A look into the so called name identity

Hi there, everyone.

I know that I've been unfaithful by not posting anything. In fact I have so many things that I want to post about, but I have not been able to. Guess I am lazy.

But what I'm going to post may be controversial. Here's what.

I suggest, for the sake of unity, Malaysians should rename themselves, follow the nationalistic approach of Thailand and Indonesia.

Heck, I don't mind if i can retain the word "Badi" in my name. "Hang Badi, Hang Jambul" or whatever. As long as the names are standardized.

Now, I am going to break some rules of blogging. I don't mean to, but I want to put the message across. And this is how I do it.

Anyways, here's the thing. 50 years of nationhood, and I'm a second generation Malaysian. Spesifically, of the chinese ethnic. Now, I think I once posted that there's something to be proud of being a Malaysian. No, its not about a countryman of mine going around earth's orbits or the even recent one about winning a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics for male's singles badminton (God dammit, we want the Thomas Cup!), or any of that sort. Its the passport. Noticeably, the most advanced passport in the entire earth. Heck, that's something to be proud of.

However, there's also something about the passport that irks me and many other people. You see, I hold a Malaysian passport. When I go to Singapore, I am called a Malaysian. When I go to any parts of the world, despite the fact that I have a similar skin tone to those of banana fruits (its an insider racist joke, folks) I am still called a Malaysian.

Heck, that's part 1.

Now, here's part 1 extended. A Malaysian friend of mine, of chinese ethnicity, "returned" to China. Why did I use "return" instead of 'visit'? That's because many chinese in Malaysia still thinks that China is their motherland. Irregardless of their generation. The term 'many' may be questionable, but it is still a sizable group of humans in a piece of land called Malaysia, who are somehow yellow skinned (or kins to yellow skinned people)and thinks that way too. Now here's the situation. He went back, and proudly proclaimed "I'm back to visit my motherland".

He turned a few chinese heads. And at one point, he got an answer "You're just a fucking Malaysian". End of story.

He 'came down' back to Malaysia. And the people called him "you're a Chinese!". Look at the nouns.End of story.


Heck, what's the point of upholding the name "Yee Tzyypirng" if my 'fucking' grandmotherland (since it ain't my motherland anyway) refuses to even recognize me as part of hers? No, i'm not insulting the Chinese nationality, and neither am I insulting Malaysian chinese, but hear me out on this one before you guys start to comment.

For years and generations the Malaysian chinese have argued that we ought to keep our names because it represents who we are. Culture, heritage, traditions. I say its all a lost game. Do you see Malaysian chinese kids running around greeting their elders with a bow? Do you see the young Malaysian chinese pausing in their steps to allow the elderly cross before them?

Heck, the point here I'm trying to put forth is that, we young Malaysians have our own culture, tradition and values that we uphold. Irregardless what race we are. But if we insist on being 'a part of a another group', please for the sake of upholding the argument, check the reality. I only think that the only 'real chinese' are people of Taiwan and people of Hong Kong. And when I meant by this, I meant the Han Chinese (not including the minor ethnic chinese of other chinese 'sub-race' [again the use of sub race is arguable]) (I hope this isn't a derogatory term for them). And I mean as in how they live, how they think, how they act, and how they presents themselves.

Those are the real 'fucking chinese'. Malaysians are just fucking Malaysians. You can try hard to be a chinese, but in the end you're just another 'ngoi chut yan' (outsider) to them. Now you can understand my angst. Because I think its time to really think forth and speak for ourselves where do we stand.

Change the name. Check. But does that mean we erode our rights to practice what we believe in? Definitely not! It's not like we can't celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, or have Dragon dance or Lion Dance thrown in to it. Even 'gwai lous' are doing lion dance in Australian chinatowns. It doesn't mean that because we give up our names, we give up our rights to live as we chose to.

I know many chinese are going up to be upset with what I've said. Some will call it substant-less, some will call it derogatory. Some will call me a traitor to the race.

