Welcoming The New

(Note: I actually started this post more than a month ago but didn't finish it then.)

So yup, like the title suggests, I'm about embark on a short literary journey on embracing and welcoming the new. What this means is not only little things like the newest hairstyle or the newest music genre but rather the bigger, more crucial picture. Like for instance, accepting new ideologies. For many people especially those belonging in the older generation and conservative culture, accepting today's new way of thinking, ideas, opinions, lifestyle may seem absurd.

Hmm I actually got the thought of writing this when I heard my friend's, Kenneth, speech for a public speaking competition and also because of what happened in the first class of my degree programme. Kenneth's speech was basically about how many of us Malaysians still maintain a drab and backward mentality where anything of the new is seen as utterly absurd and taboo. We can't seem to appreciate novelty and apprehend just about anyone who is daring enough to step over the long-drawn line. 

We are known to thrive upon familiarity and tradition while turning our backs against the new and unfamiliar. I suppose this can be good and bad. How can this be good, you ask? Well okay, maybe not necessarily "good" but it keeps us away from deteriorating as a society. Today I learned a new word- chav. It's a term used on young people in the UK. Chavs are typically white aggressive teens who dress up in immitation branded sports or casual clothing. It is generally comparable to America's "white trash." 

Chavs only came about during the 2000s, which is very recent. Chavs are thought be some cultural evolution of some previous youth subculture like skinheads or mods. 

Anyway, back to what I mentioned earlier about the tendency of us Asians to sidestep the new yet it can be somewhat a "good" thing. The example is as above. The people of the UK and especially the US is widely known to have a very "open" mindset. Underage alcoholism, teen pregnancy and delinquency in the US and UK is not unheard of but rather common. I suppose this is due to the very free and open culture they live in.

So yes, we Asians are still not there yet but...I think we're catching up soon. Anyhow there are some things that we Asians should learn to embrace. Like the example Kenneth gave in his speech, our methods and ideas for advertising. For decades and decades, we have seen the same ideas and concepts repeated over and over again. Are we that stubborn in our ways that we perceive creativity and novelty as inappropriate? Perhaps we are afraid of what may come in the future, that too much of the new might corrupt the minds of the younger ones. But what with globalization, I have a feeling that the efforts of our elders will be futile. Although small but there are evident advancements in our Asian society, people are becoming more daring in voicing out and expressing their ideas. We are stepping out of our comfort zone to explore the new and make something of it. But at the same time, we cannot deny that times are getting bad these days. The worst side of human beings are surfacing everyday. Perhaps it's a plus minus thing, where with the good comes the bad.

I don't know...we will know soon eh? 

[Alright, I'm running out of things to say already. So I'm gonna leave it at that. Til' the next post then.]