By Osman Ho King Fai
I would become a snake if I lied down while eating – this is one of the all of kinds of stories and beliefs my mother told me when I was a little kid. I believed in nearly all of them.
“I do not believe in it anymore, “
said my host’s son Ryan, when we talked about the Wak Wak story told by his mother.
Ryan is a shy boy, described by his mother. But this time is different. The one who shyly smiled and tried extraordinarily hard to minimize her speaking voice – as if somebody outside the window was eavesdropping her – is not him, but his mother. This time, Ryan did not even turn a hair after we spent the whole dinner talking the horrible indigenous monster, Wak Wak.
Wak Wak: the Family’s Educational Monster
Despite the cute pronunciation of it’s name, Wak Wak is a frightening vampiric beast with terrible face, long piercing talons and a pair of knife-sharp batty wings. Pretending animals or human in daytime, they show up at night, and suck unborn babies, threaten the pregnant women, or even wait outside people’s home to grasp their heart.
When I first heard of it, I thought it was just another ordinary aboriginal legend. Yet, when they talk about the stories further, I feel like they sound very educational in purpose. Here are some lessons along with the monster narratives:
1. Wak Waks “snatch humans at night as prey”
# Lesson: Never come home late as there are a lot of hidden dangers outside at night.
2. They make human their fellow members by adding secret substances to people’s food. “When you pass by a family pretended by Wak Wak, they will invite you to enter their house and treat you some special water. If you drink it, you become them! “
# Lesson: Never eat or drink stuff from strangers. Nor follow them to their home or unknown places.
3. “Wak Wak can change its shape to human. But when you look at their eyes, if you see that your reflection on their eyes is inverted, then they are Wak Wak!”
# Lesson: Really look into people to know their nature.
From this perspective, these tales are no longer ordinary but may be some primitive socializing tools developed from the long history of culture since the era of no systematic education. When there was no modern school and internet, then tales, religion and family beared the main function of informing the family’s offspring the Dos and Don’ts.
The Kids’ Exploration Beyond Family Belief
However, these are more of the legacy from the senior. Upon the exploration in their own life, kids of families may see through the moral behind the tales, and either internalize the norms or ultimately form their own belief.
“I do not believe in it anymore, ” said Ryan, ” When my mother first told me the story, it was in my 7 years old and I wanted to hang out at night. I was so scared and hence stayed at home.”
“Yet, now I know she was just worried that it was dangerous for me to go outside at night.” he added. So, as he grows up, Ryan formulated his own witness and reasoning. This is good for him as he is eager to explore himself.
Family’s Belief Shaping Kids’ Exploration
However, it is not every time that we can easily get rid of the influence of our family. We all passively made some commitments to certain beliefs and ideologies passed down by our family and cultural community. These beliefs may be so entrenched that even if we undergo some crises, we are inclined to rationalize and understand the situation with the beliefs.
Once, I asked Ryan when the first time he really felt that God is around him, was. He said when it was in his 10 year old. That was a day when he went home from school unusually late that he could not find any transportation. Thus, he could not help but step on the 2-hour road back to home.
“the sky was so dark that I could not even see the road. I was so scared that I started praying”
Suddenly, a shiny light was beaming to him from the far end of the road – a tricycle came. The grade-4 kid was reassured, and attributed the arrival of the vehicle to God’s blessing.
When I was listening to his story, I felt it was tricky: why would he think it was the God’s power to save him? Why couldn’t it be just coincident? Because the tricycle came after he prayed? If so, the next question is why he prayed?… When we trace back, it may be because he grew up in a Christian family which is used to leading a life under the name of God. They pray before meals, go to church and share the witnesses about God’s miracle every week, and devote themselves to God, etc. Just imagine: if you grow up under such norms even before you are conscious of yourself, would you be suddenly self-empowered to perceive the world from another framework? It is understandable for ones to interpret the what happened within their family’s world view.
Family shaped how Ryan thinks, so do I. Apart from the snake story, I had always been told that it was a must for students to enter university – not by their direct instruction, but their daily interaction with others, eg. admiring the university students in neighborhood, urging my elder sister to study by depriving any entertainment from her, etc. Thus, I had never reflected on why I want to enter and what I want via university, until my last year in secondary school when everyone (whether teachers, peers, family) suddenly kept asking me what I want to do in university and if I had planned my future career. Yes, they were asking me what to do in university, skipping the question that if I will go for one. Even until now, I am not so sure what to get via a bachelor degree. Undoubtedly, it is a safe choice, so I do not regret. Yet, the crux is that it was a passive decision, and this passivity extends to the consideration of my future career. Maybe I have been accustomed to a well-set plan by my family.
Upon Exploration, Struggle Evolves
It may be too far to talk about exploration of my own future career and academic path, compared to the every-day interaction with the local in this trip. In last week, I wrote in my blog that I started to be passionate (instead anxious) about the new experience here. When it comes to second week where I am more familiar with the environment here, my struggle shifted: thinking vs. feeling.
To have meaningful experience, a conscious exploration is a must. But in these few days, it is a bit hard for me to strike a balance between being alert of any cultural difference and just enjoying the journey. I feel like my brain is getting more and more assignment-oriented, always thinking eg. if this or that could be the materials of my next blog once I submitted the last-week one, if he or she may be a story of my video assignment, etc. While the assignments are supposed to pave a platform for me to reflect more (which is also the essence of any cultural exchange), it seems that I have over-done it.
“You look creepy, man, “
said Becky, my housemate, on a day when she noticed me binge footage-taking for the whole day.
Though she is a mean friend, I think she was right.
Business Immersion: Philippines 