I saw one interesting Petronas Ad in Malaysia last year for Deepavali Festival.
Notion of Identity!
I know I haven’t been writing to this blog for a while. The holiday, the warm summer and a short break, I guess makes me a little bit lazy. But it was a wonderful break for me after one year on my PhD research. Just a little update with things I’m working on at the moment. The abstract for ICAS 5 (International Conference Asian Scholar- 5) have been accepted. The conference will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 2007. Meaning I will have chance to go back to my home town. So yes, before thinking about the plan of going back to my home town, my first priority now is to finish the paper. This paper is a join research paper with Dr. Peter Raisbeck from Melbourne University.
Meanwhile I’m also working on my research project MI Forum and preparing the next project ( which I’m still in the process of figuring out what I wanted to do). Since I started MI Website, I’ve been questioning, reading, researching and exploring about the notion of identity, this relates to national and cultural identity. Searching for Malaysian Identity was one of my main search. One of the members in MI Website respond to this ‘ What is not Malaysian?’. Perhaps by lookin at what is not Malaysian will help me in this. Although it is not easy to define what is not and what is.
There are many reason why the questions of identity is hard to define. Identity in my contexts mean the personal, self identity and how this relates in the development of national and cultural identity. Until now I still can’t say much about the notion of national and cultural identity and why does it matter to us as a citizen.
I took this photo while walking around Rainbows Valley, Alice Spring. We camp overnight at Rainbows Valley, actually that was our last day after 7 days camping trip around Alice Spring. I saw different mark of animal steps around the sandy sand trails the next morning. Just looking at the steps we can try to guess which animals or which insect owns the step. This is the physical identity of these animal.
Just through the mark we can guess which animal owns it. What about us? What define the different between each one of us. Through our attitute, physical looks, personality, tradition, cultural practice languages and the country we come from might be another clue for others to guess and discover things about us. Just like the mark from the animals in Rainbows Valley I saw, thats how I get to know them, through their steps and trail on the smooth red sand trail.
On going project…
I know I haven’t been writing to this blog for a while. The holiday, the warm summer and a short break, I guess makes me a little bit lazy. But it was a wonderful break for me after one year on my PhD research. Just a little update with things I’m working on at the moment. The abstract for ICAS 5 (International Conference Asian Scholar- 5) have been accepted. The conference will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 2007. Meaning I will have chance to go back to my home town. So yes, before thinking about the plan of going back to my home town, my first priority now is to finish the paper. This paper is a join research paper with Dr. Peter Raisbeck from Melbourne University.
Meanwhile I’m also working on my research project MI Forum and preparing the next project ( which I’m still in the process of figuring out what I wanted to do). Since I started MI Website, I’ve been questioning, reading, researching and exploring about the notion of identity, this relates to national and cultural identity. Searching for Malaysian Identity was one of my main search. One of the members in MI Website respond to this ‘ What is not Malaysian?’. Perhaps by lookin at what is not Malaysian will help me in this. Although it is not easy to define what is not and what is.
There are many reason why the questions of identity is hard to define. Identity in my contexts mean the personal, self identity and how this relates in the development of national and cultural identity. Until now I still can’t say much about the notion of national and cultural identity and why does it matter to us as a citizen.
Identity, politics and the consumer cultures.
Happy New Year to all, hoping this year thing will get better, like every new year. I was away for a short holiday spending Christmas and New Year with family. Droved around Victoria and New South Wales. We did small town, beaches, back to nature, national park, rainforest and good food. We had wonderful time. Holidays is great, everybody needs a break I guess.
As for now I’m back to research and work. Nothing much thought in holidays about research, very mild and relaxing. I thought would be better off enjoying my short holidays and come back fresh to continue my 2007 research. My website www.malaysianidentity.com went well, I would say, although it is only little not even a year, but through the website I meet virtually many people. That is the power of technology. Some of them I even meet up in real world, but sadly some of them still we meet in the virtual life.
I dont know how long this site will go on, I guess I should keep it, although it is not very easy to maintain it, but we’ll see. We still open for discussion and any new ideas about related topic. Also my abstract for conferences has been accepted. Great, now more work to do 😉
I started my new year slow and steady, I hope to see things clearly and fresh after my holidays. I also hope to improve many things in life and my research. I need to set few goals and achivement for 2007. Let hope there will be less war in this year too, and more people will be concern about environment and real thing.
