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What does the Grain of Truth mean to you?

To mark the submission of the blog write-up, we would like to take this opportunity to share several of our personal thoughts.

It might sound very cliche, but we have really learnt alot during the course of constructing this blog. Much research and self-reflection was done before each post was uploaded. As such, we not only have an enhanced understanding about rice but also ourselves. We have come to realise that we are not an island, self-sufficient and isolated. We are very much more dependent on other Southeast Asian countries than we think. Through a single rice grain that we consume, we establish a connection with a rice farmer in Northen Thailand. What takes us minutes to buy and consume takes them months to cultivate and harvest. However, the sad truth is much of the profits may be siphoned of by the middlemen, resulting in the rice farmer earning income that do not commensurate with his efforts. We have always been told, "don't waste your rice, alot of effort was put into it!". This notion cannot be better illustrated than this song written anonymously written by a Vietnamese rice farmer. After reading the lyrics of this song, we beseech you to ask yourself, what does the Grain of Truth mean to you?


"In the heat of mid-day, I plough my field
My sweat falls drop by drop like rain on the ploughed earth
Oh, you who hold a full rice-bowl in your hands
Remember how much burning bitterness there is
In each tender and fragrant grain in your mouth!"

- Anonymous

Personal Food for Thought....

I have to admit, I’ve always been skeptical about myths and traditions that have been told to me since young. A case in point would be when I was told that scattering rice around the house upon moving in would bring good fortunes to the owners. I remember mildly arguing with the person that correlation does not prove causation, in that the action of scattering the rice may not have directly caused the fortune. Perhaps the tradition increased the owner’s self-efficacy, which then resulted in him performing better in his career?

But now, thinking back on what I said, does it actually matter if the tradition did not directly lead to the improvements in career? What is important instead is that his career did improve, regardless of what the causes are. I’ve learnt that when exploring cultures other than our own, be it in SEA or the rest of the world, we cannot take an ethnocentric approach, judging these cultures using our own as a benchmark. We have to look deeper into each tradition and belief, and see what are the functional benefits for the people adhering to them. Even if according to our standards (which are constantly influenced by the need for scientific evidence), the traditions don’t make sense, what matters is it benefits the people, whether emotionally or spiritually. If it provides its followers with ease of mind, does it really matter is it actually does not work?

It's more than just food.

To find the intricate balance between demand and supply, rice production policies must be reviewed and changed accordingly. However, what form should the policies adopt to is far from distinct.

Rice farming, in a span of a few decades, has transformed into a highly commercialized industry. Farmers now have to compete with Multi-National Companies (MNCs), who want a piece of the pie as well. Armed with financial and technological resource, they storm into the rice industry. The presence of machines and high-yielding, high-tech equipment introduced by MNCs has placed rural farmers in marginalized positions. The farmers are unable to compete as they desperately lack the resource and finances, hence leaving them to pick up only the crumbs of the pie. Not to forget, farmers make up a substantial amount of the population in Southeast Asia!

In lieu of this serious problem, governments have tried to ensure a minimum income for farmers in the form of subsidies. High-yielding rice grains and chemicals are provided at a lower cost and machines are available for rent at affordable rates. This ensures a minimum income for farmers and aide them in improving productivity. However, critics have pointed out those subsidies in turn cushion inefficiency in farmers and conflict with the fiscal balance of the country. Giving subsidies to rice farmers could also result in other industries lobbying for the same benefits, resulting in social unrest.

For example in Thailand, the previous government set the price of rice to 30 % above the market rate. However, this drew a criticism from the former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula. He criticized the previous government for implementing populist policies which resulted in widespread social problems.

He added, “…It has become a burden on government's fiscal responsibility. Rice would be pledged for the current market price.”


Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet supported this view, saying that the high subsidy would discourage farmers from improving their productivity, thus being a burden to the state.


