A quick apology this week a reader's feedback on my piece last week has me concerned that I didn't explain myself very well. I apologise if the piece at any point insinuated that in the movie Gubra or Sepet, a scene involving Muslims getting drunk was depicted. What I meant was scenes in other movies and also, not limited to just alcohol, but other morally questionable activities.

My contention was that it was ironic that people judged Sepet/Gubra for a scene that involved her entering a restaurant that happened to serve pork (she neither ate or bought any) where as in other Malay movies, scenes that involved drinking, casual sex, or anything that really goes against what is perceived as 'Malay' culture, did not get heavily criticised. If you're going to rap someone's knuckles for 'tarnishing' the image of local culture, then surely everyone and not just Yasmin should be accountable: but if in other movies, this can be written of as just part of the story, then why is everyone taking Yasmin to task?

Again, my apologies for not getting the message across that well. Lost in translation, between brain and keyboard.

A fortune teller told me

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine loaned me a copy of Tiziano Terzani's travelogue when he traveled across South East Asia, entitled "A Fortune Teller Told Me." Up until then I hadn't read that many travelogues, and had yet to discover Bill Bryson's excellent series. But the premise behind Terzani's adventure was very unique. In 1976, while a journalist covering the South East Asian region, he was warned by a fortune-teller not to travel by plane in 1993.

And so, as 1993 approached, he resolved to travel across the Far East during that year using all means of transport available, except for air travel. The result of which, the book that I was reading and it left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I found it fascinating because traveling on paths least trodden, you see a lot of things you don't as you whiz by from airport to airport. Terzani describes this well; with emotion and astute observations, allowing a glimpse into the life of people many of us would never end up meeting.

And yet on the other, his personal commentary on the Far East bothered me, because his main laments generally discussed one thing and one thing only: the modernization of the region, and why this didn't lie well with him as a former journalist based in the region, he had seen the are in its 'glorious past'. One anecdote sticks to mind upon his visit to Malaysia, Terzani expressed his disappointment that gone were the women in tight kebayas, to be replaced by those in loose fitting kurung and headscarves.

That irked me to a certain extent I remember my initial reaction was that the book was an excellent read, but why oh why did the author not want me, or other people in this region, to progress? Is it our role, in this world, to remain as a 'refuge' to the weary souls from the West and other parts of the First World', and therefore, all must be done to 'preserve' us in this natural state, so that our young nubile girls could give Mr. MatSalleh sir a good massage, and our strapping young men could cater to Mr. MatSalleh's bidding and needs?

I thought I was alone in this train of thought, but reading reviews of the book from other people, notably from, but not exclusive to, South East Asia, assured me that my sentiments, while not identical, were echoed by others.

This reeks of the sentiments of white man's burden a Kipling poem, initially, that described the perceived role that the West takes upon itself to educate the 'others'. Inherent in this idea of the burden is that the white man often depicted as the First World countries or Western culture is superior, and others, who do not subscribe to this, must either be educated, or be put in their place as a more inferior group of people.

Imposing culture

"That's not fair." a friend of mine exclaimed as we discussed this very issue over dinner one day. "Why can't I enjoy a McDonald's burger, the internet and tv programs just because I am not white? Why do I have to 'preserve' my country while watching the rest of the world develop?" Quite rightly so it isn't fair, and of course this is contrary to what we observe - the current state of South East Asia, as an example, today in no way depicts this.

Much to Terzani's consternation, should he be alive and well today, these days, in terms of business at least, Asia is 'enjoying' an enormous influx of consumerism. A McDonald's in almost every city in almost every country; there is rarely a place where Star Wars means anything but the movie franchise; and as recently as last week, Chelsea Football Club launched an onslaught into China by signing joint-venture deals with clubs there, securing a place on the emotional mantelpieces of every Chinese football fan when a Chinese national runs on the pitch at Stamford Bridge with a Chelsea shirt on. (Manchester United employed a similar tactic not a few years earlier, when it was headed by current Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon). Whether all this is a good thing or a bad thing, I leave you to be the judge. Modernization may bring better hospitals, lower infant mortality and a better quality of life, to name but three, but as is with everything, it hardly comes for free.

So perhaps the dreams of Terzani, who passed away in 2004, to preserve the romantic ideals of Third World countries as seen from the eyes of its colonial masters may well be outdated, and cultural imperialism is rampant. The American 'mission' of 'liberating' Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance, implies that the Western brand of democracy should reign supreme. Ridding Iraq of Saddam and Afghanistan of the Taliban may have been their justification, but suggesting their way of life over a people whose culture and history go back way before Columbus even found America reeks of arrogance. They wanted to give people a right to vote, they said, but only if they vote for the candidate we endorse? Something doesn't sound very altruistic there.

The idea of 'lording it over' others somehow puts the Bush Administration and his fellow warmongers on the same spectrum as the likes of Osama bin Laden: albeit on different extremes of the spectrum. Both men have scant respect for the ways of life of others, and believe that it is their mission to rid the world of the other. There is no middle ground, no compromise; my way or the highway seems to be the theme and we? We are collateral damage, stuck in the middle.

IDLAN ZAKARIA is a research student in the UK. You can find her at her blog: www.idlanzakaria.com/wordpress