Family Honour + Immigrant Families = ??

Recurring theme on film or horror story on the news?

The story always start off with the Westernised offspring of an immigrant family who wanted to go native and the family, usually conservative, would object. The offspring then not accepting or comply to the family's wishes, rebelled with the best outcome being disowned by the family, or worst, a homocide case for the police.

I've just watched Fighter, a Danish offshoot of the more well known Bend It Like Beckham, about daughters who went against their family's wishes in pursuing their dreams by participating in sporting activities which the family viewed as forbidden because it involved mingling with the opposite sex. Both were warned to be on their best behaviours at community events and not to bring shame to the family, both films ended with slight differences on how the main characters in handling the situation and their male family members.

On films the endings are usually acceptable to the audiences but stories I read on the news don't (maybe that's why they appear on the news in the first place), with headlines usually screamed Honour Killing.

These stories usually involved Westernised daughters of conservative immigrant families in the West taking in a lover, either a local (Caucasian), or someone different ethnic or religious background, defying the family's wish of marrying within the community. Sadly, the family see the act of love as bringing dishonour and shame, causing them to lose face and making them a pariah within their community because they couldn't control their daughters. Things usually don't end favourably for the daughters.

The culprits are usually the male family members and are almost exclusively of South Asian and Middle Eastern background.

I get that this may be the custom and ways of the homeland as it was what the adults were brought up with and have known all their lives.

What I don't understand is why do they choose to move to a land where they can't or refuse to accept the local ways? If they are not open to the thoughts their offspring and descendents adopting the Western life-style, why not migrate to another country with religion, culture and traditions similar to their own?

I am not talking about refugees as they did not choose to leave their land like migrants do. Migrants have a choice.

People migrate for economical reasons and better future opportunities for their children, but it seems that they wanted the best of both worlds: mindset of the old country and better life in the new country. Unfortunately it is always the 1.5 and the second generation who cop the blunt of family's furor - an upstream struggle between the notion of family unit of the old and of individuality that's favourable in the West. Fortunately this mentality usually die with the first few generations and like colour in water, slowly diluting as the water flow, until you don't see it anymore.

Family Honour + Immigrant Families = Daughters' Burden

It is Called "No-frill" for a Reason!

The term no-frills is associated by most as cheap and budget. It is the case when it comes to travel - no-frills, budget or low cost - carriers allows many to see many different parts of the world for the first time, or even being inside an aeroplane for the first time.

These carriers often aggressively market themselves to the general public as you only pay for what you need, in another word, you will pay extra for the privilege in choosing a desired seat, have your luggage check-in, inflight snacks and drinks serve to you, the availability of inflight entertainment; all on top of what is perceived as cheap airfares comparing to full-serviced carriers, like Qantas.

Budget carriers, especially Jetstar, should come with a health warning label to all customers, like warning the user on potential hazard of overdosing, because budget carriers can inflict real health hazard like stress and fatigue when it fails to deliver what it promised - getting you there.

Jetstar has been stellar one fine August morning for the unfortunate passengers of JQ8. Scheduled and prepared to land in Melbourne at 06:45am after an 8 hours flight, it was diverted to Sydney due to fog, the flight expected to return to Melbourne at 11:00am. JQ8 arrived in Sydney at 08:54am, sat on the tarmac with all passengers strapped onto their seats, for 2 hours nothing was convey to them what will happen and if the flight will take off once given the all clear.

Finally the passengers were told to disembark because of some regulations concerning the aircraft, but without further information on when or how they will get to Melbourne. For more than an hour at the hectic international waiting lounge, there weren't any Jetstar ground staff to be found.

The passengers were then told to clear immigration and custom, and were told to wait at the Jetstar check-in counters. At midday meal vouchers were distributed and hope renewed with the announcement of boarding information, accordingly a replacement aircraft will fly the stranded passengers to the correct destination. A few moments later, another announcement told the passengers Jetstar will accommodate them in hotels should a replacement aircraft is not found.

After hanging around as the clock ticked by without further information if the passengers will get to Melbourne on the same day, Jetstar finally announced that they will be boarding at around 15:00pm and passengers were told to proceed to check-in. The flight finally took off an hour later and landed in Melbourne in late afternoon. The total delay is around 8 hours, enough for the aircraft to fly back to Singapore.

Imagine that, all these hassle because of a lousy fog caused by mother natural, but the worst thing from this ordeal is something which humans, in this case Jetstar, can control: the lack of communications, and that is what I called no-frill no thrill.