Yet it is unfair to reduce all subsidies, what would happen to the farmers that really need the help from the government? Previously at the mercy of loan sharks, farmers can now borrow from state-run banks at low interest. But they still have to pay for fertiliser and pesticide. If they are hit by floods or drought, farmers will plunge deeper into debt. Even with a good harvest, many farmers are still at the mercy of the middlemen, who buy from them cheaply. The above-mentioned are just basic problems. Farmers cannot rise above poverty if they cannot control the market. They need technological know-how to boost rice yields, and marketing skills to compete with global traders. What happens if farmers abandon their rice fields and look for other jobs? The country will be in grave danger if we do not help and protect our rice farmers. A large number of rural people have already left their farmland to work in factories. Why do back-breaking work on the farm when they can earn more money sewing shirts or assembling cars?Therefore it is essential that the government have a long-term plan for the future of our rice farmers. To keep them on the farms, the government must ensure that they get a good price for their produce. An insurance scheme should also help them cope with natural disasters.

Banaue Rice Terraces: Stairways to Heaven

In an earlier post, we mentioned the Philippines' role in the heritage of rice cultivation in SEA. The Cordillera terraces in Northern Luzon is a case in point. With more than 2000 years of history, these terraces have a wealth of traditions and culture, and are on the list of World Heritage. Constructed to overcome the steep mountain slopes, the rice terraces have been a backdrop of local myths, pertaining to the revered rice god, bul-ol. Each Ifugao household possesses a pair of bul-ol figures, hoping to be blessed with good havest and fortune.

However, the rich tradition of the Cordillera terraces has been increasingly diluted by modernisation. The "Bright Light Syndrome" has attracted the younger Ifugaos to move into the cities, resulting in the discontinuation of rice cultivation in many parts. 30% of the rice terraces are abandoned and left fallow. Also, many Ifugaos are deviating from agriculture, and moving towards the more lucrative tourism sector. This video will illustrate certain problems the area is facing, and how the older Ifugaos are fighting to preserve their tradition and culture.


References

Yuson, Alfred A. (2000). Dancing anew on the stairways to heaven. United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 28 March, 2007 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_12/uk/doss6.htm

YouTube. (2007). Retrieved 28 March, 2007 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_rjrWnPmfY

No Rice, No money.

Besides its role as a affordable dietary staple, rice functions as a livelihood for countless Southeast Asians. Rice production is an important source of income for Southeast Asia, primarily Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. (David B. Johnston, 1981) There is a significant increase in demand for rice, not only within Southeast Asia, but throughout the globe. With the increasing affluence of Asian culture, rice has come to make its name as a household staple in many parts of the world. Rice has evolved in significance over centuries, yet it continues to hold such importance to the structure of civilization today. As such, we can no longer neglect the role of rice and its functions in society today.

We say that we cannot live without rice. Literally, there are Southeast Asians who cannot. Rice farmers depend on the demand for rice to make a living. Cultivation of rice is their primary source of income. Majority of these farmers come from the rural areas of many undeveloped nations like Thailand and Vietnam. Export of rice contributes to a large portion of the country’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP). Global rice production goes up to more than 550 million tones annually! The demand for rice comes mainly from Asians, as rice is a staple food here in Southeast Asia. From these demand arises the need for supply, which is substantiated by rice farmers, trading companies and distributors. This chain is vitally linked together by the large consumption rate.

Now, what happens when there is a change in consumers’ preference? This question is inevitable when we witness the supersonic pace of modernization today. Countries are developing at an incredible rate and consumers are being exposed to so many other cultures. Cultures are being exchanged and experienced by everyone. The media, better living standards, higher education level all contribute to the increasing affluence of Southeast Asians. In the words of George Ritzer (2004), we are being Macdonaldized. We are spoilt for choice. A person can now choose to eat pasta, noodles, burgers and the list goes on. With the variety of choices provided by exposure to different cultures and media influences, why would Southeast Asians continue to consume rice as compared to before?

This change in taste buds extrapolates into a severe problem that breaks the vital link between demand for rice and its supply. Since 1996 till 2006, contribution to GDP in Thailand from agriculture has dipped from 11% to only 8.8%. (Travel Document Systems – Economy) Farmers will experience the hardest hit. Already, rice cultivation barely helps them to make ends meet and many farmers have to work in cities as labourers, especially in Thailand and Vietnam during non-cultivation season for income. Without the need for rice production, many farmers will be affected adversely. Lack of jobs and insufficient income might eventually have dire consequences on society. Imagine if one farmer loses his “rice bowl”, the whole family is affected. Now if we multiply the one farmer by the actual number of rice farmers today, how many people will suffer?