I also have few topics that i find interesting to dig this year. Topic like authenticity…in the globalisation world. As many people now is very much interested in ‘real thing’ as they call it.
Question:
How do you deliver the authenticity to a mass market?
Ive been discussing, chatting, interviewing and reading lots of thing about the issues of identity. Until now the issues of identity still ambiguous. Why identity need to be interpret as one? Why must there be a single identity? After few months discussing about issues of Malaysian identity in the virtual round table these are my conclusion.
Identity represent certain group of people, an image or history supporting the group. Identity in Oxford English Dictionary is define as ˜the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
My definition and understanding of identity might be different to my mother or my grandmother definition of identity. Identity changed, transform and evolved through time and generation. There are many reasons of the changes of identity. It can be education, technologies, government laws, political, religions and belief, tradition and lifestyle. It can change because of the new era of globalization and free market. Further more, it can also be, because of the freedom to choose.
And it doesnt have to be a single identity. It can be multi identity in any country, or places or person. Identity changes, evolved and transform through time and situations!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Chinese Praying Place, Penang
Kampung Permatang Pasir, Malays House, Kedah, Malaysia
Ive been out of Melbourne for a short holidays in the desert. Was a good break after a log break I had in Christmas. I think I had enough break for now. I will write soon about the trip in short text and lots of pictures of the desert.
Meanwhile I also been actively reading things about consumers culture. Authors like Celia Lury,
Anthony Gidden and Simmons open up some argument related to my research about identity. Giddens introduces me to the understanding between emancipatory politics to life politics.
Anthony Giddens (sociologist) has located the significance of the nation of identity in contemporary society in relation to a movement away from emancipatory politics to life politics. Emancipatory politics in its various forms is seen by Giddens to have concerned with releasing people from the constraints of traditional social positions of class, gender, race and age, by breaking down hierarchies. Clearly, the consumer culture is seen by some as an important process in this breakdown, or at least in the refiguring of these hierarchies, through the resources it offers for more flexible relationship between the individual and the self-identity.
Life politics, in contrast to emancipatory politics, is said to be a politics of self-determination. The protests, campaigns, strikes and rallies associated with emancipatory politics were attempt to reveal the invasion of the peoples everyday lives by social and political forces of domination and exploitation. Life politics is said to work at the different level. It concerns a reflexive relation to the self in which the individual is less concerned with protesting about the actions of others than with taking controls of the shape of his or her own life through the negotiation of self-identity.
The life politics ˜is a politics of self-actualization in a reflexivity links itself and body systems of global scope. As it becomes possible for individual to construct personal identities in a reflexively organized environment, so identity has become a social issues, a topic for public debate, and a site of political change. Giddens, Anthony (1991:214).
Transformation of Identity!
Happy New Year to all, hoping this year thing will get better, like every new year. I was away for a short holiday spending Christmas and New Year with family. Droved around Victoria and New South Wales. We did small town, beaches, back to nature, national park, rainforest and good food. We had wonderful time. Holidays is great, everybody needs a break I guess.
As for now I’m back to research and work. Nothing much thought in holidays about research, very mild and relaxing. I thought would be better off enjoying my short holidays and come back fresh to continue my 2007 research. My website www.malaysianidentity.com went well, I would say, although it is only little not even a year, but through the website I meet virtually many people. That is the power of technology. Some of them I even meet up in real world, but sadly some of them still we meet in the virtual life.
I dont know how long this site will go on, I guess I should keep it, although it is not very easy to maintain it, but we’ll see. We still open for discussion and any new ideas about related topic. Also my abstract for conferences has been accepted. Great, now more work to do 😉
I started my new year slow and steady, I hope to see things clearly and fresh after my holidays. I also hope to improve many things in life and my research. I need to set few goals and achivement for 2007. Let hope there will be less war in this year too, and more people will be concern about environment and real thing.
I also have few topics that i find interesting to dig this year. Topic like authenticity…in the globalisation world. As many people now is very much interested in ‘real thing’ as they call it.
Question:
How do you deliver the authenticity to a mass market?
Ive been discussing, chatting, interviewing and reading lots of thing about the issues of identity. Until now the issues of identity still ambiguous. Why identity need to be interpret as one? Why must there be a single identity? After few months discussing about issues of Malaysian identity in the virtual round table these are my conclusion.
