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Kolokium Siswazah KITA (Pembentangan Draf Akhir): Tan Kean Buan

Name: Kolokium Siswazah KITA (Pembentangan Draf Akhir): Tan Kean Buan
Start: 2019-09-20T15:00:00+08:00
End: 2019-09-20T17:00:00+08:00
Location: KITA Meeting Room

September 20, 2019 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Tarikh: 20 September 2019 (Jumaat)
Masa: 3-5 petang
Tempat: Institut Kajian Etnik, Aras 4 Bangunan Pentadbiran Kolej Keris Mas, UKM

PEMBENTANGAN DRAF AKHIR
Nama Pelajar: Tan Kean Buan (P77328)
Program: Sarjana (Pengajian Etnik)
Tajuk Tesis: Ulam and the Young: Investigating the Knowledge and Acceptance of Ulam for Students in a Malaysian Private Collage
Penyelia: Dr. Eric Olmedo Panal

Abstract:

Ulam is a side dish comprising of native or naturalized greens traditionally consumed by ethnic Malays in Malaysia. Nutrient-dense native or naturalized plants (ulam greens) found in urban areas of Subang Jaya are natural food sources that could potentially benefit college-going students. Available and affordable, these greens are lesser known amongst the young that favors macro greens popularized by modern dietary trends. However, it is hypothesized that ulam is losing its appeal amongst young urbanites, being unfamiliar to the ethnic-Chinese and ethnic-Indians in Peninsular Malaysia. The lack of inter-generational transfer in urban environment further diminishes overall the cultural capital associated with ulam greens. In Malaysia, the concept of modern “healthy eating” promotes Western-based dietary trends which do not necessarily incorporate local traditions and culture. Highly processed convenience food offerings add to health deterioration phenomena leading towards rising cases of non-communicable diseases amongst Malaysians. Currently, social representations of ulam amongst young multi-ethnic Malaysians are relatively unclear, so are the factors that would foster the acceptance of the former. Social concepts such as “ethnic boundaries”, “othering” and “everyday-defined” versus “authority-defined” reality are being applied for sense-making of knowledge and acceptance of ulam greens amongst young urbanites.We posit that the degree of knowledge and consumption of ulam greens is a valid indicator of its potential for inclusion into the daily diet of young Malaysians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted amongst fifteen college students in a private college to empirically gauge their social representations on ulam. Findings show that most of the ethnic Chinese and Indian students were unfamiliar with ulam unlike the Malay students. However, some ethnic Malay do not necessarily consume ulam due to a multiplicity of factors that are elaborated upon in this paper. Typology of accommodation is a determining factor for consumption of home cooking and greens such as ulam. Ulam-related cultural capital is not necessarily valued or passed on to the next generation. These findings clearly demonstrate the need to shift from a Western-centric view of “healthy eating” to a more culturally and socially embedded representation of “eating-well”. The term “Ulamization” attempts to theorize an actionable social change. Ulamization stands conceptually both as a manifesto and public policy tool as it proposes to introduce or reintroduce ulam greens into the “everyday-defined” Malaysian way of eating.