References :

Rice Cultivation in Thailand: The Development of an Export Economy by Indigenous Capital and Labor
David B. Johnston
Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1. (1981), pp. 107-126.

The McDonaldization of Society 4th edition (2004)
George Ritzer

Travel Document Systems - Economy : Thailand Asia, retreived 26th March, 2007 from the World Wide Web :
http://www.traveldocs.com/th/economy.htm

Agriculture – Yesterday and Today

We won’t mince our words. Traditional rice agriculture is a dying trade. It is losing out to globalisation and the need for faster harvest producing technology in order for corporations (MNCs) and governments to reap the economic benefits that 3 billion (Environmental and Developmental Challenges, 2004) rice-eating people could generate. Put simply, the rice business is simply too lucrative to ignore.

Traditionally, there are 3 types of rice farming; shifting cultivation (eg. Iban community), flood-plain agriculture (eg. Thailand), and rice-terraces (eg. Phillipines, Indonesia). Shifting cultivation mainly endorses the use of the slash-and-burn technique. But farmers are now under intense pressure from environmentalists and government to stop this form of farming completely due to the apparent environment harms deforestation has on Earth’s precarious global warming situation now.

Food-plain agriculture is irrigated naturally by water from “great rivers of Southeast Asia” and found in “home to the worlds highest densities of human populations”. (Piper, 1993) The advantage of cultivating flood plains lies in the fact that rice can continually be sown on the same plot of land without causing any loss of fertility (with help from decaying weeds) as compared to modern forms of rice agriculture where copious amounts of “expensive inputs” are added and still result in loss of land fertility. (Piper, 1993) Furthermore, broadcasting of seeds can be practised since there is vast land area for farmer to do so, increasing efficiency and the amount of crop sown. However, harvesting is always at the mercy of unpredictable weather changes and globalisation and fast increasing populations in SEA are factors that now demand for the assurance of bountiful harvests, with no exceptions for failure.

Another famous form of rice agriculture is the formation of rice terraces, commonly found in hilly areas around the region like Philippines and Bali. The crucial aspect of terraces is the maintenance and upkeep of the land each family own, despite the relatively small size of each individual plot of land. If not carefully handled, terraces will tend to slide downhill and it will most definitely be difficult for the farmers to start all over again somewhere else. (Piper, 1993)

Refer to Weis’ earlier post on Banaue Rice Terraces: Stairways to Heaven for more information on rice terraces.

Unfortunately, it seems that new methods such as hybrid rice breeding have entered the world of agriculture and threaten the existence and relevance of traditional forms of rice agriculture. Before we go on, here’s a description of hybrid breeding taken from a fact sheet released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO):

http://www.fao.org/rice2004/en/f-sheet/factsheet6.pdf

Now, anyone who has read through this fact sheet would agree that hybrid technology is definitely beneficial for any rice-eating society today. With the problem of fast-growing populations, hybrid rice cultivation helps not simply with providing enough food for everyone but also create plenty of labour farming jobs for countless people. So what’s for us to grunt about?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining that hybrid cultivation is bad for SEA. In fact, without this technology, all of us would have trouble finding rice to eat and would have had to rely on some other staple by now. So yes, I am thankful to technology for having enabled me to continue eating rice every day. However, my concern lies with the slowly dying traditional culture of rice farming (be it ceremonies, rituals or the method of planting itself) as a result of globalisation and consumerism, which forces farmers to conform to newer ways of rice planting in order not to be fazed out completely. Obviously, traditional farming cannot compare in terms of speed or yields to hybrid rice cultivation. But removing all economic concerns, we should realise that when traditional agriculture disappears eventually, SEA will be left with close to no distinct feature that identifies our region and sets us apart from the rest of the world.

While this might not have an effect on us directly or at all, I still feel that culture and tradition is one of the most important things that any country or region cannot do without. Essentially, this is the problem of globalisation that is spreading throughout the world now. Do we not want the children of future generations to come to be able to differentiate their own families and countries from others through distinct characteristics of their country’s culture and heritage?

References

Piper, Jacqueline M. (1993). Rice in South-East Asia: Cultures and Landscapes.UK: Oxford University Press.

