If you are a Star Trek fan, you may be familiar with the Borg expression, "You will be assimilated" or "Resistance is futile". The Borgs are a fictional race of cyborgs who goes about adding other species in the known universe into their own, in order to achieve perfection. And they achieve this through forced assimilation, a process which transforms individuals and technology into Borg, enhancing individuals by adding synthetic components.Science fiction aside, I cannot help but draw on this analogy to the real world. Let's take a look at two very different situations.
1. Recently in Malaysia, there are increasing efforts in converting non-believers into Muslims (be they alive or dead). Overzealous parties are eager to "assimilate" people as one of them. Or do they? I shall not speculate, save to say that this situation is akin to hearing someone say, "If you're not with us, you're against us."
2. In Japan, quite the opposite is happening. The authorities and general public are grappling with two very grave problems; aging society and immigration. On the one hand, a country faced with an aging society needs population growth in order to power her economy and counter other instabilities. On the other hand, a country that has pride herself with deep traditions and customs is finding it exceedingly difficult to accept gaijins (外人) with open arms. Foreigners who have been working in Japan for years are totally bewildered by this fact, and finding out a sense of non-belonging living amongst the society here. Forward thinking immigration-based nations might find this hard to accept too. But, don't feel too bad, I am sure you will be consoled by these wise words, "if you asked me, I think them Japs are a lot of things, they just ain't no Borgs".
This reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a naturalized Japanese. This nice chap whose father is Korean and mother Japanese holds a permanent residency in Japan. He has a foreigner registration card just like every foreigner who is on extended stay in Japan. However, in all respect this guy IS practically as Japanese as any other "pure" Japanese friend that I know. The funny thing is he has two surnames, one Japanese and one Korean. So officially his name reads something like Yoshida a.k.a. Lee (吉田 コト 李). Because Japanese still cannot accept a foreigner with a Japanese name or a Japanese with a foreign name, he has to hide this fact from the world. I guess this is true anywhere else in the world. Being of Chinese-heritage myself, people might think I am a wierdo if I adopt a Bred Pid- or Mohamed Gundhi- sounding name. Not the mention the whole lot of confusion it will create amongst HR and immigration folks.
Anyway back to the topic of assimilation, I mean immigration. Recently, the Japanese government is beginning to relax their hard-line approach towards foreigners hoping to gain permanent residency here [1]. Let's hope that in the future, man can be united as one nation without borders. Perhaps not as unfriendly and unforgiving as the Borgs, but united in a sense that binds us as brothers and sisters with respect for each others individualisms.
[1] Eric Johnston (2008, Jan 26). Shaping the future as an immigrant nation. [Online]. Available: www.japantimes.co.jp
2. In Japan, quite the opposite is happening. The authorities and general public are grappling with two very grave problems; aging society and immigration. On the one hand, a country faced with an aging society needs population growth in order to power her economy and counter other instabilities. On the other hand, a country that has pride herself with deep traditions and customs is finding it exceedingly difficult to accept gaijins (外人) with open arms. Foreigners who have been working in Japan for years are totally bewildered by this fact, and finding out a sense of non-belonging living amongst the society here. Forward thinking immigration-based nations might find this hard to accept too. But, don't feel too bad, I am sure you will be consoled by these wise words, "if you asked me, I think them Japs are a lot of things, they just ain't no Borgs".
This reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a naturalized Japanese. This nice chap whose father is Korean and mother Japanese holds a permanent residency in Japan. He has a foreigner registration card just like every foreigner who is on extended stay in Japan. However, in all respect this guy IS practically as Japanese as any other "pure" Japanese friend that I know. The funny thing is he has two surnames, one Japanese and one Korean. So officially his name reads something like Yoshida a.k.a. Lee (吉田 コト 李). Because Japanese still cannot accept a foreigner with a Japanese name or a Japanese with a foreign name, he has to hide this fact from the world. I guess this is true anywhere else in the world. Being of Chinese-heritage myself, people might think I am a wierdo if I adopt a Bred Pid- or Mohamed Gundhi- sounding name. Not the mention the whole lot of confusion it will create amongst HR and immigration folks.
Anyway back to the topic of assimilation, I mean immigration. Recently, the Japanese government is beginning to relax their hard-line approach towards foreigners hoping to gain permanent residency here [1]. Let's hope that in the future, man can be united as one nation without borders. Perhaps not as unfriendly and unforgiving as the Borgs, but united in a sense that binds us as brothers and sisters with respect for each others individualisms.
No comments:
Post a Comment