Author Archives: Shanil Gunasekara

Prank – Singapore

Nationality: Sindhi
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Singapore
Performance Date: April 27, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi, German

Prank – Singapore

“The end of the three month basic training in the Singaporean army is marked by Passing Out Parade called POP for short. The night before POP it is traditional for everybody to muck about like they throw powder around, have water fights, even the commanders join in for fun, we just go a bit nuts like running along our corridors throwing powder at each other.”

Manoj experienced this just a few months ago when he completed basic training. Like many pranks played when graduating or moving on to further endeavors, the fun is harmless and is sometimes enjoyed by superiors. The recruits are in a liminal period, they are about to enter the army, air force or navy and like going to college, will be separated from some of their close peers. Unlike high-school, basic training camp is a lot more serious, and a much higher level of responsibility is held by the individuals, not only to themselves but to the whole country. Due to this, the pranks and release of tension are usually somewhat more explosive and boisterous. Also the pranks aren’t usually committed on peers, but rather the superiors.

Having water fights and such also allow the recruits to enjoy themselves in a manner that is usually reserved for serious matters; a water fight with trained soldiers just isn’t the same as one with a bunch of high school kids.  Also one can’t help but draw the parallel a water fight has to a real gun battle.

While I have no personal experience in relation to the military I can relate to the need to have fun after accomplishing something. A fulfilling manner to celebrate in would be exactly as Manoj described it, to go crazy. Although, I never did manage to find out why the recruits threw around powder!

Ghost Story – Singapore

Nationality: Sindhi
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Singapore
Performance Date: April 27, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi, German

Ghost Story – Singapore

“Basically Pulau Tekong is a training island used by the Singapore military, most people who are enlisted for national service complete their three months of basic training there. The camps there are really old, been there since WWII and have been rebuilt recently, but over the old places and the old places used to be POW torture camps during the Japanese occupation. So there’s a lot of ghost stories but the most famous one, is from many years ago. During a route march which went through the night, one guy lagged behind, he told his friends to go ahead and let him catch up later. Later, they found the guy dead with his internal organs laid out neatly next to him in the manner that you lay out the parts of your rifle when you disassemble it.”

Manoj first heard this ghost story in its entirety from a fellow recruit when he started basic training in the Singaporean Army last year, although he had read about it briefly online previously. He says that “it’s a very famous case; almost every recruit has heard the story.”

When questioned about any of his personal experiences during training Manoj was very forthcoming. “Ive been on that route march before but didn’t experience anything weird, and I’m still alive so obviously I wasn’t gutted, however once during field camp when we go outfield for jungle training I was woken up in the middle of the night by flash bang sounds, gunshots, artillery and then I started doing the drills we were though for that, it was 3 am, but none of it really happened, creepy…”

Upon further analysis, I observed that many military camps in different countries have their own stories, most include supernatural deaths or sightings but none have been substantially been proven. While a dead body with its internal organs can’t be refuted, sightings of ghosts and hearing noises could be attributed to the stress recruits go through during training, which is draining both mentally and physically.

I am personally skeptical about ghost stories, every ‘supernatural’ event I have experienced have had perfectly good explanations. However, I do appreciate their entertainment value and love to listen to them.

Annotation: There is a website that has various paranormal accounts posted by individuals that have served there. If the website is still online at the time, I’d definitely recommend it for some firsthand accounts. It can be found at (http://www.spi.com.sg/information/007/main.htm)

Proverb – Indian

Nationality: Sindhi
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Singapore
Performance Date: April 27. 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi, German

Proverb – India

“A proverb my father often uses is ‘4 Annas spent on chicken, but 12 Annas spent on masala’ which is like an Indian version of ‘pennywise but pound foolish’. An Anna is a very small unit of Indian currency. Do you get the logic? Let me give you an example. I have a phone, It is really old and now worth nothing but I still want to use it so I buy a new battery for it which costs more than what the phone is worth now and so I ask my dad for cash to buy the battery and he will say that Hindi proverb which means I’m being pennywise but pound foolish, because you’re spending so much on something that’s worth less, ok?  Basically the proverb itself is talking about making a chicken dish why would you spend more on the masala when the chicken costs so little?  ”

He learnt it from his father at a very young age but Manoj scoffed when I asked him if he uses this proverb, “It’s something I’d expect elders to say, I think it is apt but a bit lame.” However, he has heard some of his peers use it, so it is probably a personal preference. “I’d just rather say pennywise but pound foolish,” was his explanation. When questioned about why this was he was a bit reluctant to explain. He feels that it is too close to his Indian heritage and many people would not understand the meaning of it, thereby making it less potent and somewhat embarrassing.