Through their eyes.

Moving on, traditions do not only evolve from the history of art and craft forms but also from religion, myths and folklores. In effect, these result in the creation of ceremonies that both make use of and celebrate the culture of rice. Because the range of myths and folklores conjured over the long Southeast Asian history of rice is so extensive, we will only attempt to examine a few of these and find out whether there is direct or indirect connections between what Piper terms as ‘customary beliefs’ (Piper, Jacqueline M., 1993) and the countries of SEA.

The unique thing about rice culture in SEA is the rich historical background that has seen emerging agricultural, religious and mythical beliefs especially from countries that produce rice crops for survival and economic sustenance. But what really interests us is the intertwining and overlapping similarities between the resultant ceremonial rites which at first glance, seem purely exclusive to the individual country within SEA.

For instance, there is a general belief in a female goddess of rice, grain, wheat or whatever staple they are planting, in many Southeast Asian agricultural communities. In Central Java, the Rice Goddess is known as Dewi Sri, the daughter of The Raja of Mataram, Lombok, and eventually ended up as a python which blessed the rice harvests of the farmers by feeding on rice-field pests. (Piper, Jacqueline M., 1993) Similarly, the famous Western Javanese rice myth stems from an ancient Sudanese poem called Wawatjan Sulandjana, which births forth the name Sri that remains the Rice Goddess’s name till today. The variation in the Western Javanese myth lies in the story of the goddess who is the foster daughter of the god Guru. After her tragic death and burial, her body turns into the first rice plant. (Josselin de Jong, P.E., 1965) Much further away in Thailand, Mae Posop is also known as the Rice Goddess, who “gives her body and soul to everyone”. (Gomez, Kwanchai A., 2001) As we can see, the varying versions of such ancient myths in Southeast Asia still contain a common meaning and belief that be it the Dewi Sri or Mae Posop, Rice Goddesses are pictured to be self-sacrificing and their bodies are “given” to the farmers in order for rice and a good harvest to be blessed on.

Another common believe in what is called the “rice soul” further draws parallel between agricultural rites in the different parts of the Southeast Asian region. We shall begin by looking at the Iban farmers of Sarawak. Other than the traditional rice that is sown for sustainance and economic purposes, they grow two specific types of ritual rice; the padi pun (sacred rice) and padi sangking (rice used for secondary ceromonials. The padi pun is unique to every Iban family in the community because each plants a different type of it, differentiated by characteristics of the rice such as the length, colour and so on. Traditionally, and even till today, the padi pun is planted in the “sacred heart” of the farm which is thereby surrounded and “protected” by the padi sanking. Interestingly, the farmers plant all types of rice across the field in the single continuous path that should not be broken so as to ensure that, according to Piper, “the souls of the rice a woman has harvested must follow her and not be permitted to stray or next year’s crop will be poorer”. Likewise, another reference to the soul of rice belongs to a traditional belief by the Malays during harvesting that “the Soul of Rice is ritually led from the rice field to the house of the owner of the field”, where a medicine man “chants to various spirits”, in particular to two named “Dang Pok” and Dang Melini”. (Josselin de Jong, P.E., 1965)

What is interesting to observe therefore, is the commonality between seemingly distinct cultures in the Southeast Asian region yet again which seems to suggest that Southeast Asians may be more connected to each other than we believe ourselves to be. Just by studying the traditions of rice farming, it is so easy to see that there is some sort of ancient or historical connection between the Thais, Javanese, Malays (including those in Sarawak) and even the Filipinos.




Even the traditional roles between men and women in Southeast Asian agricultural farming communities seem to reflect widely, the culture of SEA. Iban planting tradition has jobs such as felling, firing and dibbling allocated to men and the women are often allocated jobs which require them to plant behind the men as the move along, and mostly in a low, bending position. Furthermore, “young men may refuse to participate in tasks like weeding which are seen as ‘women’s work’”. (Piper, Jacqueline M., 1993) It is almost exactly the same traditional planting ritual with the Brou people of North-east Cambodia, where if a particular family has no men, they must enlist the help of a relative to do the job of dibbling as it is strictly a men-only affair. The women here are expected to move across the field with a “hollow bamboo tube closed at one end” to “cover the seeds as they pass”, and all done in a (you guessed it!) bend low position. (Piper, Jacqueline M.,1993) However, while traditional roles are carved out and adhered to in the agricultural communities (men do jobs that builds up prestige for their families while women handle most of the domestic rice sowing affairs of the household), the role of the women are not insignificant as compared to the men. Women have extensive knowledge of the rice and the varieties they plant and are thus indispensable to the cultivation process. Certain beliefs even elevate the position of women. For instance, the Iban men are not allowed to handle or even touch the sacred rice out of respect and this is only handled by women.

