From Difference to Connection
7 MINUTE READ Yang-May Ooi explores Wilfred Thesiger’s classic travel book Arabian Sands through the restless man at its centre. Born in Africa but educated in England, Thesiger never seemed entirely at home in the modern British world he inherited. Was his great journey across the Empty Quarter also a lifelong search for somewhere he... Continue Reading →
9 MINUTE READ Born in Malaysia, Author Across Cultures Yang-May Ooi grew up straddling two worlds: the muggy, multicultural streets of Kuala Lumpur and the gentler, rain-soaked landscapes of Britain. A third also infuses her outlook, her ancestral history that links her and her family to China. Recently, she has been exploring her family history... 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 →
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 →
6 MINUTE READ Continuing the occasional series on British Culture I Love, author Yang-May Ooi reflects on the difference in walking cultures in the hot tropical landscape of Malaysia and cold winterland of the UK - plus the courtesy with which the Brits greet strangers while walking in the countryside, dispelling the idea of English... Continue Reading →
7 MINUTE READ Cross-cultural author, Yang-May Ooi, celebrates the things that perhaps most British people take for granted in this new occasional series on Belonging Across Cultures. When we are born into and live in a particular culture, what we see, say and do every day is unremarkable to us. But when we have come... Continue Reading →