i am not wont to knock such things, especially since they're good fun and for good causes, but it has some definite implications that are pretty disturbing, i guess.
the premise for this website is a vocab game: you match words to definitions, and for every correct definition you donate 20 grains (20 grains?! wtf)(and why is the bowl a scrappy wooden one? hello culturally weighted aesthetic) of rice to a poor starving soul somewhere in the world, at the same time expanding your knowledge of weird and wonderful language. (my current highscore is 43) and i would strongly encourage everyone to have a go at this... especially before a gp exam.
but thinking about it on a different level, it is perhaps disturbing that the english language is here a prerequisite for salvation: why should anyone's appetite be determined by the rest of the world's knowledge of a very particular language? to dismiss it as a necessary by-product of globalization and convenience would be missing the point: although a lot of these words incorporate elements of scientific jargon and terminology of other cultures, it is essentially a pigeonholing process that equates salvation with the dominant discourses of worldwide uniformity.
as any student of literature (or any subject, really) who is familiar with the modernists and postmodernists should be constantly conscious of, language is never objective, however wide its franchise in the world. it carries with it strong cultural and political associations-- the implications of which, of course, vary with time and geography-- but it is essentially a tool of power and a means of enforcing hegemony. our (singapore's) own adoption of english as informal lingua franca is evidential of our neocolonial political values; suppressing local dialects and imposing a uniform administrative language is a means of suppressing minorities: it was and continually is a tool of empire. if the british empire itself is not evidence enough, one need only look to contemporary china in which 'standard' chinese blankets regional dialects; and the original 'speak mandarin' movement in singapore. or even refer to eden, where man names the animals: using language to exert his superiority over voiceless Others, defining their qualities by his own standards.
so while donating rice, 20 grains by 20 grains (what a measly amount! why not 1kg by 1kg) we must remember not to get our heads too inflated: by this act we are, indeed, doing an undeniably good deed, but by so doing we are submitting to the precepts of the site, which among them assume the discourses and impetuses of globalization and uniformity to be true, and which, as we have seen in history, often fail when applied to the specifics of different countries' and cultures' situations. we ought not to plough blindly, then, cruising along with these easy narratives of 'doing good'- they are often as commercialised and trendy as the sugar and bananas we buy without inquiring into their exploitative origins. (this awareness in myself newly coming from studying the cultural history of food... awesomest module ever!) in the context of the uni's present one world week (which is extremely reductionist) it is perhaps a good point to pause and reflect on our simplifyings and trend-folllowings: the UN's solutions to hunger and poverty are far from untainted-- its very foundations here in language itself show their contamination.
what perhaps might be a better thought-exercise is to take a etymological approach to this website (and its really fun imo, especially to a nerd like me) and examine the words for their roots. its interesting to keep in mind that english is a mestizo language, and that the roots of words we take for granted really draw from a myriad of other languages and cultures, which, with our mangled appropriations we are now attempting to bulldoze.
mellie contemplated 10:00 PM
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