Once again, the traditions of the agriculture communities in the region has shown us that there are more similarities and connections between Southeast Asian countries and suggests a common history point which all countries in Southeast Asia might have been a part of. This could also be the reason for the Western view of SEA as a single region rather than a region of individual countries. Therefore should there not be an effort on the part of all Southeast Asians to try to understand and tolerate each other much more than we do now?


References

Piper, Jacqueline M. (1993). Rice in South-East Asia: Cultures and Landscapes.UK: Oxford University Press.

P.E de Josselin de Jong. (1965). Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2

Gomez, Kwanchai A. (2001) Rice, the Grain of Culture. Siam Society Lecture Series

Guess what?

Sake is actually liquer made from rice! Yes, the famous Japanese Sake!!

and...

" Oryza" is the scientific name of the rice.





We learn something new everyday.

Bet you didn't know!

If you lined up 64 million grains of rice from end-to-end, they would reach from Sydney to Gundagai (about 390kms)

Sack of humour =)

A friend of mine whose mother had recently passed away was seen eating red glutinous rice on one rare occasion. A pedantic scholar who came to hear of this expressed his disapproval by saying that it was highly improper for one in mourning to eat red rice. Asked why, he explained that red signified happiness.

Said my friend: " Does it mean that those who eat white rice are all in mourning?"

(I know, this joke may seem a little lame. But I feel it's very telling of how rice can be an indication of traditions and cultural norms)

The Art of Rice Cultivation

In SEA, art and music are often used to reflect the society, engaging receivers to social and cultural issues. A case in point would be the Bagobo Rice Cycle, a tribal dance that originated from Davao del Norte, the Philippines. The dance traces the process of rice cultivation, illutrating what is a usual day for rice farmers. As outsiders to rice agriculture, we would unlikely be privy to the often backbreaking operations. Such art forms thus open the rural door to urban dwellers, giving us a glimpse into the rural world and culture.


References

YouTube. (2007). Retrieved 21 March, 2007 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlX-sXZ7wEk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fprojek%2Dnasi%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F

LIKHA Pilipino Folk Ensemble. (2007). Retrieved 21 March, 2007 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.likha.org/

Rice Culture in Southeast Asia - Traditions

So far, we've seen how a simple food like rice has evolved into a staple so indispensable to Southeast Asia that it has become an item to which we identify the region as a whole by. Such is the importance of rice that it has found its way into the traditions of Southeast Asians.

With a heritage that dates so far back, it is no wonder that countless traditions have been interwoven into rice culture throughout the region. Since harvesting is of utmost importance to the farmers' survival, both economically and more directly, to fill his stomach, traditional ceremonies such as the Royal Ploughing Ceremony and beliefs (traditional measure of planting time) continue to distinctly characterise SEA. Another important aspect of traditional rice culture is arts and handicraft. Many cultural objects such as the pua (also known as a woven blanket from Sarawak) are not made from rice. Instead, they reflect the importance of rice either with patterns alluding to various stages of planting or are tools used directly in rice celebrations or ceremonies.

For example, the pua holds dual purporse as both a ceremonial tool and "as screens to mark off an area of the Iban longhouse reserved for special occasions". (Piper, 1993) However the essence of rice culture lies in the pua motifs, many of which through patterns illustrate either tools used in planting rice or of rice itself. In fact, basket weaving is another traditional art form which draws influence directly from the rice fields for motif designs. Even popular Thai Bencharong bowl designs are inspired by the "translucency of cooked rice". (Piper, 1993) Of course, it goes without saying that Southeast Asian painters refer to and reflect rice traditions and farming in their distinctly regional paintings.

