There is absolutely no doubt that there is no logic in Asia

I'm usually pretty good about vetting my friends. I usually ensure they're generally good people who carry no bigotry and share my view of the world in general. Otherwise, they're just acquaintances to me, or simply people I don't care.

So what brought this topic to light? Well, this morning, a 'friend' of mine posted a status that was pretty usual. She's someone who has been living in Vietnam. LiHd* wrote on her Facebook status: LiHd might be incommunicado via Facebook soon if Uncle Ho decides to block it.

And below are the comments that entailed throughout the day... Anything in smaller fonts just means that they're insignificant to the blog topic.


JeHa: oh brother! C'mon Nam! Get with this century! What's the reasoning behind this one? Oh nevermind, When in Asia, don't ask why.


LiHd: exactly. i have heard it from a couple of sources but who knows!! no logic, no logic, no logic...


LiHd's friend #1: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!


LiHd's friend #2: What?


LiHd's friend #3: good ol' uncle Ho.


LiHd's friend #4: One thing I learned after living in China is that no matter how much the government tries to block something, there's always a way to get around it using a proxy. I'll help you out with that if Uncle Ho decides to block facebook.


LiHd's friend #5: Oh noes! Say it ain't so, Uncle Ho!


LiHd's relative #1: nothing better then the good old US of A.....and Facebook!


VaHa: Yikes. keep me posted


LiHd's friend #6: I keep hearing this ... when will this happen?


John Ho: Just wanna throw this out there... Asia includes many other countries like India, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan. Most Asian countries don't have censorship, except for China or North Korea. So let's not categorically put Asia together into a place of illogical decision making. And as with the century thing, you do realize that Japan, Great Britain and South Korea are far more advanced than the United States, right? Not only that, the ol' US of A is the only advanced civilization to preach human rights but at the same time manages to enjoy prosecuting those under 18 as an adult, which all other G20 or EU countries condemn as inhumane. C'mon, USA! Get with the freaking times! And let's not forget, it is 2009 and we had Judge Keith Bardwell who will not marry interracial couples in the USA.

But then again, if another "normal" American at a bar here in the US asks me if I also speak Asian after telling him/her that I speak Mandarin, then I'll totally take my entire first paragraph back! =)


LiHd's friend #7: let us know if there is another way to keep you in the loop here...lol..as if there is anything to happen exciting..but i must tell you went to cinci for a conference and went to see uncle bill a and aunt janet...and they live less than a mile from NKU!!!

LiHd: jho...again you missed the point

everyone else: so far they are only rumors that i have been hearing from students...i am not sure if or when this will happen. but if you don't hear from me for a while on fb, that's most likely why.


LiHd's relative #1: i would be lost without my fb....and my business would most likely cease to exist...


John Ho: I was more directing that comment at JeHa's comment when she wrote: "Get with this century! What's the reasoning behind this one? Oh nevermind, When in Asia, don't ask why."


LiHd's friend #8: oh no, that sucks. Well, if I go to Seoul you can come visit me and use my interwebs :)


LiHd: jho: it's because we have both lived in asia for a bit of time; i am in my third year and JeHa was here last year and is in malaysia this year...there is absolutely no doubt that there is no logic on this continent. if you start to apply logic or ask questions it only confuses the issue more.

LiHd's friend #8: you never gave me the 411 on your move to seoul!! when are you leaving? where are you teaching?


John Ho: Let me get this straight... Asia is one of the biggest continents comprising of so many different countries and more distinct cultures than there are number of countries. And because of the illogical experiences you two have encountered in a few countries, you can categorically say Asia as a whole has no logic. I'd like to see you and your friend tell that to a Japanese or Taiwanese or Singaporean citizen. Hmm... I'm glad you're not letting your education get in the way of your ignorance.


VaHa: 9 years in Asia. Agree with the gals.

LiHd, I read a bit about it. Something was said in August and some people reported FB blocked then.


LiHd's friend #8: LiHd, I don't know yet. First up: try to sell my condo. As soon as that happens, I will decide where I go. It may depend on the time of year and how much I get for the condo.
I will def. let you know where I wind up, esp of it is Korea.


LiHd: jho: i am speaking from experience, you are speaking from the point of view of someone who only comes here on vacation or business. why are you insulting my intelligence?? ridiculous and almost unforgivable comment on your end.


