The Concept of Beauty in Asia

Beauty is universal, is what they say.

I beg to differ.

The concept of beauty varies in different parts of the world, and this was made very obvious when I returned to my hometown, Malaysia.  For here in Asia, beauty is to remain fair-skinned and pale. Not tanned and brown as is the revered image in Europe and other Western countries.

So do I adhere to this Asian concept of remaining “fair and lovely”? Noooo. I love sunbathing, swimming and looking healthy and tanned. My winter skin, a pale yellow, is as scary as Elvira, so unattractive. But here, I recall when after 10 days of sun-worshipping in Langkawi, several Datins and Puan Sris (high society ladies) enquired about my health, wondering if I was suffering from some horrible skin disease. No, I replied, this is my tan.  This was followed by silence and incomprehensible stares.

I suppose the amusing moment for me is when I decided to ask at a Clarins counter in KL for autobronzant (self-tan lotion). The poor sales assistant had no clue what I was talking about and just shook her head with a giggle. No she replied, why make skin darker? Indeed everywhere I see an amazing range of various whitening (also known as skin-lightening) products from L’Oreal, Clarins, Dior…

At first, I was quick to judge. Why are we marketing that Asian women should be pale and light skinned to be beautiful? But in fact, it’s not the fault of cosmetics companies at all, since they are simply responding to consumer demand. And the demand in Asia is for paler, lighter skin. It’s just logical business sense to offer what customers are asking for. It’s a cultural tradition. Yet Western journalists create controversy about race and colour against these whitening products as we so often see in magazines.

It’s clear that beauty is really in the eye of the beholder. Whether darker or lighter, I say it really doesn’t matter, and as long as you are comfortable in your own skin and feel good about yourself.

Michelle Yeoh, Laetitia Casta, Michelle Reis, Aishwarya Rai

Journalists may try to instigate the issue that companies like L’Oreal are just further antagonizing the colour/racial issue, but to be honest, L’Oreal supports diversity. You look at L’Oreal Paris’ beautiful ambassadors and they range from the Latino (Eva Longoria), to the Chinese Asian (Gong Li), South East Asian, (Michelle Yeoh); Indian Asian (Aishwarya Rai) European blonde (Doutzen Kroez), European brunette (Penelope Cruz) to the African American (Beyonce). They range in colour and diversity as much as the product ranges available.

Eva Longoria

Beyonce

Doutzen Kroes

Penelope Cruz

Gong Li

So am I on losing ground to fight for my belief to be tanned in Asia? Yes.

It’s true it’s preferable to be pale and fair-skinned in Asia but this PZ has chosen to defy all critics and remain as dark and tanned as she likes (of course with sensible sun protection!) – at least Frog likes me this way!

PZ.

Future of tourism: ecological?

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO/OMT), a specialized agency of the United ‎Nations and the leading international organization in the field of tourism, estimates that tourism is today responsible for 5% of greenhouse gas emissions and that the situation will get worse if we don’t change our traveling habits. 1.1 billion travelers will cross the planet in 2010; 1.6 by 2020. It is now a priority to travel differently. But how?

First of all, get used to the idea that there is no ideal eco-traveler, just because taking the plane has a very negative impact on global warming. Should we stop taking the plane? Of course not. Tourism and leisure are crucial in our stressful lives to open our minds and hearts and very important for local economies. But we can improve the way we travel and become more sustainable.

The first tip to becoming a better eco-traveler is to choose modern companies with recent aircrafts. My second tip is to calculate your carbon emissions. For example, I have calculated my carbon emissions for a return flight from Paris to Kuala Lumpur (check out http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm). My result: 1.810 ton. Equivalent to 16,000 km driven with my car or two years of heat for my apartment in France!

 

Don’t ask us what we were doing in the tree!

To offset your carbon emissions, you can sponsor tree plantings (5,820 trees is my price to pay to visit my in-laws in Malaysia) or choose to sponsor another sustainable development program.