While we sit back and marvel at the way rice has managed to infiltrate our lifestyles through the form of traditional art, it is also important to ponder over the extensive variety of certain traditional rice tools such as rice servers and their implications of the existence of class divide within the Southeast Asian region. The silver, aluminium or plastic rice servers we use in our daily lives seem commonplace to the half of us living in globalized cities but rice servers made of wooden handle and coconut shell bowls like those in Java are near impossible to find in more developed areas in the region. The sad reality is that well-educated people living in cities most probably find such hand-made objects unclean and unsafe to use while at the same time failing to recognize the irony that these are the very tools used by those who have a hand in manufacturing our “bacteria-free” rice servers today. Therefore, rice identifies the Southeast Asian region as a single entity yet at the same time clearly indicates the economic divide between the village poor and the financially sufficient. Perhaps rice culture has shown us it would not be too incorrect to say that modern day SEA is no longer one divided by geographical boundaries but instead split between the haves and the have-nots.

References

Piper, Jacqueline M. (1993). Rice in South-East Asia: Cultures and Landscapes.UK: Oxford University Press.

Did you know?...

A rice grain swells at least 3 times its original weight when cooked.

Rice is best served immediately after being cooked. But even so, cooked rice can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. However, after approximately 3 days, the rice may dehydrate. As such, before reheating, remove the top crusty layer and add a small amount of moisture.

Rice Dumplings and Cultural hybridization

In the earlier post, “101 methods of cooking rice”, we used Chinese and Vietnamese dessert rice dumplings to explore the multi-faceted roles a particular rice dish can have, establishing distinctions between cultures but at the same time connecting them. Now, we will discuss another type of rice dumpling, specifically Nonya Rice Dumplings. Using this dish, we will further examine the notion of cultural hybridity and that it is not merely a blending of cultures but a reconstituting of them (Chua & Rajah, 1997). But before we begin discussing Nonya Rice Dumplings, let’s first explore the historical context of Peranakan food in general.

Peranakan cuisine is the consequence of the cultural hybridization of Chinese and Malay cuisine resulting from inter-ethnic marriages between Chinese migrants and local Malays. The dishes involve combining ingredients and preparation methods from both cultures, creating a unique fusion. The Nonya Rice Dumpling is one such example.

Most Chinese rice dumplings contain ingredients such as glutinous rice, pork, and mushroom that are wrapped and steamed in bamboo leaves (Eastern Rice Dumplings, 2003). The Nonya version is largely similar, except in the use of Pandan leaves, which is adopted from Malay cooking. But wait a minute? Didn’t we just say Peranakan cuisine is a merge of Chinese and Malay culture? Why then the presence of pork, a taboo ingredient in the Malay culture? This hence illustrates the notion of how cultural hybridization is not merely the combining of 2 cultures, but the reconstituting of them. What was originally a Chinese-Malay culture has been reconstituted and typified to become a “marker of Chinese ethnicity” (Chua & Rajah, 1997 ), despite its obvious Malay heritage. As can be seen, membership into a social group is very much a social construct, and is not an essentialized necessity resulting from historical context. Just because of a single ingredient in this rice dish, pork, the Malays are to a certain extent excluded from a culture they had a role establishing. Because of that one ingredient, culinary interaction has become asymmetrical, with the Chinese being able to bridge over to the Malay culture, but not the other way around. Once again, like the coconut milk in Che Troi Nuoc, we see how a single ingredient in a rice dish, can form a distinction between 2 cultures.


References

Eastern Rice Dumplings. (2003). Retrieved 15 March, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.erdsg.com/dumpling_varieties.htm

Chua, Beng Huat & Rajah, Ananda. (1997). Hybridity, ethnicity and food in Singapore.
Singapore : Dept. of sociology, National University of Singapore.

