You-As-Ay imperialism?
By Zan Azlee

Everybody around the world is so obsessed with the United States of America. You could sometimes be mistaken that the world revolves around that one country. Even people who speak English tend to want to speak English like the Americans. The word ‘water’ becomes ‘wa-dderrr’ and ‘Twitter’ becomes ‘twee-dderrr’. In Malaysia, where local students between the ages of 13 and 17 actually attend what is officially known as secondary school, are suddenly referred to as attending ‘high’ school.

I can’t actually excuse myself either. I dress in t-shirts, jeans and shorts everywhere I go, even to work. And the arts that I follow are mostly of the American pop culture kind. And the times that I visit America, somehow or rather I feel a sense of familiarity when I arrive. It’s so funny that I actually feel like I’m returning to my hometown, or ‘balik kampung’.

(Okay fine, I did spend some time growing up in that country with my family when my father was working there. But it was just a short amount of time.)

So it seems that the United States of America plays a really significant role in how the world turns round. For one, they are a major trading partner with so many countries, Malaysia included. And so we treat President Barrack Obama’s visit here this week with the utmost importance. We even jump with excitement when he announces that he will visit our National Mosque.

But what makes it so special that the Unites States is now paying attention to Southeast Asia? The last US president to officially visit Malaysia was Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, almost half a century ago. [Click to read the full article at English.AstroAwani.Com]