From London to Tebrau City

When I was in London in June I spent one afternoon at the Westfield Stratford City, a large shopping mall. After 2 hours of walking, my husband and I plonked ourselves in a MacDonald outlet near to where a group of elderly Chinese men (whom we called "uncles" in Singapore) was seated.  One of my favourite pastimes when travelling is to eavesdrop intentionally or unintentionally. From their conversation I could tell they are residents in London.  Speaking in Cantonese they were discussing about betting on the Euro cup. One guy was teaching the other how to fill up the betting ticket whilst another guy provided the odds for each match in great detail. They gave me the feeling that it makes no difference for them whether they are in London, NY or HK, habits and lifestyle remain the same. It strikes me as migration without the need for cultural assimilation especially if they live within their ethnic community.

Whilst munching the nuggets and looking up at the Uniloq, H&M, Bodyshop, Lego and Apple shops around me I felt I could jolly well thought I was in Singapore if someone just dropped me there without telling. I had the same feeling just last weekend at the Tebrau City mall in Johor with the same outlets. Indeed cities have become increasingly homogeneous because of a "global consumer culture" shaped by global branding. Cities push back on their authentic cultural characteristics to cater to demand by tourists, expats and consumers for something familiar  and universal.

I think of that group of uncles. As long as they can find a similar ethnic bunch it makes little difference whether they discuss soccer bets in the MacDonald of a shopping mall in Asia or UK or US. I used to think that living in a foreign country takes a lot of assimilation and integration. I have to ponder further.