I Rather They Suffer Than We Suffer

“If one keeps on neglecting creativity but works in a context of acceptability as according to that school of thought which nurtures them, then we unconsciously stunt our inner Easternmost expressions by paying homage to Western literal ideas, subconsciously elevating them to iconic towkay status to make them relevant and in turn, reduces our own chance of making our way to the top.
Schools of music till today still stresses on Brahm and Bach. Schools of writing still pays homage to Shakespeare and Wilde, not Tagore or Han Suyin. Schools of visual art history conveniently branded us as offshoots of abstract expressionism. We have been suppressed if not, being denied our own identity. And until we assert a language of our own, we can’t flourish as unique individuals. Our arts and literal history should thus be rewritten and pushed further back to the time where our ancestors began it all. Maybe back to the aborigines. They are unique individuals that did not arise feeding from Western classicals as we have always been, and that’s the reason we are conveniently placed into neat identifiable parcels ready for the slaughterhouse or be labeled as ‘aliens’.
Western ideas propound that without education one will fail. I beg to differ. My very own forefather, the uneducated rich, has proven them wrong. The Westerners also has an uncanny habit to device all sorts of courses and tailored them to suit their own ideals while we in turn, enrolled ourselves into their classes to earn a degree studying about our own culture, tradition and way of life. Seriously??? The profoundness of a language is also not important as our forefathers again has proven. Living with different ethnicities, we never have trouble understanding each other and getting our messages across despite the littlest we knew about someone else’s language.
If I may stress further, Eastern writings, performances, and visual expressionism should not be assessed by comparing them to Western standards and principles or being lumped into pattern moulds set for us, otherwise we’d forever be regarded as an off track or an off shoot of the Western system. Orientalism too, has no place in today’s contemporary society. To get rid of being stereotyped, we should all rise to the occasion and be ourselves. We should write as how we write according to how our natural senses evoke us, and be as distinct as how our ancestors are, swaying to their own wayang, and painting with the scurried soul of an Easterner. Our works should overwhelm them with just that tinge of ourselves and we should all live as how we are, being accorded a rightful place on the map of the world. What I just lamented may sound discomforting to the Westerners but I rather they suffer than we suffer, the earful .”