- Day 20 -

The Debrief

Today we concluded our trip as officially over. Some of us have learnt a lot, some less, but we would agree that for many issues, it was really an eye-opener when we experience the culture as it is for ourselves. Being immersed in the different cultures around the world has let us think about our self identity as "Chinese".

One of the things that struck me during the course of the summer programme is how communities around the world view Chinese culture. This very definition of culture is a rather difficult question in itself - What makes a Chinese, Chinese? Is it appearance? Or language? Or the customs and traditions? Or common beliefs? How do we identify ourselves as Chinese? Are we losing our self-identity? Can this change be stopped or reversed? These are all difficult questions that will stay on with us. This trip is not the conclusion or answers to our questions. Instead, it serves as a platform for us to discover new questions to ask.

This is the most important learning from the trip... For many times, it is not the answer to the question that is important, but rather, if the question itself is the right one to ask.

Post-trip Reflections

The question on the Chinese-ness and the preservation of Chinese culture is indeed a tricky one. Especially with the impact of globalisation, many people are in fact too busy and apathetic to notice the phenomena of the formation of a universal culture, and the rapid erosion of all other unique cultures. This is especially apparent for the Chinese, as Chinese culture used to be very rich in many parts of Asia, but now has been pretty much faded away. I used to think that this phenomena is only apparent in Singapore, where it is invaded by all kinds of global culture, but in this trip, I have found that in various places in Asia, we can hear many people lamenting the decline of Chinese culture in the next generation. And if we were to compare with our parents' generation, we can observe that indeed, many rites and traditions have been downplayed seriously... A sign of the times is that even the "sacred" Chinese New Year holidays, traditionally a time of the gathering of families, reunion and celebration, has been used by many people as a long holiday to bring the family abroad.

Is it the fault of the elders for "not teaching the young well"? Or is the ancient tradition becoming irrelevant in today's age? Can culture be taught, or is it something that can only be picked up ourselves along the way? How does the notion of "culture" complement or clash with the notion of a free and independent individual, that so many people around the world are pursuing?

Upon thinking deeper on such a phenomena, it doesn't give us answers, but it gives us something just as valuable - more questions, and harder questions to answer. What constitutes a Chinese culture? Is it a language? Is it your ethnicity? Is it your place of origin? Is it the place you live in, or the people you mix with? Is it a set of traditions and values? What is the core essence of a Chinese?

This is indeed an interesting question, considering the huge number of Chinese around the world today - people who are all so different from one another in terms of appearance, environment, thoughts, beliefs and everyday living. Are they all Chinese? Or are some more "Chinese" than others?

Searching for the answers is indeed difficult. Three weeks of traveling around the major parts of Asia, yet there is only so much of the deep mystery we can uncover. This brings a rather worrying thought - if this is what we can understand after such extensive travelling and immersion, how can the average Chinese learn about their "Chinese identity"?

Or is there a Chinese identity in the first place?








































... Closure of the blog, but the fond memories live on. =)