Every 100 metres...

Saturday, May 20, 2006


People say a picture says a thousand words, but this particular picture showing the golden arches of the MacDonalds fast food chain, says much more than a thousand words.

This picture truely represents what is happening in almost every developing and developed country today. There seems to be a fast food chain every 100 metres, just around every corner. It does not always have to MacDonalds, it could be any of the numerous fast food chains in the world, for example, KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl's Junior, and many others.

Maybe fast food chains are not literally found every 100 metres or so, but you know they are always nearby, or at the city centre. These fast food chains are the spawn of all things "western", especially American, since most of, if not all of the most common fast food chains found originated in the United States of America.

The western world does not only export brands and shopping, but also whole cultures. For example, the hiphop culture, which comes from New York, USA has become synonymous with all things cool. Hiphop music, inclusive of rap, soul, and R&B, have been gaining popularity recently all over the world. Hiphop culture can be seen all over the streets, with the clothes people wear, the music they listen too, the way they dance and move, and even how they talk! So much so that asian, spanish, and I'm sure many other language songs all have rap in them, just think Jay Chou. Besides the music, USA has also exported dance moves. Hiphop moves, as well as breakdancing, has become the "in" thing for many youths all over the world to know and show off. You just have to walk down Orchard road to be able to see the baggy jeans and tees typical of hiphop styled males, and the comfortable, yet revealing hiphop fashion typical of girls.

Perhaps it's time to talk about how much Asia influences the world, especially how much the Chinese and Japanese influence the western world, mainly America. I will now talk about the Chinese in California, especially those living in San Francisco.

Walking into the Chinatown situated in the heart of San Francisco, California, you would have never guessed that you were in an English speaking country. To hear spoken English is a rarity in this particular Chinatown. All you hear are Mandarin as well as the main dialect spoken there, Cantonese, and Hokkien every once in a while. This is because of the numerous Chinese immigrants who arrived from China hoping for a better life in USA. Because of the number of Asians in California, it has become quite common to see shops, restaurants and supermarkets totally dedicated to Chinese produce and goods which would not be out of place in China, or Singapore. Seeing white Americans shopping or eating in these Chinese have also become another common sight in the city, and around the state.

Outside of San Francisco's Chinatown, there are many youths to be found who are addicted, and some might even go so far as to say that they are obsessed, with the popular Japanese type of graphic novels, or manga. Many would watch the animated versions of manga, and some would even dress up as their favourite characters in the books, otherwise known as cosplay. This would not be an unusual sight in Japan, but it is really something else to see blonde-haired, and blue-eyed youths dressing up as Japanese characters.

While many teenagers like the Asian culture, they would not take it so far, and be obsessed with a bunch of drawn cartoons. Instead, they follow asian artistes like Stephanie Sun, Jay Chou and Ayumi Hamasaki, pretty closely, buying CDs in Japanese and Chinese when they hardly understand the songs. These youths also choose to collect cartoon collectibles, like Hello Kitty figurines and other assorted toys.

Amazing what globalization has done to youths around the world. There seems to be a slight switching of cultures between the different continents. Maybe in another 20 to 50 years, there would be a huge switch back. Who would know?

Wendy,
Your cultural expert.
Posted by Wendy! at 11:37 pm
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