From Difference to Connection
6 MINUTE READ Many of us cannot imagine what it is like to lose someone in war or conflict. We cannot imagine living day after day under the terrifying conditions of bombardment and the attack of warfare. How do those who have experienced such bereavement and fear process what has happened and may still be... Continue Reading →
10 MINUTE READ We usually think of Charles Darwin as an old man with a long white beard. But Author Across Cultures, Yang-May Ooi, invites us to think of him as a lost young man who didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. A mate of his asked him to head out... Continue Reading →
10 MINUTE READ There are some prejudices in Britain today that have become socially unacceptable: open racism, sexism and homophobia are now widely condemned in mainstream public life. Yet there is one form of prejudice that still seems OK, particularly among the educated middle-class: contempt for the white working-class. Author Across Cultures, Yang-May Ooi, questions... Continue Reading →
11 MINUTE READ The tagline of this online project, Belonging Across Cultures is From Difference to Connection. Author Across Cultures, Yang-May Ooi, started this project to highlight the things that bring us together from our Differences across social and cultural divides towards meaningful human Connection. But as this project has continued over the last months,... Continue Reading →
9 MINUTE READ Following on from the Belonging Across Cultures podcast with Chef Norman Musa where he talked with Author Across Cultures Yang-May Ooi about beef rendang as the iconic dish of Malaysia, Yang-May’s curiosity was piqued about the origins of this, one of her favourite dishes. How did it come to be a Malaysian... Continue Reading →
10 MINUTE READ Following on from her feature on The Dark Side of Belonging: Extremism, Identity and Purpose, author across cultures Yang-May Ooi writes frankly about the time in her youth when she was drawn into an extreme corner of the Evangelical movement at a time of loneliness and desperation. While not violent or extreme,... Continue Reading →
When we travel to a new country to live for a long period, maybe as a student or because of our work, most of us feel homesick at one point or another. We miss our friends and our mums - and actually, often many of us miss the comfort of familiar food from home. Is... Continue Reading →
11 MINUTE READ We followed the violent emergence of tea in Tea and Power Part 1, when we saw it become a coveted trade commodity that consolidated the reach of the British Empire. Here in Part 2 of the story, Belonging Across Cultures author Yang-May Ooi, looks at how this initially new high-end product impacted... Continue Reading →
12 MINUTE READ Belonging Across Cultures is fascinated by the connections between nations, peoples and ideas. You may be sipping a cup of tea while settling down to read this story. As you can imagine, this evergreen shrub, Camellia sinensis, used to grow in the wild. Until the Chinese discovered what it could offer us... Continue Reading →
7 MINUTE READ Author Across Cultures, Yang-May Ooi, visits Melton Mowbray, the home of the eponymous pork pies on a special pilgrimage to the original shop where this British specialty was born. Read on for some social history and culinary innovation packed into a crunchy, yummy foodie delight... Belonging and Maverick Thinking in Melton Mowbray... Continue Reading →
8 MINUTE READ When arguing with someone in an extremist group or caught up in conspiracy theories, we might counter with facts and scientific evidence or cite (to us) reliable sources such as mainstream news media, university research, the medical establishment, the laws of physics. But to no avail. Following on from The Dark Side... Continue Reading →
Is a feeling of Belonging solely defined by place or a community? What happens if you find yourself a stranger in a new place with no support system due to circumstances you cannot control? What if your home life is chaotic and you have no-one stable you can turn to for guidance or help? Is... Continue Reading →