FRINGE CULTURES

APPRECIATE FRINGE CULTURES, NOT CHANGE THEM

Culture is a way of life structured around a set of customs, beliefs and practices handed down over scores of generations.

The Mah-Meri are a small and diminishing number of animistic people living on a small island off Peninsular Malaysia. They carve wooden masks and effigies based on the dreams of the village medicine man. These are then left in nature to decay as a means of warding off evil spirits. Ancestral worship is an integral part of their culture and this is celebrated as an annual event where the villagers receive blessings from their loved ones.

An entire village is invited to join in the celebrations at a traditional Ladakhi wedding. Bright yellow, brown and white patterned tents sprawl out under the deep blue Himalayan sky. The villagers sit on the ground watching the bride and groom perform their wedding rituals. Traditional instrumental music fill the air among the chatter. The celebrated couple are dressed in thick eiderdowns, colourful fur-lined tunics and long scarfs. Pinning money on the newly weds is customary.

PRESERVING CULTURE

Many traditions are slowly fading as the younger generation begins to lose its roots. This older gentleman works by himself to create a lion's head from paper mache for the traditional Chinese New Year Lion Dance. 

The traditional red lion.

The lion dance ushers in a new year and is performed by a two-man acrobatic team.







DRAWING A LINE BETWEEN CULTURE, POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT

For years these Cambodian villagers have eked a living tiling the land during the dry season and fishing the Tonle Sap when the waters from the lake rise at least 10 to 15 feet during the rainy season. Life is harsh for these rural folk being so far removed from the nearest town. Many living on the harsh fringes would readily exchange self-sufficiency for the material benefits of a modern world.

This minority Vietnamese community survives from fishing the Tonle Sap in Cambodia. The floating village is complete with a school, a basketball court, a church and a hospital. Portable generators provide electricity. Karoke music, radio and television can be heard punctuating the quiet sounds of lapping waves.