McDonalds - Just a Franchise?

Being a TCK does come with it's perks, no matter how emo I can get about my situation.
One of the never ending perks, are the comparisons between everything and anything.

Take McDonalds. It's virtually impossible to go anywhere without glancing at those huge double yellow arches.

What's on the menu, however, can reveal the very essence of the country that allowed McDonalds to reach its shores.

Anyone with a TV in their house will probably be all too familiar with the programme 'Super Size Me' where a guy had the all fattening diet of McDonalds burgers in Super Size for a month in North America. The rest of the world can only gape in awe at the size of the burgers, and wonder why famine and world hunger is such a huge problem.

In the Philippines, McDonalds is more commonly known as McDo [pronounced Mac-dOH], although Jubilee tends to be more popular than this hugely international franchise. I can barely remember what was served in the Filipino franchise, but I think they had some kind of mango pudding which makes the mouth of every filo water. Or maybe I'm thinking about Jubilee again.

In Malaysia, all burgers have no pork in them, and regularly advertises their Prosperity Burgers every Chinese New Year. The properity of these burgers is, however questionable, and it is suspected that the managers of the Malaysian branch of McDonalds are in fact the ones becoming more prosperous. McDonalds is more popularly known as 'McDs', and widely attracts customers because of their ice-creams, not their burgers. They have also been known to sell 'Bubur Ayam' which is basically chicken congee. They don't taste very nice.

Indonesia presumably has a similar menu to Malaysia, and I can't imagine how different the menu might be. Unless Indonesia decides to take chicken and burgers to new heights to do a rendang sapi burger.

Hong Kong also features Chicken Congee on the menu, although as I have never tried it, I cannot comment on the tastefulness of the dish. News has also reached me, saying that Hong Kong also serves dim sum in their McDonald chains. Instant dim dum? Fast food dim sum? Char siew, siew mai, ha kau, egg tarts...instant style? In Hong Kong? When you could walk across the road and get better stuff, probably for cheaper? This is just really strange...

In Australia, McDonalads in known as 'Mackkers', or something similar to those lines. It features a cafe within its outlets, known as McCafe, allowing consumers to believe that it is in fact a classy restaurant, and not some 'fast food chain'. Burger boxes all insist that the beef used is 'purely Australian beef' and never fail to be proud of that fact. Moo.

South Africa's McDonalds remains on a low key, and only occasionally resurfaces to face up to the likes of Wimpy's, but quickly backs down again after a while. They are able to maintain their success in South Africa purely by the knowledge that if every other McDonalds in the world can survive, then so can they. [Well, I guess South Africans can be partial to a McDs burger sometimes] The smoothies and milkshakes featured on the menu of this quiet franchise however, are to be highly commended. In other words - I can't get enough of their berry shakes!

In Canada, the menu appears to be strikingly similar to North America, and I quote Chris, who recently messaged me with a: 'They have PORK in McDs...and BACON!'. Let it be known that possibly every McDonalds in the world has bacon in their burgers, save Muslim countries such as Malaysia [where Chris and I lived for a while] and so on and so forth.

And just for the record - YES burgers do taste better when there's bacon in them. :P

I love doing little comparisons like these, especially when McDonalds is the giant of all fast food chains. I mean, there's not much comparison to be done with KFC [Malaysia may indeed be the only one crazy enough to do KFC hainanese chicken rice]. The 'Burger King' corporation might have quite a few differences, but what with all the different names in each country, it'd be difficult to talk about. Just a tad too many differences.

But if anyone has any interesting stories about their encounters with the many different McDonald restaurants all over the world...gimme a shout. I'd love to hear about your experiences. =)

Mishy <3

2008 American Presidential Elections

Okay, so I really really REALLY should be studying. But I can't help it. I'm so excited, I think I'll force my dad to go buy a paper the minute it hits the headlines.

2008 AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS!!

And this is the guy who should win.

What's to know about him? And more specifically, why do I want him to win?
1. He's a TCK. W00T!
2. He was an expatriate in Indonesia. Indonesia. Same here! Wheeee... He might understand my fanatical liking for rendang sapi? :D
3. Different. How many African American Presidents can you honestly say you know of? Okay, so he's coloured. But it's a step. A good step. Especially after the mistake America made with Bush.
4. "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America." It's about time somebody realised that America is not white!
5. As a foreigner who knows that whatever America does affects the rest of us so much, I think I really need to see someone who can reflect the rest of the world as much as he/she can reflect America itself, and to understand...finally that they must act for the world as well as the United States of America.
6. Pulling the troops out of the Middle East? Sounds like my candidate!

