From Difference to Connection
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 →
8 MINUTE READ While Belonging Across Cultures aims primarily to celebrate Difference and to highlight how a sense of Belonging might be created in a positive way we also need to understand how cultural and social division occurs. In this article, author Yang-May Ooi shares some of her investigation - based on scientific research -... Continue Reading →
7 MINUTE READ Following on from the feature Can We Be Friends with People Who Disagree with Us? Author Yang-May Ooi reviews *The Next Conversation* by Jefferson Fisher. The book offers practical and constructive advice on how we can bridge the gap between differences of opinion. The tagline is: Argue Less, Talk More - exactly... Continue Reading →
5 MINUTE READ In today’s divisive world, it is all the more important that there are charities that work across conflict and political or religious lines. One of them is Beyond Conflict, a small charity offering mental health support for people impacted by war and conflict around the world. Started only eight years ago by... Continue Reading →
9 MINUTE READ The BBC UNBOXD Report came out earlier this month, surveying the attitudes and lifestyles of Gen Z (16-24 year olds) in the UK. The results will inform their programming for the younger generation going forward. The findings of the Report around attitudes to friendship and disagreements seem to reinforce a progression towards... Continue Reading →
7 MINUTE READ “There’s an engaging energy in giving a talk live and in-person to deep-thinking folk,” says cross-cultural author Yang-May Ooi. She shares here notes on the talk she gave to the GX Philosophy Group a few weeks ago on the theme of Belonging as well as some of the meaty discussion that emerged... Continue Reading →
10 MINUTE READ In Part 1 of Coalminer's Grand-daughter - A UK Migration Story from Norfolk to Yorkshire, we heard about one English family through Rachel's story. Her family migrated from Norfolk to Yorkshire, and then from Yorkshire to America and Southern England. Comparing Rachel’s family to her own, author Yang-May Ooi found that the... Continue Reading →
14 MINUTE READ Not all migration is across international borders or across the seas. The history of the British Isles is full of personal stories of individuals and families travelling across the landscape in search of a better life. In the days before modern travel, moving from one part of the country to another would... Continue Reading →
11 MIN READ As a companion piece to her story about the Christian tradition of preparing food for Christmas, cross-cultural author Yang-May Ooi was going to write a light piece about Jewish traditional food during Hanukkah, which is also celebrated during December. Then the Bondi Beach shooting happened, an attack on unarmed and peaceful Jewish... Continue Reading →