The AFP reported that an indian women who had recently given birth to a baby sold said baby to a childless couple to pay for her hospital bill. It was further reported that she received a grand total of 6000 rupees ( about USD120 = ZAR1200) in the exchange. A pittance.
Apparently baby trading is on the rise in poverty stricken India. This is just one of the many social ills - or trends if you will, inflicting this godforsaken country. It seems ironic to see how India's society is falling apart in so many ways, when one considers the fact that the plains of Mohenjo Daro and Harrapa once supported one of the oldest human civilizations in history.
Who do we blame for this? do we blame the mother for her lack of morality for selling her own flesh and blood for money? or do we blame the hospital for forcing a poverty stricken mother to pay for fees she cannot even afford? Maybe we should point the fingers at the couple who were party to the exchange - even though the baby might now have a chance at living a better life?
In today's world where money is the ticket to surviving the modern world - the thousands and millions who are without are left to fend for themselves by whatever means necessary. This means selling babies, selling body parts, killing people, maiming children, kidnapping young girls and putting them in the flesh trade...Put this way, it paints a very scary prospect for the future. When money becomes the singular currency by which society measure their quality of life, ........moral values or decency might cease to exist.
All of us that work for somebody or something.. we are dependent on money to live. We have been brainwashed to believe that the more money we have, the better our quality of life will be. Its not so far fetched to think of this because every month we have bills to pay for what we consider as "basic necessity" - i.e house to live in, car to drive from one point to another, cellphones by which we communicate with others, ADSL to be connected with the world, food to eat. etc etc.. its like a neverending need for more money..a downward spiral to more and more dependencies on a piece of paper.
which brings me to my point - if you have a means to reduce your dependency to the green/red/purple/blue paper - do it. If you have arable land, don't waste it - till it and grow your own food. Barter skills when you can - "I fix your roof, you fix my toilet"...that kind of thing.
A little bit of consciousness/awareness when collectively put - can make a huge difference. Don't you think?
link to feature: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hbq93uNbFurrROW6KeyJaKVa1i0Q
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Breathing new life into the old
The other day, I was listening to one of Sepultura's singles.( W%^&#$G?! Joche..you?) I know.... this heavy metal group is definitely not one for my ear or heart for that matter, but this album is not too bad....because it has elements of tribal music in there that I like.
Maybe it's the tribe in me, you know how the saying goes ~ you can take the girl out of the kampung but not the kampung out of the girl. Educated I may be( ahem!), far as I may be away from all things familiar ~ I will always belong to those violent tribes of "headhunting, spirit appeasing people of Borneo". (It's cool what!)
Anyway, so there I was listening to the native Indians 'hahaa-ing and hoho-ing' with the guitar riffs and drum beats of the band in one of the tracks and it made me think of the bobohizan chants. How awesome would it be to incorporate this "mystical albeit somewhat eerie" sound into contemporary music?
I know, I know..ATAMA has already done it, and he's hasnt done done a bad job either - but really, can you expect the majority of people to take hiphop that seriously? er...No...
Honestly, I'm thinking a more serious genre of music - one with a wider reach.
( yessslaiik it.. mencari nahas budak ni..)
That said though, I have to credit the likes of local musicians like him (ATAMA) and Kan'id ( of Sarawak) who have taken our ancient, folk music and breathed new life into it. Yes, some may see it as a sign of disrespect as these traditional sounds/tunes have deep/esoteric meaning attached to them and isn't just a play of words that one can simply 'hiphop-tise' as it were. But in another perspective, by incorporating these ancient tunes into contemporary music as they have done, it serves to remind others - us natives really, of the threat of extinction to our language, and thus culture.
As a child, my mother told me that I must conquer English foremost and I spent many a times watching Sesame Street as a kid to achieve this. She wasn't necessarily wrong, but the mistake lies in the fact that no one impressed upon me or my siblings the importance of mastering our mother tongue as well. I believe Kadazan is one of those endangered languages of the world. And when you think that the preservation of a lot culture (and this is true to the Kadazans of Borneo as we do not have our own writing system) depend heavily on the existence of our mother tongue - it is most sad to think that if we do not actively promote the preservation and continued use of our language, one day the Kadazans of Borneo will be akin to the the Yetis of Himalaya - a myth.
"The 2003 Convention recognizes the vital role of language in the expression and transmission of living heritage. All intangible cultural heritage domains – from knowledge about the universe to rituals, performing arts to handicrafts – depend on language for their day-to-day practice and inter-generational transmission. In the domain of oral traditions and expressions, language is not only a vehicle of intangible heritage, it is their very essence. " ~ UNESCO
Maybe it's the tribe in me, you know how the saying goes ~ you can take the girl out of the kampung but not the kampung out of the girl. Educated I may be( ahem!), far as I may be away from all things familiar ~ I will always belong to those violent tribes of "headhunting, spirit appeasing people of Borneo". (It's cool what!)
Anyway, so there I was listening to the native Indians 'hahaa-ing and hoho-ing' with the guitar riffs and drum beats of the band in one of the tracks and it made me think of the bobohizan chants. How awesome would it be to incorporate this "mystical albeit somewhat eerie" sound into contemporary music?
I know, I know..ATAMA has already done it, and he's hasnt done done a bad job either - but really, can you expect the majority of people to take hiphop that seriously? er...No...
Honestly, I'm thinking a more serious genre of music - one with a wider reach.
( yessslaiik it.. mencari nahas budak ni..)
That said though, I have to credit the likes of local musicians like him (ATAMA) and Kan'id ( of Sarawak) who have taken our ancient, folk music and breathed new life into it. Yes, some may see it as a sign of disrespect as these traditional sounds/tunes have deep/esoteric meaning attached to them and isn't just a play of words that one can simply 'hiphop-tise' as it were. But in another perspective, by incorporating these ancient tunes into contemporary music as they have done, it serves to remind others - us natives really, of the threat of extinction to our language, and thus culture.
As a child, my mother told me that I must conquer English foremost and I spent many a times watching Sesame Street as a kid to achieve this. She wasn't necessarily wrong, but the mistake lies in the fact that no one impressed upon me or my siblings the importance of mastering our mother tongue as well. I believe Kadazan is one of those endangered languages of the world. And when you think that the preservation of a lot culture (and this is true to the Kadazans of Borneo as we do not have our own writing system) depend heavily on the existence of our mother tongue - it is most sad to think that if we do not actively promote the preservation and continued use of our language, one day the Kadazans of Borneo will be akin to the the Yetis of Himalaya - a myth.
"The 2003 Convention recognizes the vital role of language in the expression and transmission of living heritage. All intangible cultural heritage domains – from knowledge about the universe to rituals, performing arts to handicrafts – depend on language for their day-to-day practice and inter-generational transmission. In the domain of oral traditions and expressions, language is not only a vehicle of intangible heritage, it is their very essence. " ~ UNESCO
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