Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1 Dollar: Same - Sex Marriage in Asia
1 Dollar: Same - Sex Marriage in Asia
Minimum
Donation
Same - Sex M
arriage in As
ia
1
2 COVER DESIGN
Photography: Mara Milagros Conti
Design: Mark Dallas / Anl Yaatan
E-BOOKS v
I have a friend who pre- nearest post office and sent
fers old technology. When- him an emergency mail, hop-
ever my cellphone rings, ing the postman would reach
he starts to talk about good him in time.
old letters. He loves the
smell and texture of the pa- That afternoon, I visited him
6 per, and he feels that he has to ask about the situation. He
a real conversation thanks wondered how I knew about
to handwritten text. I un- the burglar, so I explained to
derstand him. I love letters him that I saw the thief was
too, but he refuses to use trying to break in, and I decid-
phones. At this point, I have ed to write a letter. Surprising-
to respect him and send ly, he got angry because I did
him letters instead of call- not call him. All kidding aside,
ing him. it is not logical to resist mod-
ern technology merely for the
One day, I saw a guy trying to sake of preserving tradition.
rob his house. He had a gun, In the same way, advocating
so I was too afraid to inter- for old-style books just for ro-
vene. I had to do something, mantic reasons and ignoring
so I dialled his office number. all the benefits of electronic
Right before I called him, I books is irrational.
realized I should respect his
wishes, so I quit the call and First of all, e-books are cheap-
ran home to write him a let- er than paper ones. Two days
ter. After that, I hurried to the ago, I bought The Best Short
Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky
ng to win?
20
ai The traditional chinese
word, it consists of a heart inside of
accept
21
Every morning when I a long line. Or maybe youve
get to ILSC theres a huge noticed that going to Ripleys
line to get into the elevator, Aquarium, the CN Tower,
so I decide to avoid it and Casa Loma, the ROM, or oth-
22 take the stairs. However, we er well-known places on a hol-
dont always have a second iday is not such a good idea.
choice. I mean, if I have to What is more, if you were
warm up my food, I have to here for Christmas, you prob-
wait in line for a microwave; ably saw pictures on the news
or if Im thirsty, Im going of people lining up for hours
to wait until its my turn at and hours on Boxing Day.
the water dispenser. And
then, when its 12:50 PM, We dont have Boxing Day
and everyone wants to pee sales in Argentina, but if we
and brush their teeth before did, I can just imagine it as a
afternoon class, the wash- savage jungle. However, here
room lines are immense. lines seem to be pretty well
organised, and people who
Of course, we dont just find are in them are respectful.
lines at ILSC. If you want to
go to Tim Hortons at break Each country has its own
time, youll find out that a lot culture and social rules. For
of people wanted to do it too, example, if youre in Brazil,
and they all go to the same you probably are used to peo-
onethe nearest. So again, ple jumping the line. Maybe
you even do it; while in plac- How many times have you ex-
es such as the UK, that just pected to spend 10 minutes in
doesnt happen, or if it does the supermarket and end up
then the queue-jumper will taking an hour because of the
get told off. And what would quantity of people? Or when
the reaction be at that in each you decide to go by car instead
place? Do they just stand of the subway because youre
shyly quiet, ask them gently late, and theres a crash and
to respect the order, yell like a you finish up trapped inside
mad man, or start a fight? the car, stuck in the middle of
a traffic jam. When they take
I often ask myself why peo- you by surprise, its the worst.
ple react so badly to the But sometimes we line up for
line-jumping situation, but I hours and hours, even know-
kind of understand them. I ing beforehand. We line up a
dont think that screaming lot of times on purpose.
is the best option to solve a
problem, but if youve been There are logical explana-
waiting a long time, it feels tions for that. One of them 23
really unfair when someone would be the aforementioned
turns up and decides to take Boxing Day. When there are
any place they want. If its a sales in between, people be-
short line, I say nothing be- come crazy. They go and line
cause Im too shy to tell them up for a long time to be able
to leave, and Im not the only to buy that product that they
person with this timidity prob- dont even need, but which is
lem. Now, it isnt always a really cheap. This happens
short line. The more time you too when a famous singer or
spend in a long line, the more band plays a concert. If you
cranky and moody you get. are a fan, you want to be in
the front row, and you have to
So if you try to cut the line that
has waiting hours, you wont be one of the first ones when
receive a friendly welcome. the tickets go on sale. And if
youre a huge fan, you can
Long lines are liked by none. even camp out for a few days.
The majority of people I asked
said that they would only wait In those cases, when you
up to 15 minutes in a line, but know that youll be waiting
that just doesnt often happen. ages, you prepare yourself.
You take a big backpack and Fortunately, the rest of the
start filling it with things you people in the line may be in
think will be useful. Food and the same situation as you. At
water, headphones, a porta- the beginning, itll be difficult
ble battery charger. If you are to stop being antisocial and
old-schooled, maybe a book start a conversation, but after
or an e-book. And of course, a few minutes, things will be-
your mobile phone. Then come easier. The more peo-
when you arrive, you start ple you meet there, the easier
rotating activities. Eating, lis- the waiting gets. For exam-
tening to music, checking so- ple, you can ask them to save
cial networks, eating again, your place for a few minutes
reading, checking again. As if you really need to go to the
you can see, that ends up be- washroom, or if you run out of
ing really boring. A better op- food or water, they can share
tion is having company, but it theirs with you.
wouldnt surprise me if noone If you are irritable and treat
wants to go with you to be other people rudely, youll
24
hours standing on the street. feel the wait to be much lon-
Maybe someone can drop ger than they do. Having fun
by, but when they have to go, while lining up will make it re-
you end up alone again. ally shorter.
