social norm | GEOG 30 – Our Perspectives

Part of a social norm in my country is eating out. Compared to the States where there’s a lot of food chains and indoor restaurant, many of Malaysia’s food are sold on the streets (night markets and stalls) and open air restaurants. One of our favorite is to go to ‘Mamak’, usually run by immigrants from India or Bangladesh. They’re mostly popular for ‘roti canai’, a dough flipped on air with lots of oil involved (much like tossed pizza) and varieties of curries to enjoy it with. We prefer mamak because they are so cheap, they’re more accessible, and never boring. It has become part of our culture; teenagers go to mamak to hang out after soccer game, families go there to enjoy Indian foods, and blue collar workers go for their quick and cheap lunch. Another trademark of mamak is ‘teh tarik’, a super sweet milk tea.

The societal issue that comes with the introduction of mamak restaurants is the public health issue. These restaurants are usually open-air, close to open roads and in between busy buildings. The foods are also cooked in open kitchen, usually by someone without proper hygienic outfits. Food contamination is a big risk to our health, but still many people choose to eat at mamak rather than eating at home. Not just that, teh tarik and other sweet options at mamak has put Malaysia as the most obese country in Asia. We put sugar and fat on everything! Other than that, if mamak becomes more preferred, less and less households will choose to cook, thus decreasing the nutrinional and social value of a home-cooked meal. I belief we should make it a social norm in Malaysia to start planting vegetables or fruit plants again. That way people are encouraged to cook and eat healthier and at the same time teaching the younger generations to appreciate the work that goes into providing food and nutrition.

One situation that I fell into a social norm was the day of the Super Bowl. My roommates and I invited people over to watch the game. When we were figuring out what food to get, we fell under the social norm that everybody orders pizza and wings to watch the Super Bowl. This is the typical food for any occasion that somebody invites people over to watch a football game. Ever since I was young, pizza and wings have always been the unofficial party food. Pizza and wings are not nutritious, but they fall under the social input of good tasting food. The poor nutritional values of pizza and wings are never thought of when being consumed. Another social input they categorize under is the socialization that occurs as people share this food because it is associated with parties and hangouts.

Ordering food such as pizza and wings for watching sporting events or even hanging out with friends is directly tied to obesity. We live in a sports-dominated culture. Americans love to hang out, watch TV and eat. We do this very often and consume copious amounts of food every time. In America, this is a big issue. People tend to order food, which is usually unhealthy, instead of making more nutritious meals for watching sporting events. Ordering food is much easier and convenient than self-cooking. Unfortunately, I believe we as a country tend to suffer from another societal norm which would be laziness. Nobody wants to put effort into anything, so they pick the easiest option. In this scenario, picking up the phone and having food delivered to the door portrays the societal issue of laziness. Laziness ultimately leads to obesity.