John Ho: Maybe you didn't know this, but I was not born in the US. I didn't even come here till 1996. I have lived in five Asian countries while growing up. Not on business or vacation. And I renounced not one, but two previous Asian citizenship when I became naturalized in the US.

Just so you know, there are 47 countries in the Asian continent. How many of the 47 countries have your friend and yourself gone to, to make such a generalized statement about Asia? Even I, who have lived in more Asian countries and longer than you, would not dare make such a statement such as your friend Jennifer's or yours.

I was not insulting your intelligence. Your blanket statements did.


----------########## END TRANSCRIPT ##########----------


So after all that, I was going to remove this ignorant friend of mine from my Facebook, and you know what? She saved me the trouble! Now I don't have to worry about the guilt of "Was I too harsh on my friend when I removed her from Facebook?"

Simply put, if anything, I was more shocked than anything that someone who I thought I have known for almost five years can have such a narrow-minded viewpoint. As a friend of mine who was following the whole chit-chat wrote over instant message: "most ppl tend to compare new experiences with things that they are used to; any deviation from it, they consider 'illogical'; especially for those not so open-minded fools" [sic]

True that!

* Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

The Name's Müller. John Müller.

Friends, I am livid. Very much so! It has only been 77 days since the first black person was sworn in as the President of the United States and some Texas lawmaker unwound the progress made in minority acceptance. And that Texas lawmaker is no other than Betty Brown, a Republican State Representative.

Representative Betty Brown, during a House testimony on voter identification legislation while questioning Ramey Ko, suggested that Asian-Americans should change their names because they're hard to pronounce.

"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese--I understand it's a rather difficult language--do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?"
...and later added...
"Can't you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that's easier for Americans to deal with?"

What the...?!?

Let's frame this discussion in the proper light. This question was posed to an Asian American, just like me, who is an American citizen. So, what is up with the "you and your citizens" and "we" separation? Clearly, Rep. Brown has some sort of an inclination towards racial divide, for otherwise she in her mind wouldn't dare use such divisive language. Can you imagine if someone you know tells a Hispanic hired help, "Why don't you people learn more English?"

Now, let's look at the context of the discussion: House testimony on voter identification legislation. Key word on identification.

I'm sure you have heard jokes about going through phonebooks and complaining about how everyone is a "Chang" or "Wong," right? Well, let's flip that around. Have you ever tried looking up someone in the phonebook who is either a "Smith" or "Brown," and how thick that section is? Right...

Let's say, for the sake of argument, poll workers truly have a hard time identifying Americans of Asian descent. And for the expressed goal, all Asian Americans will change their surnames to something like "Smith" or "Brown." Now, do you honestly think that it is easier to identify people at polling stations? Instead of lines for last names beginning with "A-H," "I-P," and "Q-Z," they probably will have to have a line just for "Smith," another for "Brown", and finally a line for "Others."

So really, is it truly "easier?" I don't know, but I'd like to ask poll workers what they think about living in a district where there were many Smiths in the community...

Finally, there's the whole "American" thing. Apparently, for Rep. Brown, an American is defined as someone who is either Caucasian, or someone who has a Caucasian surname. Otherwise, anybody else is not an American. I mean, she addressed the question to an American who happened to be not white, and addressed him as if he wasn't an American!

Like I said, I am livid. Just for that, I might consider changing my surname from "Ho" to "Müller." I mean, it should be easier to pronounce, right? But good luck to the poll workers in trying to write that down correctly, cos you don't want to confuse "John Müller" with "John Mueller" or "John Muller," with the latter two being bastardized by the immigration officer at Ellis Island who didn't know "ü". Maybe Betty Brown is related to those uneducated immigration officers?

Come to think of it... Isn't "Brown" the bastardized version of "Braun"?!?

Anyway, if you are a Texan and find this extremely offensive, voice your complaint to the ignorant representative by emailing Brown. Sorry, my Texan friends, but this is yet another reason why I have a distaste for Texas...

Here are the ongoing articles regarding this dumb person: news.google.com - subject "Betty Brown"

Below is the video of the testimony uploaded by KXAN, an NBC affiliate from Austin (if you want the racial comments, fast forward to the 3:30 mark):