25
A mental journey
In this trip, you might have a lot of choice
26
Please imagine three sce- ty seats. You feel excited be-
narios. In the first one, youre cause youre going to get to
going to work in the morning, sit down for the next hour. You
and get on a bus with a lot of have a book in your backpack
empty seats. You can choose and you intend to read a cou-
wherever you want to sit. Isnt ple of chapters. Unfortunately,
it a wonderful beginning to those seats are a different co-
your day? The second one lour. Perhaps it doesnt bother
is when youve been work- you, but in some countries, the
ing hard all day, youre going seats being a different colour
home. However, you have to means you cant sit on them
stand up and be stuck in the unless you are elderly, handi-
middle of a packed vehicle. capped, a pregnant woman or
That sucks. The third one is a kid. Theyre called priority
you get on a crowded vehicle, seats or courtesy seats.
but you find there are sever-
al seats unexpectedly avail- Under the principle of a Bar-
able. You struggle to get past rier-Free Environment, the
a swarm of people and finally, idea of priority seats was
you are close to those emp- first introduced in northern
Europe. But now, it is becom- ious and uncomfortable when
ing common on public trans- they sat in priority seats. Only
portation worldwide. The slo- 2% said there is no difference
gan Please offer your seat between regular seats and
to anyone in need is often priority seats for them. Most
displayed beside these seats, people arent willing to use
based on the elegant senti- the priority seats, and as a re-
ment of altruistic behaviour. sult, we can find a weird phe-
Nevertheless, this custom is nomenon that people prefer
starting to bother many of us. to stand up rather than sit in
empty priority seats, especial-
Ostensibly, it is a way of get- ly in Asian countries such as
ting along with people on pub- Taiwan and Japan.
lic transportation, but oddly
there has been an increase in Furthermore, a third of the
the number of conflicts recent- people in the survey claimed
ly. In most countries, priority they had encountered or seen
seating is a moral issue. How- conflicts over priority seats.
ever, in a recent online ques- Most of this was based on who 27
tionnaire, up to 20% of respon- they considered worthy of a
dents didnt know whether its priority seat. In most coun-
a moral issue or a legal issue tries, passengers with disabil-
in their country. This kind of ities, the elderly or pregnant
ambiguous border between women are usually consid-
law and morality causes a lot ered people in need. The re-
of squabbles, especially in sults indicated that most re-
our minds. Many of us won- spondents beleved an elderly
der, Should I give my seat up man was the most likely to
to her?, He looks healthy, be offered a seat, even if he
but he has grey hair, Oh looks healthy. We are used to
my God, theyre staring at recognizing people in need by
me. Maybe I should. when their apparent age or passen-
we ride public transportation. gers travelling with a baby. In
In an international online sur- other words, we ignore those
vey, we found that up to 72% with less obvious needs. How-
of the respondents would look ever, it was surprising to note
for regular seats and avoid that a young man with a ban-
priority seats when they get daged knee or a middle-aged
on vehicles, and 44% felt anx- man with one arm were less
likely to be offered a seat de- strangers become very ag-
28
spite their obvious afflictions. gressive that they need the
It suggests that youth is the priority seats and I must move
original sin of priority seats, despite the fact that I also
especially for males. have a need for priority seat-
ing. The number of times Ive
On the other hand, some peo- also asked for priority seating,
ple sitting on priority seats had people make eye contact
tactically close their eyes, with me, glance down and see
read, or do something else in my cane, and then look back
order to avoid or ignore such to their book/phone/kid, with-
passengers. Some seniors out moving until I fell down.
consider themselves to be
the rightful inheritors of prior-
In the United Kingdom, peo-
ity seats, and ask others ag- ple may worry that giving their
gressively to give their seats seats to others is a kind of dis-
to them. crimination against the receiv-
People dont respect priority er. In the United States, many
seating, wrote Sarah Dawn elderly passengers give their
from Canada. I have had seats to children. In some
parts of Canada and Austra-
lia, if you dont offer your pri- cancelling priority seating
ority seat to someone in need, or for all seats to be priori-
you will be fined. In Japan, ty seats. They claimed this
some seniors would refuse method makes the distinction
your kindness. In France and of seats vanish, and as a re-
Germany, if someone needs a sult, everyone can sit on any
priority seat, they will sponta- seats and offer their seats to
neously talk to you. In South someone in need at the same
Korea, you should respect the time. It would reduce the hes-
elderly on any occasion. In itation of deciding what to do.
Taiwan, if you dont offer your Nevertheless, some people
seat to someone in need, you claimed that we should make
may be subject to a public trial a strict and clear rule by clear-
on the internet. ly defining who is in need, so
they can show a card or tag,
Generally, people hope that for example, when they need
those in need will get a seat, a seat. This would avoid those
but at the same time, they situations when people refuse
dont want to lose their seats to offer their seats through 29
during a long journey. Stand- subjective judgement.
ing for one hour is the longest
acceptable time for most peo- Priority seating is a concept
ple. For some passengers, worth consideration, no mat-
the distance to their desti- ter whether it is an issue in
nation is an important factor your country or not. When we
in deciding whether to offer realize the situation in differ-
their seat to others, especially ent countries, we should re-
when they sit on regular seats. think the border between law
Therefore, some people sit on and morality. Many who took
regular seats and ask others my survey mentioned two in-
sitting on priority seats to of- teresting ways of solving this
fer them to passengers who dilemma of priority seating
need them more. customs. After all, should we
choose between believing the
In order to deal with the conflict virtue of humans or the strict
between egoism and altruism law to help us deal with prob-
and eradicate the ambiguous lems? Anyway, we all hope
border between morality and governments can find a new
law, some people mentioned way to deal with this problem.
30
31
Where the money will go