I do hope that Asianisation will occur in the world in the same way that many nations undergo Westernisation. I hope further that Asianisation will occur successfully and in a positive light. I'm kind of disappointed with the melamine incident, really. Just when we begin to think that "Made in China" is not so bad after all, bad things emerge. Like the lead paint in toys, melamine in foodstuffs, etc. And you can't really detect kidney stones unless you go for a medical checkup, which make things even more scary. So who knows we're carrying stones in our kidneys happily. We can no longer chew on the White Rabbit Milk Candy the way we happily bite through that white paper anymore. We can no longer buy any type of food without reading through all the fine print to make sure that it doesn't say "Made in China". It sucks when greed comes in and takes over the world. Besides greed (desire for profit maximisation), I don't think there is another reason that justifies these manufacturing scandals enough. The greed to ride upon the waves of economic boom and earn as much as money possible from increasingly affluent civilians. I don't think that the producers deliberately want to kill babies. Killing babies won't make their lives any better, but earning more money would. So invest less on real protein and dump the polymer in so that money can roll in like tsunamis. And sure enough, like tsunamis, money and greed destroy all trust and faith that the Asia (not only China) tries to develop through all these years. So that's for the manufacturing side.

What encourages me though, is the influence of Asian art on the world. I'm not an art expert, but through my observation, Asian arts and culture is beginning to make beautiful marks on the world. I see the inspiration that traditional Asian costumes have on the fashion world, from Indian paisley prints, Hermes' saree-like dresses, Naem Khan's Chinese-inspired fabrics, Etro's batik patterns, and all that stuff, are making such a significant mark in the industry. As an Asian, I find it heartening that the world is becoming more and more open to Asian culture. Beneath all the terrorism, manufacturing scandals, and all that, Asia is truly a beautiful place. The sheer diversity of cultures and the flow of cultures amongst countries is really amazing. It will probably take ten lifetimes to fully comprehend the background and the beauty of Asian culture. I'm proud of my fellow people who share black hair and dark brown eyes. I like it that we are developing at different paces, because it feels like we can ride on a time machine. If I want to feel a futuristic, fast-paced world, I can turn to cities like Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong. If I want to take a break, I can retreat into the mountainous districts of Indonesia and enjoy the natural beauty. What I find distinctive about Asian culture, though, is the language. Many Asian languages originate from pictorial form and evolves from there. The calligraphy of each language is fully emotive and sometimes just looking at the writing, without understanding what it means, is poignant in itself. I'm thinking of Arabic, Tamil, Chinese, Sanskrit, Korean, etc.

I think that as Asians, we should protect our culture, be proud of it, and not to be afraid to be who we are. We may face many problems as we progress, but I'm proud of the Asian resilience, the ability to deal with all sorts of obstacles (such as corruption, autocracies, poverty, etc), without losing faith. We don't have to dye our hair blonde, red, chestnut. We don't need to wear coloured contact lenses. We don't need to wear T-shirt and jeans all the time. Wear the cheongsam, wear the saree, wear the ao dai, wear the kimono, wear the hanbok, wear the batik, wear your traditional costumes with pride. As long as we show that we are proud of who we are, we love ourselves as Asians, noone can deter us from fulfilling our fullest potentials.