My third tip is to take your time and stop running. Before going overseas, prepare your journey by choosing eco-friendly tour operators, try to avoid the busiest sites and search less known places in order to balance the tourism geographical repartition around the globe.

And last but not least, help preserve the environment by visiting natural parks, eco museums, don’t buy any protected species, reduce air con in your room, water wasting etc etc…

Most of all, don’t give up, start with what you can, every detail matters in becoming a responsible tourist!

(Green) Frog.

Women’s Day – a long way to go

Hear that crack in the glass ceiling? Not quite earth shattering despite our rallying calls to gender equality and sharing heart-warming stories about how far we’ve come. But let’s face it, for the 21^st century has the fairer sex really come as far as we’d like to make out?

I don’t think so – I think the world could do better.

Much of what I see is just “politically correct” talk, but not much action. Companies are still unfair when it comes to salary distribution and positions in senior management. Men are paid double their female colleagues, and the irony is that we sometimes end up doing the lion share of the work (men are excellent at delegating).

Am I cynical? Yes.

I was brought up to believe that women were making leaps and bounds in equality and March 8^th is a celebration of the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. We have achieved so much and I sincerely thank those brave women role models for daring to push the boundaries. But should we rest on our laurels?

Why in the corporate world, are we still struggling for fairness?

Shouldn’t we give merit to performance and not the old boy school connection?

Should she be penalised as a woman because senior management think she’s likely to have babies and take time off for the family and therefore should not be paid equal to that of her testosterone colleagues?

Is it enough to have a ‘female representative’ out of a male majority and congratulate ourselves and say “hey we’re all for women’s rights, we have a woman on the board!”

Am I unfair? Ok I’ll back this up with some figures. 

Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, published October 2007:

-       Over the course of her career, the average woman loses approximately $USD 523,000 to the wage gap.

-       Many of the widest pay gaps occur in the best-paid jobs with the most highly educated workers

-       Women are less likely than men to receive additional compensation in forms other than salary (e.g., performance bonuses, stock options, profit sharing)

2008 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners of the Fortune 500 (published January 2009):

-       In 2008, women held 15.7% of corporate officer positions at Fortune 500 companies.

-       Women held 6.2% of top earner positions; in 2007, this number was 6.7%.

-       The number of companies with no women corporate officers increased from 74 in 2007 to 75 in 2008.

In Australia, a report (2008 data for Equal Opportunities for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), was published that fewer women are making it to the top in the corporate world, a trend that has been particularly noticeable over the last two years, including UK, USA and Canada.

I don’t wish to rain on the parade. We have achieved a great deal but the reality on an everyday basis is still very far from where we really ought to be. It’s 2009 – do you think in the corporate world when you publish gender ratios with the obvious salary gap, that this is something to be proud of?

PZ.

 

John, Bruce and… Frog

  

 

 

John and Yoko

Being engaged in a mixed couple isn’t a matter of skin colour or nationality, but a matter of cultural differences. In the daily life, these differences can really tear you apart – humour is the most immediate example a mixed couple would face. My French jokes will never match the Brit’s sarcastic humour of PZ, so forget the funny French comedies with my wife, dinners cracking private jokes with my old mates etc etc – So it’s either make or break. But if you make it, life is definitely richer by sharing and understanding your loved one’s culture and most of all by never making assumptions. What you like or understand might not be the case for your partner.

PZ and I have naturally chosen to speak English in our relationship (not my mother tongue), which obliges us to take care and pay attention to what we say, because of the risk of misunderstanding. It can really be tiring at the end of the day, but on the other hand it really encourages us to listen and to choose the right words at the right time: Very diplomatic indeed, I feel sometimes married to Kofi Annan!

 

Bruce Lee and Linda

 

A recent survey showed that divorces in mixed couples aren’t more frequent than for other couples. Today in France, 25% of couples aren’t from the same origin and that number increases with the next generation children of mixed couples. I believe that these children are rich because of the diversity in their genes.

Let’s hope the tolerance and understanding that is automatically part of their life and education will make this a better world.

(I should write songs!!)

Frog.