The West is no longer the best
The East is not all that either. But we understand that war sucks and there should be another way. A response to Robert Wu's "The end of West's ideological monotony".
I've had a really tough week at the office where my work literally tripled, so I'm not going to be terribly coherent today.
I really wanted to write an elegant response to
’s newsletter, but since my brain is fried, I think this rambly newsletter is the best you'll get.First, yes, Robert's newsletter is awesome, go read it.
And, honestly, he's a braver soul than I am because when I had look at the comments section, whoo baby! I don't know if I can handle such ... vitriol, condescension and ignorance.
So, I'm not as diplomatic as Richard. Part of the reason why I avoid talking about politics is that I've always been a straight-talking girl, and this often gets me in trouble in the corporate world let alone the "diplomatic" world of social media. I reassure you, nobody's going to hire me as a mediator anytime soon.
This world is not for the faint-hearted. Hard decisions are being made all the time. There would not be any magic pill for the world’s problems. And once there was an attempt for a magic pill, disasters usually ensue. -
I’m a child of a hybrid world
Like Robert, as a Malaysian, I did think that the West was best.
I grew up in a world where every Malaysian wanted to migrate overseas. And when they say overseas, they mean Australia, England United States, basically anywhere Western. Nobody said that they're going to move to Thailand, or China.
Like Robert, I had my awakening when I started travelling abroad. First, for studies, then for work, when I was a jet-setting journalist. Some of the cities I had visited: London, New York, Los Angeles, Edinburgh, Dublin, San Diego and San Francisco to name a few. But I also travelled extensively in Asia, which included China, and had the privilege of watching Beijing grow, over a decade, from a dusty, run-down city to the shiny megapolis of today.
The contrasting conversations I had with people from all these regions made me realise something very early: Malaysia is not that bad, even if fellow Malaysians think I’m talking out of my arse.
The Western nations may have nicer-looking buildings, and the weather is less stifling, but they have the same problems we do.
I also realise taht I really loved being a Malaysian, that living in Malaysia was quite a good thing. I felt lucky to live in a country where there was no violence, where I don't have to freeze in winter, where no natural disasters touch us, water was abundant and vegetables and fruits grow all year round.
I love the fact that in Malaysia we understand many cultures at once or make a lot of effort to do that. Our history books are not just about Malaysia. I grew up learning about the history of China, India, the Middle East, the US. The only sad thing is we left out African nations. Sorry, my friends.
I love that in Malaysia, we live the ASEAN way, which is to talk to our neighbours rather than label them evil or good. And I was able to think this way because of where I'm from, my linguistic abilities and I'm very grateful for that.
Not that Malaysia doesn’t have problems. Oh boy do we. But like Robert said, “the world is a hard place” but we make do with what we’ve got.
Anyway, the event that really made me question the whole dogma that the West was the great benevolant leader of the world was the 2003 Iraq war. (Or invasion, as my part of the world prefers to call it.)
In Malaysia, we have news channels in English, Malay, Chinese, and Indian. So, we have the perspectives of the West but we also have perspectives from China, India, South-East Asia and the Muslim world.
Imagine having this massively diverse media diet from such a huge number of regions all your life. Imagine how that shapes your mind.
I realized very quickly during the Iraq invasion, that Americans don't have the same thing I do.
No matter how much I reason with my online American friends that the Iraqi war wasn't something they should champion, all I got was cancellations. That really broke my heart because I lost many good online friends.
Watching much of the Western world condoning and sending their troops to Iraq made me upset. A few years later when it emerged that “the weapons of mass destruction” did not exist made the entire East roll their eyes. And our hearts broke for the people of that region who were left devastated over this “mistake”.
After Iraq, more wars followed.
Dear West, I’m exhausted by your wars.
Propaganda and such
Over the years, many more events cemented the thought that the people in the West really do not think like us in the East.
What really confounded me was realising that the difference between a Malaysian and an American (and countries like Britain, Australia, really) is while Malaysians don't believe our propaganda you guys really do.
Ours sensors for propaganda are well and truly developed, but man, I think you guys really need to work on yours.
The hysteria around Covid, the lockdown and the vaccines, the anti-China rhetoric that followed, and finally the coverage around Ukraine and Gaza, was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
My faith in Western media, which had dropped a few notches during the Iraq invasion, completely disintegrated after these events.
I no longer watch/read Western news because it’s just pure propaganda these days.
No more talk show hosts like Piers Morgan, no fancy MSNBC journalists or even the angry anchors of alt media.
These days my political news come from historians, academicians, diplomats, heck even ordinary people like this wonderful video below where these two folks talk about their shifting perceptions of the West:
Get out of the coliseum!
We are currently being entertained in a coliseum driven by the media. The elites are keeping our minds busy with tribalistic battles in the arena.
Meanwhile a literal meteor is heading towards the collaseum and the people are too blinded by the entertainment in the arena to save themselves.
The media - yes, even the alternative media! - is telling us who to hate and be angry at. We get sucked in, and we forget that the other side are human too.
Sometimes when I'm on Substack Notes I see posts of Republicans railing against Democrats, Democrats railing against Republicans.
And I'm like, guys, don't you know what's going on? They're playing you guys against each other. They're keeping you distracted, so that you cannot demand that they deal with the real issues plaguing your country: The massive unemployment, the homelessness, the tax dollars being funneled to wars instead of healthcare, infrastructure and education.
It's heartbreaking.
The world is watching this and feeling helpless.
Like I said the East has problems too, and despite all those pro-China or Asia videos that you may see on Youtube made by Westerners, they're looking at us with rosy-hued glasses.
But one thing I can say about Eastern nations: We're at least trying hard to find another way.
For one, I’m really very encouraged that China has managed to make EV adoption such a huge success. I’m glad that at least one country is spear heading the energy transition, even if the rest of the world is determined to fight each other.
I really hope that the West will get over this tantrum-y period where they are determined to drag us into wars and such when we should be working together to solve our planet's problems.
We are currently being entertained in the coliseum by the media and their leaders. But we have to step out of the coliseum.
Your leaders are trying to divide you. My leaders are trying to divide me.
We may not be important people in our governments, but we can do our part by ignoring the prophets of dooms, the talk show hosts determined to label the other side as "evil". We have to stop "othering" each other and be suspicious of those who insist we do.
We can do our part by remembering that 99.9% of people in the world just wants to live a peaceful life with their loved ones and to condone or enable forces where that person is not able to live that life.
Even if that person is a Republican, Democrat, Russian or Chinese.
As I know subscribing to a newsletter can be quite a commitment, you can also give me a tip:
I value your perspective and am glad that you like where you live. Please be assured that many of us here in the US don’t like the way the news is presented either as sensationalistic. Many did not condone the Iraq invasion (huge marches against it)and the vast majority of Americans took Covid seriously and followed precautions. In any country there will be a split of opinions and the government actions will not always represent the broader will of the people. Human nature is varied and yet predictable. There’s a lot of debate here that might not be visible from afar or in those online friends you sadly lost. That said, it seems a true positive that you see the value in where you live rather than ascribing too much hope to somewhere further away. Reading your insights is always interesting!
“In Malaysia, we have news channels in English, Malay, Chinese, and Indian. So, we have the perspectives of the West but we also have perspectives from China, India, South-East Asia and the Muslim world.” That’s such a good point. So in other words, we have to decide for ourselves what to think 😂 When I read some western mainstream news outlets, I feel like I’m guided passively to being told what to think (like a teacher asking leading questions to guide the student towards the correct answer) and it makes my thinking so sluggish that I usually just read the headlines and stop there.