Globalization Towards the Destruction of Culture. Where’s our Identity? Who are you?

At Taman  Mini  Indonesia, where Indonesia Architecture and Cultural practices are all exhibited here.

You know, the contradicts of Globalization today is where people gain more awareness on their positions and say wanting to be different and do something because the world has no boundaries, however, they do not notice they are already different but they have yet to really appreciate it.

I could never stop imagining how Globalization could place the effect on cultures, the scenes are playing all over in every street and second. People. I was on the way back from Penang where I was watching a documentary of Ancient China, where traditional toys (handcrafted ones) and foot binding culture. The very true fact most people will agree is that many technologies are founded by the Chinese, long before the western discovers, gunpowder, spaghetti, whatever you name it…

It’s sad to see that China itself is producing one-third of the world’s toy today but not paying any attention towards their own traditional toys. In fact, if we are thinking Ipod/Ipad can replace the sense of learning process, they never would. Because they are never understood by physical means, as much as how only, a real life can show, which many a Chinese traditional toys show. Foot binding is slowly being forgotten, no more youths or adults, but only grandmas having foot binding culture. This tradition may seem strange, or weird to us, but it was once our identity.

But today, what’s our identity? Going around with our iPods, thinking that the world is so small etc. We have always named ourselves the age of globalization, to me it’s a threat to culture. Another example is the picture above, where it’s one of the rare buildings you find in inner Kalimantan, Indonesia, where tribes protect themselves by staying high above ground level. The very fact is globalization means urbanization. Slowly these will be gone, aging will occur in villages, and everything will be wiped out. It’s a silent killer, because, in this century, nothing else matters but economy and consumerism.

A lot of other things comes into sense, why are we building overseas architecture and applying it here? Why could modern architecture dance along with globalization but not our very own cultural respected tropical architecture? Why with all the KFCs or MCDs but not our Nasi Lemak? Or how many of us really know how to cook our own traditional dish?

If you would say I am proud of myself, no I never was and am, I’m still on my way to understand my own cultural identity and roots. And to those who really understand them, I pay my respect to them. Think of all the things our ancestors have gone through, think of if we would want our grandchildren to retain what we are doing?

So what’s our identity today? Where are we from?