Welcome back to emdeegp.wordpress.com! I hope we all can make full use of this blog to share information and ideas outside class!
So we are going to start a new topic ‘Culture’
How would you define culture? and what is the difference between culture and tradition? (are they any differences in fact?!)
Below are some traditions in a culture that you might find strange
The Sati Culture in India
Sati is an ancient culture that existed amongst the Hindus in India, where a woman would burn herself on her dead husband’s funeral fire. It was considered an honorable act and the widow was believed to enter straight into heaven, as a reward for her sacrifice. She became a goddess and statues were built in her honor.
The act was banned by the British Government, but in the late 1980s, an instance was reported. Another case was also reported in 2002.
Chinese Foot Binding
This was an ancient and extremely painful tradition practiced by the Chinese. An estimated 5 billion Chinese women were subjected to excruciating pain in a bid to make their feet look elegant.
From as little as the age of four, a young girl would have her feet bound tightly with bandages by elderly women. These bandages were kept on, but were changed regularly and increasingly tightened. The general aim of foot binding was to keep the foot at a desired size of 3-4 inches.
After years of agonizing pain, toe deformation and tight bandages, the girl would end up with a pair of tiny, folded feet.
Masai Spitting
This isn’t just regular spitting we are talking about. The Masai tribe (an ethnic African group found in Kenya and Tanzania) have an unusual way of greeting friends: they spit on one another. Furthermore, when a new child is born, the Masai men will spit on it and say it is bad – believing that if they praise the child they will curse it to a bad life. When greeting elders, a Masai warrior will spit in his hand before offering it to be shaken – as a sign of respect. Masai tribesmen are well known through the media because of their practice of elongating their earlobes.
Do you think there are any traditions we have that might be deemed strange or weird by those who are not familiar with our culture? leave your comments below! 
July 16, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Salam Ms! =)
The topic Culture is an interesting topic. i learn something new from the above post. For example, the one in India, i didn’t know that if the husband is dead the wife have to sacrifice herself where she have to burn herself with her dead husband and the one in china Ive heard about it but i didn’t know that its a tradition among them. i thought its mcm who wants then to get their feet bound tightly with bandage.
however, about our culture. i find that in Brunei’s marriage lah i found it weird after malam berbedak before the bride or the groom went to sleep, “the pengantin” and “the pengagun” will seat at the pengantin’s bed then the pengagun will read some surah(i think..)and there will be around 2 person who seat behind the pengantin and will hold a candle. Then after the pengagun read the surah then she will bring the pengantin walks around the bed for 7 times along with the two person who holds the candle. These actions are called “masuk pengagunan”. its kinda weird ms cause its part of the wedding process, well from what i know if someones getting married the important thing are bersuruh, tunang, hantar berian, nikah and sanding. Other weird tradition that we have is “adat basuh kaki” after bersanding, these are practice among the family that comes from tutong district.
hehehe i think that’s all i knw which i think is kinda weird but still are practice nowadays.