Why am I against McCain so much, one might ask?

1. It's McCain. Republican. BUSH WANNABE!
2. Bad-tempered: "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt." --to his wife, Cindy, after she playfully twirled his hair and said "You're getting a little thin up there."
3. Yes, you may have been a Vietnam war veteran, but surely that will only serve to make me more wary of you. Military minded, and more willing to sacrifice America and the rest of the world in the fight for more oil. Come on, we all know it's not about terrorism anymore.
4. "You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran? Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran." Need I say more?
5. Since when was Putin from Germany? And when did Iraq suddenly become moulded next to Pakistan? Please take a look at a world map, or check up on your world leaders BEFORE you open your mouth...can you imagine what would happen if he was the president when he said all that? http://www.tckid.com/group/lets-be-careful-we-dont-make-mistakes-like-this/

The comeback to all of the crap given to Obama by the Republicans? HAH! :P

Mishy <3

Where Are You From?

A confusing question.
Where AM I from?

This is not a case of me suffering from amnesia, or any form of memory loss. No, this is an identity issue.

When asked the question, most people would respond with their nationality.
Where are you from?
I'm from England. I'm from America. I'm from India. I'm from Canada. I'm from Cambodia.

How simple.

And me?
I'm from...
But wait. What DO I say?
I could say I'm Malaysian. But am I? Am I really? I haven't been able to speak mandarin, or cantonese or even malay since the day I was born. Some increasingly broken bits of the dialect, yes, but never fluently, and never enough to carry off a conversation. I can't speak the language, I have a different mentality, I've even started to look different...the locals would reject me for even trying to fit back in.
Could I say I am South African? I have lived there. I have been accepted by people there. I have managed to convince myself that that place was home. But hang a sec...I'm not African. I'm Chinese. Yes, I respect Nelson Mandela, but there's no way I could be African if I can't identify with all the history of the people living there, could I?
I lived in the Philippines for two years, and I liked it...but I suppose that's not enough time to claim citizenship either.
Indonesia? You gotta be kidding me, I literally got chased out when I was 7. Even though I have lived there for 7 years. That's the longest time I've ever stayed put in a place, even though I can barely remember some of it. I wonder what it must've been like back then.
How about Australian? The ocker Aussie, living out in the wild? No, not really. I can't identity with the place. Open and acepted racism? Lack of shopping malls? Yeah, I'm not gonna be able to deal with this.

So really...what am I?
By my passport, I'm Malaysian.
Culturally, I am very Malaysian.
But mentally, could I be considered South African? The one place where I've managed to fully integrate?
Physically, am I Australian, seeing as this is where I am?
I lived in Indonesia the longest...seven years...is this where I'm from?

Perhaps my passport is just a badge. Something to force on me so no one else get confused. Personally, I'm confused as well. What am I? Where am I from?

The question remains unanswered. But perhaps you can tell me where I'm from.

Mishy <3

Beijing Olympics '08

This one is being held in China this year. And I must say, I think the Olympic committee made a brilliant decision, deciding to host it in China this year. That, or they were bribed rather well by the Chinese.

08/08/08. Beginning at 08:08pm.
It's really interesting how they've managed to get it on what would seem to be China's luckiest day of all.

Watching the Olympics, I incredibly impressed with the idea of the scroll, and the meaning behind it. The body calligraphy amazed me [because I had no idea how the guy knew where to put down the brush] and the lighting of the cauldron [after all the useless running around] was definitely a highlight. I was also rather impressed with the drums at the beginning, although I didn't actually like the way they gradually started looking more and more like a kaleidoscope than a drumming performance. I looked forward to a dragon/lion dance and, okay, I was pretty disappointed that none came. I can honestly say that it is the highlight of my Chinese New Year, and not having it at the Olympics made me sulk a bit.
People say that China is all for precision. Nothing must be out of place. Everything must be perfect.
But in a sense, I'd say that this is what makes China, China. The precision is a sight to behold, especially in a country like Australia where no one likes to listen to authority. [the year 8s and 9s at every school are proof]

When the athletes came out, this had to be my highlight of the entire ceremony, possibly excepting the lighting of the cauldron.
And many people found it boring because, let's be serious, they only had one country to support, and most probably didn't know the flags of all the countries, much less the names.

I, on the other hand, found it extremely difficult to figure out whom I should be cheering for. After living in these places, who do you say deserves to get your support the most? South Africa, or Australia? Indonesia, or Malaysia? The Philippines, or Singapore? [not that I have lived in Singapore, but I believe they're worth supporting] And of course, should I be supporting China- the place where my roots come from, or Hong Kong- where my grand-uncle currently resides? England- to where at least a quarter of my mates have moved, or Canada- where at least a tenth have moved?
Of course, I didn't actually think about it too much, and cheered for all of them all the same.