But I put forth my opinions, and stand by with it. Because in any part of the world, I am just another Malaysian. And not a fucking Malaysian chinese. Because I'm quite fed up with racist elements in people around me. And I'm trying to propose a way to tackle the issue in the roots.

We should have changed our names 50 years ago.

And no, I don't know how the Indians and other natives of Malaysia think. I put this argument forth for West Malaysia situation. Sabah and Sarawak are alright in their way. That's why we have 'Sino's running around. They are Sabahans and Sarawakians in their own right.

On ICT, Teaching and Technology

A few years back down the memory lane, let's see... I was in Form 1. That would be year 1998.



I started having my own hotmail address. It was "hyperyouth@hotmail.com". It died after a year, due to inactiveness (I forgot to login). Then I had a new one, hyperyouth_firepower@hotmail.com. It was due to attributed to "Team Hyperyouth Syndicate". Then I started MIRC. And moved on to the most popular IM at that time, ICQ by Miranda. Little by little, I went on to Napster, and I went on to many other programs the beatiful World Wide Web had to offer.

The very first online MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that I tried was Utopia by SwerveGames. It still lives today. I play World of Warcraft now.



All of that in the year 1998. Imagine my joy of being an adolescent who was bestowed with these knowledge of the internet. Search engines were rudimentary, crude and direct to the point (look at Yahoo!) that it was basic, and no frills. To know a site search engine, it was like "godsent". To know the methods of searching through a search engine was to be an 'information angel'. You hoard the knowledge that you seek, and for once, you feel like you're ahead of your peers and time.



Until you suddenly realize, that the world wide web just made you look like a fool. But it was fun. I was able to get EVERYTHING (or almost) that I wanted to know.



While all these wonders took place, the only teacher that I knew that could rival my prowess and ability to use ICT was my father. Mr Yee Wai Chiong. He was the first of the 'non-malay' batch that entered UPSI. He was the first of the 'non-malay' batch that took up ICT (it was actually offered to him, really) in Education. And he graduated at late 1998. But that's not the point. Imagine his horror and surprise when he finds out that his own son was able to rival his abilities in using / implementing ICT, with exception of 3 programs (Database[the old DOS version], Adobe Photoshop and HTML programming). He still maintains that 'skill edge' in these 3 programs, but when it comes to broader application, I win. Hands down.



Now, at this moment, the situation is replicated, but not entirely. I am an English about-to-be teacher, and kids in schools (its a common thing to call even 17 year olds as 'kids') are going to be as good as I am, or even better. I am outclassed in almost all basics. Image / Video / Media manipulation, CSS, HTML, Java, C++ and various other programming language, the knowledge of hardware, the knowledge and practical application of hardwares and softwares, etc. And the same anxiety that befell my father 10 years ago is now replicated in me. Am I "up to date" enough to convince the kids that I'm relevant to their education? (Or at least able to provide a sufficent, useful / meaningful input) Am I in a position to guide, fascilitate and assist their learning should they wish to adopt the usage of ICT tools and skills? Am I only going to be an insult to their intelligence?



Today business web standards are on web2.0 standards. Whereas in communications we're already way past 3G, going into 4G (and nations advanced as Korea and Japan are already gearing up for 5G), and it will be ongoing, not waiting to stop. Amazing future lies ahead. Take a breather, grab all you can, move on. Take a step.



When my old man studied ICT in Education back in 1998, to the teaching community it was a marvel, an unwarranted future. A risk. Today, the very same level of understanding of ICT (compared as for these 10 years) would be "rudimentary", "crude" and "fundamentally out of date". Today, it (refers to the ICT in general) is a generic skill that every individual who proclaims to be a teacher is a 'must have'. Without it, one is a fail. I do not intend to fail my students. Not as of now, not as of 20 years later. I intend to keep up, and I intend to stay 'in tune'.



Welcome to the reality of ICT.

If it seems like its too late, the ever golden proverb proves otherwise. "It is always never too late". Happy reading, and happy looking forward on the fun side of ICT.



Mucha Gracias.