Throughout my stays in a few foreign countries, I have always been faced with challenges related to things that are considered a norm to locals but its a vice to me. These vices, if i may, vary from one culture to another. Of course there are many vices one could choose from but i rather focus on a few common ones, Vices that don't require one to be a mafia member to commit, namely Alcohol, Seduction (polite word for premarital sex) and Smoking. Each group of culture view these vices in different ways, thus impacting the numbers of people committing these vices within that particular culture. Towards that i have come up with "The Vice Pyramid" that I use to roughly define the perception of a certain culture or group of people towards these 3 vices.
The Vice Pyramid : every culture has a different vice heirerkiThe vice pyramid has 3 layers. Layer 1 represents the vice least or least likely to be committed by the members of that culture and 3 represents the vice most likely to be committed by the members of a culture . As an example , according my personal perception , for Malays, alcohol will be at the top of the pyramid, the second would be seduction and the lower part would be smoking, since its quite likely for a Malay to be smoking. Although smoking is somewhat accepted by the people, but alcohol and seduction remain a serious offense and frowned upon by the Malays.
The first foreign country i have stayed was Turkey. This was the first taste of an open minded culture that considered all 3 vices as an everyday thing. Despite that I would say the vice pyramid for Turkey(western turkey) would be 1. seduction 2. smoking 3. alcohol ... This was not good for a person that do not practice either one of those vices. I was always the odd one out among the people my age. Seduction wasn't a big issue but usually, they will be a bit surprised that i don't smoke, since almost everybody there smokes. Its hard to find someone who doesn't smoke. Although a bit surprised, they could accept the fact that i don't smoke, its acceptable not to smoke. But their biggest surprise was when i said i didn't drink any alcohol. For them it was the shock of the century!! they totally freaked out. Alcohol has become one of the traditions of Turkey and a symbol of its' secularism. In fact, they even have their own traditional liquor "Raki". It even came to the point that i was considered "less manly" because of not doing any of the vices. Since it was my first time in that situation, i was quite depressed but they say, "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger". It was a real test of my principals and I'm quite glad that i managed to pull through. Since then it hasn't been too hard for me to decline an offer to drink alcohol. Guess it did make me stronger.
Sometimes it may seem like you are "less manly" by not doing those vices, but if you show your confidence and belief in what you are doing, you will be respected. You'll not just be more manly but also a gentleman. the most important thing is to know the reason why you don't do this and that. After all, knowledge is power.
So, I end this article with a saying : "Your principals are just mere words unless put to the test" - Muhaimin
Tchuss
The first foreign country i have stayed was Turkey. This was the first taste of an open minded culture that considered all 3 vices as an everyday thing. Despite that I would say the vice pyramid for Turkey(western turkey) would be 1. seduction 2. smoking 3. alcohol ... This was not good for a person that do not practice either one of those vices. I was always the odd one out among the people my age. Seduction wasn't a big issue but usually, they will be a bit surprised that i don't smoke, since almost everybody there smokes. Its hard to find someone who doesn't smoke. Although a bit surprised, they could accept the fact that i don't smoke, its acceptable not to smoke. But their biggest surprise was when i said i didn't drink any alcohol. For them it was the shock of the century!! they totally freaked out. Alcohol has become one of the traditions of Turkey and a symbol of its' secularism. In fact, they even have their own traditional liquor "Raki". It even came to the point that i was considered "less manly" because of not doing any of the vices. Since it was my first time in that situation, i was quite depressed but they say, "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger". It was a real test of my principals and I'm quite glad that i managed to pull through. Since then it hasn't been too hard for me to decline an offer to drink alcohol. Guess it did make me stronger.
Sometimes it may seem like you are "less manly" by not doing those vices, but if you show your confidence and belief in what you are doing, you will be respected. You'll not just be more manly but also a gentleman. the most important thing is to know the reason why you don't do this and that. After all, knowledge is power.
So, I end this article with a saying : "Your principals are just mere words unless put to the test" - Muhaimin
Tchuss
1 comment:
yezzaa!
bersemangat waja terus berusaha,
yakin boleh, rakan muda!!!
alah, kalau diorang offer ko beer, ko cakap jer ko baru makan durian, kalau campur boleh pengsan.
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