101 methods of cooking rice

Let's now take a gastronomical journey, to explore the versatility of rice as an ingredient, and how the variations of a particular rice dish can illustrate the distinctiveness and connectivity of cultures. There are various methods to cooking rice, from boiling to steaming to stir-frying. Within each method, there are also variations, some of which are native to certain areas in SEA. Take steaming for example. Modernized households in Kuala Lumpur may use electronic rice cookers to cook their rice, while their more rural counterparts in Kelantan use bamboo rice cookers. In this respect, we can see that even the method of cooking can demonstrate differences in culture and social status. With Singapore being a relatively modernized state, most of us may not be familiar with the method of bamboo rice cooking. In a nutshell, the rice is wrapped in a banana leaf that is then stuffed into a bamboo chamber, which is placed upright in hot coal. The chamber is filled with water, which will boil when the coal heats up. Alternatively, the rice can be directly stuffed into the bamboo in the absence of banana leaves. Beside the versatility of rice with regards to the methods of cooking it, the dishes with rice as a main ingredient are boundless. Today, we’ll focus our attention on rice dumplings, a dish that can be found in many part of SEA, but varies between countries and cultures.

A popular dessert among the Chinese would be that of “Tang Yuan” (Rice dumplings in Sweet Ginger Soup). Made of glutinous rice flour, the dough is stuffed with red bean, black sesame or peanuts, and served in a bowl of sweet ginger soup. “Che Troi Nuoc”, a dessert found in Vietnam, is also a dish with rice dumplings served in sweet ginger soup. The preparation method of the latter is similar, with glutinous rice dough being used to wrap blended stuffing. With the Chinese forming the largest ethnic minority in Vietnam (Wikipedia, 2007), a cultural bridge has hence been formed between external influences (China in this case) and Vietnam. As such, it comes as no surprise that certain Vietnamese food reflect Chinese influences. However, as similar as “Che Troi Nuoc” is to “Tang Yuan”, there are certain ingredients that distinguish them from one another, one of which is coconut milk that is mixed into to the soup of the Vietnamese version. Like many other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnamese cuisine uses coconut milk very often, while Chinese cuisine seldom uses it.

This supports the postulations of symbolic interactionists, who theorizes that “people help to create their social circumstances and do not merely react to them” (Bryme & Lie, 2007). In the words of Erla Zwingle, “when cultures [Vietnem] receive outside influences [China], they ignore some and adopt others, and then almost immediately start to transform them” (National Geographic, 2000). Through the process of glocalisation, the Vietnamese altered a dish to fit its local palate and taste. With this blending of internal and external influences, a hybrid culture emerged. As such, with globalisation and people symbolically interacting with their environment, can we say a nation or society has their very own original culture? We feel that this is however not really an issue because despite being influenced by external sources, hybrid cultures are distinctive in itself. It is highly unlikely that the receiving group will interpret and adopt a particular cultural feature in the same fashion as the influential group. It is this difference in interpretation and adoption that results in the creole culture becoming distinctive and original to that country or society.

Above, we expanded on the notion of rice being a staple food in SEA. Using dessert rice dumplings, we established how a single component in a particular dish can differentiate between 2 countries and cultures. However, at the same time, that dish serves as a force binding the 2 cultures together. This illustrates the multi-faceted role rice plays in Southeast Asian society. In the following posts, we will move beyond the concept of rice as a food source and examine its other roles within SEA.

CLiCK ME

References :

Sociology: Your Compass for a New World (Robert J. Brym & John Lie, 2007).

Belmont, CA: Thomas Higher Education

Millennium@ National Geographic.com, retrieved on the 11th March, 2007 from the World Wide Web :

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/2000/culture/global/frame1.html

Did you know?...

There are more than 29 000 grains of rice in half a kilogram of long grain rice.

The average person in Myanmar eats 195 kg of rice each year; in Lao PDR and Cambodia, it’s about 160 kg. In comparison, the average European consumes 3 kg per year and the average American eats 7 kg.

Sack of humour =)

Q: How did the patron in the restaurant know that he was served wild rice?
A: Because the rice jumped out of the bowl.

Rice: Its heritage and role as a staple food

Rice cultivation in SEA began more than 7000 years ago. Since then, people, cultures and agriculture have been intrinsically interwoven together, with rice as the binding element. Rice in SEA is multi-faceted in nature, playing many roles, affecting many people in many different ways. This post will focus on rice being the staple food of many Southeast Asians. But before we begin discussing rice as a staple, let’s first take a short journey back in time, to understand the beginnings of rice in SEA.

