The real barbarians

"It was eleven a.m. and she was still at home, still in her Chinese blue silk pajamas imprinted with humorous drawings of small dogs. Which might in itself be some kind of insider Chinese joke, she thought, because there was nothing the Chinese loved more than eating man's best friend."

I came across this passage in Candace Bushnell's latest novel, Lipstick Jungle. I reread the last line in disbelief, feeling severely slighted on behalf of millions of my fellow Chinese. Where the hell does Bushnell get off painting Chinese as savages who like chowing down on canines? Just because she was the brains behind pop-culture phenomenon Sex and the City doesn't give her the right to turn her snooty nose up at what she perceives to be less civilized cultures. I can't believe her editors and publisher let that blatantly racist line go into print.

Bushnell's offending words reminded me of the case of poor Luc Cagadoc, the Filipino child in Montreal who was reprimanded by school officials for eating with a fork and a spoon, instead of "the Canadian way", using a fork and a knife. The principal even told Luc's parents that their son eats "like a pig", and that intelligent people eat with a fork and a knife. When I saw this story in the news, I was aghast at the cruelty and racism of people who are supposedly forming young minds and instilling values in them. I fully sympathize with Luc's parents, who have already filed a complaint against the school, and I whole-heartedly support all efforts of the Filipino community in Montreal who are demanding an apology from the school's ignorant and insensitive principal. It riles me further that the Canadian embassy here in Manila has issued a statement saying the Montreal case is "an isolated incident", without so much an attempt at an apology on behalf of their callous compatriots.

The trouble with people from first-world countries is that they tend to be very egocentric, and taken collectively, it is always in danger of leading to ethnocentricity. Anything alien or foreign to their cultural practices and traditions are deemed strange, unnatural, and even barbaric. Their way is the best way; their way is the only way. Once someone deviates from that way, then they are condemned, just like Luc (who is now too traumatized to go back to school). When will these arrogant bastards realize that just because they have a stronger economy or better social services or greater military might doesn't mean they're always right? Just because they rule the world doesn't mean they ARE the world. Millions and millions of Asians eat with chopsticks, does that make all of us less intelligent? Filipinos eat with a fork and a spoon, which actually leaves us with cleaner plates and less wasted food, is that so "disgusting"? And so what if some of us do eat dog meat? The French eat cow's brains and snails all the time, how are dogs worse?

If you ask me, picking on a 7-year-old who uses a different utensil-- THAT's disgusting. And assuming that all Chinese love nothing better than feasting on Fido? That's just plain stupid.