My brother and I also stayed up the entire night, comparing team sizes [we have decided that China's is by far the biggest and the best, after having to re-evaluate our opinion of the size of the American team- both in numbers and in height] and trying to figure out where each flag came from. We didn't exactly know every country, nor did we know where they all came from either, but we figured all of them out based on the flag and the costumes they wore.

My mother, after all these years of travelling, still didn't know how to figure out if a country was from the Bahamas or Africa just based on the flag and the costumes alone. Her education has been wasted.

And according to a lot of my South African friends, plenty of people were thinking about me during the Olympic ceremony.
I had only one thought when I was told this: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???
In St. Stithians Girls' College, I was the only Chinese girl in my grade. There were more chinese girls in the grades below. But the Boys' College had even more chinese in one grade than the girls college had put together in the whole school.
So really, why am I the one who's being thought of during the Olympic Opening Ceremony??
I know I have [or, well, HAD] a Chinese counterpart in my grade back at Saints, and my counterpart is also an actual Chinese from China. Unlike me, since I am from Malaysia. It made no sense whatsoever. He is more Chinese than I am, he's in Jo'burg at Saints where he can remind them of his presence daily, and I am the one who gets thought of? A friend from the boys college even sent me a message congratulating me on the performance in China. I was incredibly shocked.
I suppose it was a stereotype thing. I'm not concentrating on it too much and I really can't do much except to shake my head in wonder.

Although I can't help but wonder if I perhaps left my mark on Saints a little too clearly.

Mishy <3

TCK Question: Where Are You From?

This is a letter that I wrote to the Wall Street Journal concerning a matter that I know all TCKs could write 5 page essays on, given the chance. Hmmm, maybe I should get my English Lit teacher to let me write about this as an essay then...=P

I came across this article when I was browsing www.tckid.com and thought it might be a really good idea to actually write back to you on this.

I am a Malaysian Chinese born TCK living in Perth at the moment. I've been moving around since I was 2 months old, and I've lved in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa and of course, Australia.The question 'where do you come from?' does get frequently asked, and it's an incredibly hard question to answer. Even though I consider myself to be a Malaysian, I find that simply saying 'Malaysia' is not enough. When I am abroad, I am known as 'the Malaysian girl' and while I am in Malaysia, I am 'the [insert name of current country of residence] girl'. When I am abroad, it is very difficult to explain about Malaysia and all its different races, and why I am a Malaysian CHINESE and not simply a Malay. When I am in Malaysia, it is a lot easier to say that I am Malaysian, but many find it difficult to understand why my english is at a higher level than theirs, and why I am unable to speak the local language. A lot of the friends I make in different countries also find it hard to understand why I am able to speak english so fluently.

My travelling also affects the way people see me. Many caucasians see me as an 'uncivilised' asian girl because of my looks, and assume that I am from China- but this is simply not true. Many of my Malaysian peers see me as strange, and maybe even a little snobby because of my travelling and my international schooling- also simply untrue.
My travelling has made me more aware of the world and it's problems from a global aspect, and this does frighten some people who are only able to see the world from one point: much like a child looks at the world with tunnel vision.

Sometimes I see people as being incredibly ignorant. People who have never travelled like to stereotype people. If I came from the UAE, people would class me as a muslim terrorist. If I was from England, people might think that I am now a very rich person with a posh sort of accent. The thing is that it is simply not true. While I may have gained many cultural experiences, and understand the culture better than many others do, it does not mean that I have suddenly adopted their culture.

Take Barack Obama for instance. He is of a mixed American and Kenyan parentage, and used to live in Indonesia. We see America as a violent and even possibly ignorant country: does that make Barack Obama violent and ignorant? We see Kenya as a poor, uncivilised nation: does this make Barack Obama poor and uncivilised? And of course, Barack Obama has lived in Indonesia, a predominantly muslim country: does this make Barack Obama a muslim terrorist?
I would disagree. While Barack Obama may have been highly influenced by all of these factors, it does not mean that he is violent, ignorant, poor, uncivilised or even a muslim terrorist.
In fact, all this travelling shows that he is incredibly cultured, and is more likely to see things from several different perspectives.

It is through all these factors that we find the question: 'where are you from?' so difficult to answer. We have so many different perspectives, we have been influenced by so many different cultures: For a TCK to answer 'Where are you from?' could take up to an entire essay like the one I've just written here.

Mishy <3