Identity represent certain group of people, an image or history supporting the group. Identity in Oxford English Dictionary is define as ˜the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
My definition and understanding of identity might be different to my mother or my grandmother definition of identity. Identity changed, transform and evolved through time and generation. There are many reasons of the changes of identity. It can be education, technologies, government laws, political, religions and belief, tradition and lifestyle. It can change because of the new era of globalization and free market. Further more, it can also be, because of the freedom to choose.
And it doesnt have to be a single identity. It can be multi identity in any country, or places or person. Identity changes, evolved and transform through time and situations!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Chinese Praying Place, Penang
Kampung Permatang Pasir, Malays House, Kedah, Malaysia
Brand New Year 2007
Happy New Year to all, hoping this year thing will get better, like every new year. I was away for a short holiday spending Christmas and New Year with family. Droved around Victoria and New South Wales. We did small town, beaches, back to nature, national park, rainforest and good food. We had wonderful time. Holidays is great, everybody needs a break I guess.
As for now I’m back to research and work. Nothing much thought in holidays about research, very mild and relaxing. I thought would be better off enjoying my short holidays and come back fresh to continue my 2007 research. My website www.malaysianidentity.com went well, I would say, although it is only little not even a year, but through the website I meet virtually many people. That is the power of technology. Some of them I even meet up in real world, but sadly some of them still we meet in the virtual life.
I dont know how long this site will go on, I guess I should keep it, although it is not very easy to maintain it, but we’ll see. We still open for discussion and any new ideas about related topic. Also my abstract for conferences has been accepted. Great, now more work to do 😉
I started my new year slow and steady, I hope to see things clearly and fresh after my holidays. I also hope to improve many things in life and my research. I need to set few goals and achivement for 2007. Let hope there will be less war in this year too, and more people will be concern about environment and real thing.
I also have few topics that i find interesting to dig this year. Topic like authenticity…in the globalisation world. As many people now is very much interested in ‘real thing’ as they call it.
Question:
How do you deliver the authenticity to a mass market?
The New Look!
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THE NEW LOOK
I have to changed my blog appearance to the new theme. It is because the old theme that I really like which is Falling Dreams by Razvan Teodorescu is having minor problem with the blogroll. I’m not meaning to rant about this but I thought to put in some words about it. This is what happen with technologies i guess. Things changes so fast expecially with softwares, I need to updated everything regularly and not to be left behind. Technology help us a lot in managing our work and did manage to save heaps of time. But to be able to do that we need to also update ourself with the fast moving technologies. I still remember I used to use Apple-Machintosh Black & White.
Of course the application also so much different in the term of the look, the navigation, the theme and many more. But now, how time flies, I’m using the new powerbook G4 and not long after I bought this, Apple had a new power book G5. How can I move that fast, I mean it not about me wanting the new latest Apple power book G5 but I start to have problems with the software I have in G4 that doesnt work with G5.
It just make me wonder how can I effort to cope with this fast growing changes of technologies?
TramTactic – The Culture Exchange
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W-11 TRAM an art of journeys
The project started with Tramjatra, an ongoing project which since 1996 has brought together artists and the tramways communities of Melbourne (Australia) & Kolkata (Calcutta, India) to explore their cities through the medium of tramways. In the context of rising environmentalism and debates about the impacts of globalisation, tramjatra has demonstrated how new linkages can be made through a public arts practice of inter-cultural collaboration. Through a time where Kolkatas struggling tramways have faced a persistent threat of closure and the operation of Melbournes tramways has been privatised and automated, the tramjatra project has sought to provoke a broader, global engagement in the culturally enriching and environmentally sustaining contribution that tramways can make to these cities.
Last friday we finally made it to these wonderful tram ride in Melbourne. I enjoyed the ‘ different’ experience I had on these special Tram. It is a project by an organic non-organisation of people who come together with artist Mick Douglas to undertake art projects in the public domain departing from the potential of tramways. The whole journey on that Friday, 1st December is divided by 3 different performances.
We took the first one, which is } TRAM OVERBOARD journeys of performance { departs 6.53pm Fridays from Federation Square – Sit, stand or dance your way as guest artists perform a lap of the city. And that’s what we did. We dance and enjoy the sound of ‘Bhangra’ and ‘Indian’ sound of music. The next show is by AZAAD BHANGRA GROUP with infectious dance to dhol drum beats that resonate far from the Punjab. And the last one is } TRAM OTHERWISE – journeys of encounter { which makes laps the city 5.16“6.53pm and 7.43“9.16pm Fridays – Other people, other worlds, and things otherwise. We manage to do this too. So much fun. You should try! More infomation click here!