It has been postulated that rice was first cultivated somewhere in South or Southeast Asia, from “Upper Assam in India, through Thailand and Myanmar, into Southwest China and North Vietnam”. Rice traces discovered at Nom Nok Tha and Ban Chiang in Northeast Thailand indicates that rice cultivation began before 4500BC. Rice remains found in a number of Chinese villages indicate that cultivation was already established that during 5000BC. These 2 countries have remained strong proponents in the rice market, the former being the top exporter of rice in the world, and the latter being the top producer and consumer of rice in the world. You might now be wondering if we’ve made a mistake because China is not in SEA and should not considered in the scope of our discussion. However, we believe that countries and regions are not mutually exclusive from each other, as their inhabitants have eclectic ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Therefore, with the many Chinese residing in all parts of SEA, China should not be excluded from our discussion. This notion of connectivity between SEA and other countries is further reinforced by the discovery that rice spread to the Philippines from China. In fact, it is believed that the Cordillera terraces in Northern Luzon were built by Southern Chinese in the second millennium BC. Till now, rice has played a crucial role in the countries mentioned above, along with the rest of SEA. The vast growth of rice in SEA was largely instigated by measures undertaken by the rulers, who constructed infrastructure and established policies to promotes rice cultivation. A case in point would be that of the Bowring Treaty of 1855 by Siamese rulers, which resulted in the expansion of rice trade beyond the Gulf of Thailand. Even now, after centuries have passed, rice still plays a crucial role in SEA’s trade, and also as the staple food of the region.

In many Southeast Asian languages, ‘to eat’ is often synonymous with ‘to eat rice’, and examples would be that of “tarn kao” in Thai and “ngajengang” in Balinese. This strongly suggests that rice is of relatively high importance in the region. During dire times, rice is often the only sustenance of the needy. When parents recount about how difficult life was back then, the contents of their daily meals will frequently be mentioned. Rice and soy sauce. Because of its long shelf life and high energy provision, rice was often the choice of food for many households. There is no doubt that rice is of great importance to many Southeast Asian households, especially those of lower income groups. However, has the importance of rice been declining with globalization and modernization? It is no longer uncommon for someone to follow a “low-carb” diet in a bid to shed those extra pounds. And with a rice grain being 82% carbohydrate, it is often the first item struck off the food list of dieters. But even if a decline is occuring, such a decline would be slow as many Southeast Asian countries are still relatively undeveloped and hence are not yet exposed to the largely Americanized dieting fads. As such, rice can still be considered to be of high importance to the region as a source of food.

References

Piper, Jacqueline M. (1993). Rice in South-East Asia: Cultures and Landscapes.
UK: Oxford University Press.

In the Beginning

Monday blues... so here we are, entering our first blog entry. We don't really know where to start so we'll begin by introducing the project we've decided on.

Project Rice. As the the name suggests, our project is all about rice in Southeast Asia (SEA)! It might sound boring on the surface, but there are many facets and issues pertaining to rice in Southeast Asia that the average Southeast Asian would not give a second thought to. In this blog we'll bring you on a journey to explore rice in its different roles and multi-dimensional meanings to various people in the region.

Along the way, you'll be able to witness first-hand experiences through the process of exploring the concepts of rice and how it has given SEA its unique and distinct identity from the rest of the world. Above that, you'll also hear our 2 cents worth on what rice means to us. =)

Ok. Just to give you a feel of what is to come, we'll list out the various meanings of rice that we'll explore!

1) Rice and its heritage.

2) Rice as a staple food in SEA.

Different types of rice in Southeast Asia, the difference in rice between countries and the importance of rice to us!!


3) Rice and Food. Food and Rice.
to explore the relationship between countries in the region which are connected through recipes, food culture and meanwhile discover the unique identity of SEA.
(Perhaps we're all not so different after all!)

4) Rice in its roles - Agriculture, Religion, Culture and Tradition.
this will encompass the agricultural, or religious rites and superstitions involving rice. Rice is a form of traditional art? And the conflicts that arise from issues pertaining to rice.

5) $$P-RICE$$ - It is not all about food.

this will explore the economic significance of rice to nations and how politics, commercialization and globalization affects the rice trade and its traders.

Of course, this is just a rough guide to what is to come. There will be many more interesting ideas and facts about rice that will amaze you! Enjoy this journey!