or rude when:
(1) the younger ones laying in front of the elderly regardless of the place, for example living room. This is the matter of respect as the elder has the highest say in the family.
(2) point at others using chopstick at the dining table.
(3) place the chopstick or tucked it in the middle of the rice bowl. Instead of doing this, it is better to place the chopsticks on the table.
(4) Chewing gum in public.

Therefore, based on these ques, it is important for us to know about one's culture so that we won't come off as inappropriate. And also in order to have a good communication, we need to take verbal and non-verbal ques seriously because it is indeed important for us. Without communication, there'll be no understanding.

From the eyes of beholder

Dealing with Stereotype, Prejudice, and Discrimination are not easy. Having our own perceptions on certain things may lead to these; either negative or positive. And every so often our assumptions are driven by minds and we tend to believe what is there to believe without actually having a deep thought about it. And this is related to culture as well because we live in a world where all the cultures co-exist next to each other. 

           

According to Jade, for someone like her who lives in Xing Jiang province, China, discrimination is her greatest fear. As in the previous post, Jade experienced the so-called terrorist attacked by the minority group in her province regarding the mines issue. The unkind treatment that her people got from the Weiwuer make their life difficult, and some of the schools were closed because of the attack and even the number of tourists coming to Xing Jiang decreased prior to this. 

On the other hand, Jade viewed Malaysian as high-quality people. This is due to the sections that we have in the train, for example; a place or seats for the disabled people, pregnant women, women with child, elderly and normal people. Also, when she first came to Malaysia, the airport workers were so kind and helpful thus they made her travel easy and pleasant.

However, there are certain things that concern her about Malaysian such as punctuality. She noticed that punctuality is less practice here, in Malaysia. Given the example that the class which was supposed to start at 10am, but the lecture came at 11am. She couldn't help but to have this kind of stereotype towards Malaysian.

Nonetheless, Jade said that, in order for her to deal or overcome these, she needs to understand our culture first,and try to fit herself in. 

Life is beyond what are written in the books

There is a well-known three letter sayings in China related to jade (yes, this time we are denoting the emerald jade), which in English means "Jade, without chiseling, cannot become a useful object." This phrase is referring to the fact that a person cannot be a talented person without going through learning process. Therefore, I am happy to have the chance to know and exchange story with Jade. All the stories are undeniably valuable and cannot be obtained elsewhere unless you meet someone who has experienced it.

So that is why we said life is beyond what are written in the books.

We will share with you something that may not be in books to help you to imagine a little bit of her life.

According to Jade, few years ago, her province, Xing Jiang was attacked by terrorists known as Weiwuer and she was in Xing Jiang during the attack. Weiwuer was one of the minorities in China and they are Muslims. Besides, she shared that the attack was due to the injustice treatment the minority received regarding the price of the mines. People from different provinces could buy the mines with lower price compared to the local people who need to pay more. This injustice eventually led to terrorism. Due this unfortunate period, less tourists spotted coming to Xing Jiang. However, this was not the only attack she faced.  Before coming to Malaysia, her parents sent her to study to another province but it only lasted for six months. It was due to an attack at that province and she was sent back to Xing Jiang.

If before this, we only read about the victims of terrorism through newspapers, this time, we ourselves had the opportunity to meet and listen to the victim’s story.  So we really feel thankful for this opportunity as we can learn a lot from the experience.

Ok, so now let’s move on to the brighter side of our sharing moment.

Although in Beijing female are allowed to enter Masjid, the rule is different in Xing Jiang where only male can go into Masjid. As for education, we feel happy to know that equal education is being provided to people in Xing Jiang. However, it might be slight different for those who stay in the countryside.

It is known from our study that China is a high-context culture and through our sharing moment with Jade, we learned more than that. We still remember Jade’s comparison; people in majority group will buy a box of apples and eat all of them alone while the minority people buy an apple and cut it into few parts to eat it together.

It shows how minority people care about each other and more friendly.

Moreover, we were also very eager to know about the authority in China and we were told most of the Chinese put their trust in money. Those who have money can do anything regardless of the gender. You can rule others when you have money. 

However, from minority people’s point of view like Jade’s family, they want to provide the best education for their children in order for them to improve their life and later, they can help the family. Therefore, for them, education is very vital as it helps to enhance the quality of life. 

Learn more about Jade

Hello everyone!

Remember our friend, Jade from Xing Jiang, China? Hope you still remember her because this entry will share a lot more about her background. So let's not waste time anymore and let's go to Xing Jiang.

BELIEFS

Jade’s family holds dear the phrase ‘Allah is one’ in their everyday life. They believe in Allah and follow the teaching of Al-Quran and hadith. However, not all families in China believe the same thing, as according to Jade, most people are atheist and therefore only prioritize money. It was different during Jade’s time but now Jade told us that competition about material things in school becomes a common situation where the students keep on showing their gadgets and tease those who cannot afford to have it.

NORMS

We learned that people in China like to greet each other with ‘HELLO’ regardless of the religion. Men prefer to shake hands with one another.

However, for some minority people, they will kiss the cheek when meeting with their friends. The norms depend on each minority since there are a lot of minorities in China and these norms somehow make each minority special.

One norm of hers that is quite interesting for us is regarding gifts when visiting friends.

She said bringing gifts when visiting is a basic thing that people should not forget. Milk, tea and fruit are the common things to give to the hosts. However, it is quite different during fasting month where people in Xing Jiang will bring meat or chicken as a gift. Wow, I think it is very fascinating to have this norm in her culture.

VALUES

After listening to Jade’s story, we can conclude that Jade comes from a family-oriented background.

This can be seen when they are having meals together, the use of phones are not allowed as they want to have a quality time together. Moreover, the dining will only start when the family members that are currently home are complete. Jade compared her family with other cultures and according to her, her family does not prefer to make any noise during meals’ time. Even her parents will talk only after finishing the meals.

Let's fly to China

Hello there! Or maybe I should say NI HAO for this entry. This entry is special for us since we are going to introduce our friend.

So, introducing, JADE

No no no. Not this emerald jade.

Here is our sweet JADE

Jade is her English name. But she still has two other names. Her Chinese name is Ma Baiyu, while her Arabic name is Zainab which her family used to call her. She is from Xing Jiang, a province in China, which is the borderline of Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and few other countries.

Jade is the second child out of four siblings. She has an older sister, a younger sister and a younger brother. She is a Muslim since birth as she is from a Muslim family.  

Talking about celebration, Jade’s family only celebrate Muslim’s celebration such as Eid and Korban. Yes, you read it correctly, she calls it KORBAN too. Her celebration is more or less the same with ours here where her family also invite people to come over and have a feast together, and she also receives angpow from them.

If ketupat and rending is Malaysian’s must-have-dishes during raya,

In Xing Jiang, the must-have-dish are

Fen tang

And

San zi which is considered as famous ‘kuih’ for Eid

As we spent time with her and shared a lot of things, it made our eyes opened about how we in Malaysia should be grateful with our life and we need to do everything we can to maintain the peacefulness.

We have a lot more to share with all of you, so stay with us to read more about Jade’s life and I am sure you will learn something beneficial from her journey.