My reflection on the journey
It’s really interesting to see how people respond and react to ‘new’ and ‘different’ environment. Nervous, curious and shock. And I don’t blame them. I think it’s natural reflection, I acted the same as soon as I step in the ‘colorful’ deco-tram. And with the loud music as a background, who would have thought this scenario is happening in Melbourne. I’m scared and shy at the beginning of the trip, but then seeing others dancing with the rhythm, I begin to move slowly. Then I felt like I’m free, like I can just move or dance like how I want. It’s like breaking an ice process. Seeing others actually influences me to join the dance. It is just amazing how arts, music, dance can move us. I also felt like I’ve been transfer to an imagenary world. Comparing the normal tram i had everyday in Melbourne with this TramTactic, it’s like living in two different world. If you hop in the normal trap, people are in their own world and there is no eye-contact or even a smile. Not even the tram driver greet you to say ‘hello’ or ‘welcome on board’. This one ‘TramTactic’, it make me move and alive. Sharing the space with others around you, smile and talk to each other. I really enjoyed my journey and had such a nice time with the TramTactic.
Rethinking Identity
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I learned that every developing countries are facing the same problems. Our next generations are struggling for new identity in the era of globalization. Or will there still be Malaysian identity? Perhaps it will change to a global identity? Do people care much about their ˜identity? What is identity? Websters dictionary states identity is the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. American Heritage Dictionary define identity as ‘The collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known’.
Identity begins with our names, addresses, family groups, and cultural backgrounds, but how does it grow from there? Is it true that identity changed and evolved through generation? What cause the changes of identity? Why is it important to express our identity? Is identity how we see ourselves or how others see us? Is identity what we are or what we would like to be? Do we form our own identity or do others form it for us?
I think these questions will be a starting point to rethinking an identity. Till then….signing off NR ‘Good Night and Good luck’.
Living in artificial world!
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I was walking with Xavier crossing Victoria Market* last night to send back the DVDs that we borrowed from VideoEzy. On the way back we saw a new parking machine just beside the atm machine. What triggered my thought at that moment was that the whole parking lot is going to be managed by a machine. It used to be ‘human manage’ system, but now they change it to the ‘machine system’. My thought is not only the transformation from the human to machine systems but more than that.
I wonder…
Why there is a need to change from ‘human to machine’?
What will happen with people job, who’ve been replaced by the machine?
I’ve been reading this book recently, called Authenticity by David Boyle. The first chapter talks about living in artificial world. The world full of new inventions and technologies. I’m not blaming the technologies, but i’m blaming the people who make use of it for making more profits. And designers are involved in this process. We always do. We, designers (in any kind) have always been told to create new invention to make things easy for people to use. How to solve problems? How to help or improve the systems? What can we designers, do to assist in this? Then we came up with new way through technologies, new methods of paying rent, parking tickets, buying our needs and many more.
We also came out with email so we can get in touch with each other as fast as wind. Yes! indeed these new invention, do make things easy. Then everbody wants to have it and use it because it seems like a fashion or trend. People who don’t know how to use computer seem stupid and not into fashion. The effect of an increasingly virtual world, where nothing is quite what it seems, has lead to a growing clamour for what is genuine and human. ‘Human relations are declining in the selling game,’ says the legendary former general Electric chief executive Jack Welch.
But all these technologies do connect us to anyone around the world. Then comes globalization. Globalization is not suddenly going t disappear, sending us all back to a cottage economy. Nor are we going to un-invent the internet and beat our computers into ploughshares. It’s not going to happen. But simply guess globalization is so powerful, there’s an equally strong opposite reaction going on.
We start to be greedy and to forget where all this comes from. I’m not against all this. I find it hard to be far from my computer. I even find it hard to write, because I’m so use to type on my computer. It’s great, i can finish things fast and easily using technologies. But I also realised by writing my own words with pen, or brush, or whatever tools, is giving me a different pleasure, different feeling and i miss it. Well i dont want to continue ranting around this. I should stop for a while, not for long though. I will end this with few questions.
With the human systems change to machine systems, what can designers do not to participate in this?
How can designers nurture the changes?
What are designers participation in this process?
* Victoria Market is a famous fresh food market in Melbourne city. It is one of the tourist attraction.