[697] Of U.S. embassy closes after threat

I just ‘discovered’ your blog after minishorts listed you on blog Malaysia. You have a very good blog going here!

I really enjoyed reading your observation and insight on the issue of the Arabisation of Malays. Well, although there is nothing wrong in choosing to be more Arabic, but the hypocrisy of denouncing others in the false and horribly misguided belief of their own cultural �purity� is very depressing indeed, and doesn’t bode well for the future of all Malaysians

How true is it that cultural boundaries that some authorities like to police are in fact more flexible and permeable to other influences…with intertwined histories and influences that have been suppressed and ‘forgotten’. This is more so today in our increasingly globalised world, which has ironically aided those two Arabised Malays to become more closely in touch with the Arabic heritage and re-claim it as strictly their rightful and sole cultural inheritance.

Indeed, this is a world where cultural hybridity beomes possible, just as it is with their case; but sadly as this happens, people turn to a belief in an �original�, unchanging, �pure� culture and have gone up in �arms� to define it. Not surprisingly, we have seen cultural wars taking place not just here in Malaysia, but in other parts of the world, including the US. Such blind polarisation of �cultures� look poised to bring further grief in the world.