However, he feels, as do I, that the proverb in its Hindi form is also effective to a certain degree. The fact that it uses Indian references would make it more effective in his home country. Although, India was once an English colony, very few people in the rural areas would know what a penny or pound is.

I personally have seen another of my Indian friends use it in another context. He often uses the proverb to describe a person that is very stingy when it comes to small but essential things, like food or clothes, but spends lavishly on less vital tools such as cars and computers. I don’t use this proverb since there is a distinction between Indian and Sri Lankan culture, and many would not be able to relate to it. I’d not even use the English variation purely because I don’t choose to use proverbs in my speech.

Birthday Ritual – Canada

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2008
Primary Language: English

Birthday ritual – Canada

“Punching people on their birthday, as many times as they are old plus one more for good luck, and don’t forget a pinch to grow an inch. “

These are birthday traditions Jon has repeatedly seen not only in Filipino culture in Canada, but lately universally. His family practices it often, and he appreciates their hope for the future but Jon also finds the practice “retarded”. “There is no need to do it, it just embarrasses the birthday boy/girl and is a rather childish habit,” he says. “You always see it done in school, which is even more embarrassing!”

While I also have come across many birthday traditions, including numerous variations of the ‘Happy Birthday song’ I feel that this is a very friendly and innocent habit. Sure you might embarrass the recipient, but it is all in good faith and fortune. A birthday is very important to the individual, especially when turning 13, 18, 21 and sometimes 30. These are transitional periods in life and it is the duty of family and friends to make the individual feel confident and to look forward to the future.

This future oriented outlook is prevalent in American culture but has now proliferated into Eastern culture as well. It is common practice in my homeland Sri Lanka to clap as many times as the age of the individual and then to clap once more for the following year. While I have never come across the phrase “a pinch to grow an inch” I can understand why someone would say that, as you grow older you are also expected to grow physically, although this is more relevant to younger individuals. No harm can come of such traditions.

Legend – Chinese

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Legend – China

“There’s this story of a Monkey King that pretty much everyone in China knows. He goes around doing all these mischievous acts like stealing. In one such instance, he goes to the realm of the Sea Dragon King and he steals a quarterstaff that he uses a lot in his later adventures. This staff is magical and can change to any size and when the Monkey King isn’t using it he shrinks it and puts it in his ear. The Monkey King also has lots of other magical abilities and such, like he can pull hairs off of his body and blow on them and they turn into monkeys that will do his bidding.

Eventually the gods get angry at him for being so mischievous and to punish him they take him and trap him under this huge rock, and no matter how hard he tries he can’t get out, mainly ‘cause it had a spell on it.

So he’s stuck there for a long time until this holy monk comes up and sees him stuck. The monk frees him under the condition that the Monkey King will escort him to this holy place that the monk is going to ‘cause he needed to deliver some sacred scrolls or something like that.

So the Monkey King had intended not to help the monk but just say that he will help him so he could get out from under that massive rock. But the monk anticipated this and stuck this holy circlet on the Monkey King so that whenever the monk said this specific word the circlet shrinks and crushes the Monkey King’s head. So the Monkey King was forced to obey the monk and escort him on this journey. What ensue are numerous adventures between the two companions.”

The Monkey King also known as Goku or Sun Wukong was Hanlong’s favorite childhood hero, and although he barely remembers the Monkey King’s adventures, it was a huge influence on his character while growing up. According to him, this is a well know legend in China and variations of the Monkey King’s adventures were in many forms of media at the time. Hanlong first came across this legendary figure sometime during first grade, mostly in story books that his mum bought him. He also learnt a few tales from his parents. Hanlong enjoys this legend because he found the Monkey King’s character very appealing and his adventures “cool”. However, Hanlong feels the media has blown this legendary figure out of proportion and has been overused. One example he draws upon is the famous cartoon ‘Dragonball Z’ in which the main character is called Son Goku, in direct correlation to the Monkey King. It angers him that the legendary figure has been changed so much that very few individuals know anything about the original legend.

I myself have come into contact with the Monkey King in the media. When I was in high school I watched a Japanese animation on television called ‘Saiyuki’ which was loosely based on the epic novel ‘Journey to the West’ which is a tale about the Monkey King and the monk that saved him. While it is great to see the legend in widespread media, one must realize that most adaptations are very loose and since this was my first impression of the Monkey King I had a skewed view until I spoke to Hanlong. This leads to one questioning the media’s responsibility to preserve the context of certain things. It’s great to use a legend as a reference, but not so much so that the original is forgotten.

Annotation: To read more about the Monkey King’s adventures please consider Journey to the West by Anthony C. Yu, 1980