Funny how it is when you watch movies like The Last of the Mohicans, or The Mission, you think this kinda stuff only happened back then, or happens only in the furthest and most remote part of the Amazon or whatever. You know, like, white man come, take everything. Or even in movies like Braveheart or 300, where a bigger or more developed nation tries to conquer a smaller one. You know, like, they can take our lives, but they can never take away, our FREEDOM...
This kinda shit still happens now man. Right before our eyes. I guess that's why movies like these, of legends or folklore, are still so relevant today. Call it what you want - the representation of masculinity re-presented, hegemony at its sneakiest, or simply, escapism for the man of today (and perhaps a little voyeurism for us girls!).
We watched 300 at the cinema again last week. Guess it's one of the only movies we'd be willing to pay 30 Dirhams to go watch.
If Ben's life in Dubai was a movie, he'd be the victim, left to fend for himself among all the angmoh aggressors. Poor dude from the tiny island country in the Far East has no chance against this army of white dudes sitting high up on their pedestals. So we always root for the underdog right? I would of course... he's my husband.
Many find it extremely difficult to accept that a 28-year old "Asian" is a Sous Chef at such a fine establishment. Especially the mat sallehs. Ben has a mat salleh colleague who's terribly threatened by Ben's presence, and goes beyond what can be deemed "healthy competition" to get ahead. He takes credit for Ben's work all the time. I told my parents once that Ben cooked for Michael Schumacher, Tiger Woods, Laurence Fishburne, etc. They asked me excitedly, so did he get to meet them? Well, if you have someone famous dining in your restaurant, would you get the coloured guy to go out and speak to them, or one of your own white guys?
VIPs and special guests have the liberty of requesting a special menu instead of ordering from the ala carte menu. So it usually has to be something that really wows them. This gives the Chef de Cuisine and Sous Chefs a chance to get creative. The boys in the kitchen are all too familiar with what happens when a special VIP menu is requested. When I say "boys", I mean the junior chefs and cooks. One of them says to Ben, "What's new? You - work, work, work, plan special menu, do special menu... Then white guy goes out, nods his head and says, Yes thank you, I did it."
On one occasion when Ben planned this really 'power' menu for some VIPs, the CDC insisted that Ben must go out and meet them before the meal was over. After the CDC left, and while Ben was busy with other orders, etc, guess who went out to take credit for Ben's work, as usual. Yup, there he was, the "green-eyed gwailo", nodding his head, Yes thank you, yes thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the meal...
One of the boys now calls "green eyes" by another name, "Tekele". He told Ben of the legend of King Tekele from Sri Lanka. King Tekele would walk about his country, see a statue or sculpture that he liked, and ask who the sculptor was. The sculptor would then be thrown in jail, his name erased from his creation, replaced with Tekele's name. So now, Sri Lankan boy constantly warns Ben, "Don't let Tekele see this" or "Don't let Tekele learn how you created that".
After a rather lengthy discussion with me (Ben would call it a "lecture"), Ben has been a bit more assertive when it's time to meet guests or take credit for his work. Of course it doesn't help that the restaurant managers are angmoh and racist too. So they usually just go straight to the angmoh chef and tell him that the customers wanna meet the Chef. But Ben has had more opportunities to meet guests recently, which makes Tekele feel even more threatened.
Guests are usually surprised when they meet Ben. Oh, you're so young! Where are you from? Etc etc. But at least at the end of each conversation, they would usually say something like, "I'll remember this. I'll remember the young chef from Singapore who cooked this amazing meal for us".
Perhaps this is what happens to all underdogs. They don't go to war with victory as their goal, but because it's the right thing to do. They don't always win the battle, but will always be remembered for what they stand for.
This kinda shit still happens now man. Right before our eyes. I guess that's why movies like these, of legends or folklore, are still so relevant today. Call it what you want - the representation of masculinity re-presented, hegemony at its sneakiest, or simply, escapism for the man of today (and perhaps a little voyeurism for us girls!).
We watched 300 at the cinema again last week. Guess it's one of the only movies we'd be willing to pay 30 Dirhams to go watch.If Ben's life in Dubai was a movie, he'd be the victim, left to fend for himself among all the angmoh aggressors. Poor dude from the tiny island country in the Far East has no chance against this army of white dudes sitting high up on their pedestals. So we always root for the underdog right? I would of course... he's my husband.
Many find it extremely difficult to accept that a 28-year old "Asian" is a Sous Chef at such a fine establishment. Especially the mat sallehs. Ben has a mat salleh colleague who's terribly threatened by Ben's presence, and goes beyond what can be deemed "healthy competition" to get ahead. He takes credit for Ben's work all the time. I told my parents once that Ben cooked for Michael Schumacher, Tiger Woods, Laurence Fishburne, etc. They asked me excitedly, so did he get to meet them? Well, if you have someone famous dining in your restaurant, would you get the coloured guy to go out and speak to them, or one of your own white guys?
VIPs and special guests have the liberty of requesting a special menu instead of ordering from the ala carte menu. So it usually has to be something that really wows them. This gives the Chef de Cuisine and Sous Chefs a chance to get creative. The boys in the kitchen are all too familiar with what happens when a special VIP menu is requested. When I say "boys", I mean the junior chefs and cooks. One of them says to Ben, "What's new? You - work, work, work, plan special menu, do special menu... Then white guy goes out, nods his head and says, Yes thank you, I did it."
On one occasion when Ben planned this really 'power' menu for some VIPs, the CDC insisted that Ben must go out and meet them before the meal was over. After the CDC left, and while Ben was busy with other orders, etc, guess who went out to take credit for Ben's work, as usual. Yup, there he was, the "green-eyed gwailo", nodding his head, Yes thank you, yes thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the meal...
One of the boys now calls "green eyes" by another name, "Tekele". He told Ben of the legend of King Tekele from Sri Lanka. King Tekele would walk about his country, see a statue or sculpture that he liked, and ask who the sculptor was. The sculptor would then be thrown in jail, his name erased from his creation, replaced with Tekele's name. So now, Sri Lankan boy constantly warns Ben, "Don't let Tekele see this" or "Don't let Tekele learn how you created that".
After a rather lengthy discussion with me (Ben would call it a "lecture"), Ben has been a bit more assertive when it's time to meet guests or take credit for his work. Of course it doesn't help that the restaurant managers are angmoh and racist too. So they usually just go straight to the angmoh chef and tell him that the customers wanna meet the Chef. But Ben has had more opportunities to meet guests recently, which makes Tekele feel even more threatened.
Guests are usually surprised when they meet Ben. Oh, you're so young! Where are you from? Etc etc. But at least at the end of each conversation, they would usually say something like, "I'll remember this. I'll remember the young chef from Singapore who cooked this amazing meal for us".
Perhaps this is what happens to all underdogs. They don't go to war with victory as their goal, but because it's the right thing to do. They don't always win the battle, but will always be remembered for what they stand for.
