Malaysians embrace ‘babi' banter as pig farming course goes viral
Malaysia 's latest viral trend, with hundreds playfully tagging friends as babi – a word that, in Malay, is as much insult as it is animal.
It all began when Universiti Putra Malaysia's Sarawak campus, located in Malaysian Borneo, promoted a one-day course aimed at educating participants about pig rearing. The course advertisement, featuring a cute piglet, quickly ricocheted across Malaysian social media, drawing both laughter and pointed cultural commentary.
In Malay, babi is a loaded term, often used to disparage those deemed rude or arrogant. Its sting is sharpened by religious sensitivities: for Malaysia's predominantly Malay-Muslim population, pigs are considered haram, or forbidden, under Islamic law.
In Malay, 'babi' means pig, but is also slang for a rude or arrogant person. Photo: Shutterstock
Yet pork remains a staple for the country's sizeable ethnic Chinese community and non-Muslim groups, making the animal somewhat divisive.
A social media post for the course, shared by the university last week, garnered more than 6,400 likes and over 400 comments, as users gleefully tagged their friends.
'Today I learned that I need to attend a course before I can start rearing you,' one user name Amairee quipped.
The presence of a Malay agricultural expert among the three course trainers in the advertisement did not go unnoticed by commenters, some of whom responded with equal measures of humour and irony.
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AllAfrica
4 days ago
- AllAfrica
Global historic story in an ancient Chinese map
Revisiting Ancient China's World Knowledge (a talk delivered at the Hong Kong Book Fair in July). By the late 16th century, before Europeans arrived in China via sea routes, how much did ancient Chinese people know about the world? How did they imagine and understand the world they inhabited? This is not merely a question of intellectual history, but also one of the history of ideas, as it concerns the worldview of traditional China. Ancient maps often reflect ancient people's knowledge, concepts, and imagination of the world. Therefore, I will use a 'world map' dating from the early Ming dynasty, specifically the early 15th century, and place it within the context of global history to discuss this issue. **2** Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan, is a university established by the Jōdo Shinshū Hongan-ji sect. It houses many treasures. Among them is the *Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Ji Do* (Map of Integrated Lands and Regions of Historical Countries and Capitals). Since its discovery over a century ago, this map has been highly regarded. This map, painted on silk, measures 150 cm long and 163 cm wide. It was drawn by Koreans in 1402. As you can see, Korea is depicted quite large on the right side of the map – a clear expression of the Korean perspective. It's important to understand that ancient maps were not merely what we now call 'scientific geography' maps. While modern maps primarily strive for objectivity, accuracy, and detail, ancient maps also contained national sentiments, worldviews, and even people's prejudices and curiosities. Therefore, we can study them from the perspectives of intellectual and cultural history. In this way, maps become sources for the history of ideas. Returning to this map. What was the basis for the Koreans drawing it? It turns out they relied on two earlier Chinese maps from the Mongol Yuan era: Li Zemin's *Shengjiao Guangbei Tu* (Map of the Vast Reach of Imperial Teaching, 1330) and the monk Qingjun's *Hunyi Jiangli Tu* (Map of Integrated Territories, 1370) from the late Yuan/early Ming period. Below this Korean map, a Korean official named Kwŏn Kŭn wrote a lengthy colophon. From this colophon, we learn that Li Zemin's map covered a vast 'all-under-heaven,' thus providing knowledge of the Eurasian world spanning the Mongol Yuan era. Qingjun's map, on the other hand, provided detailed geographical information on successive dynasties. The Koreans used these two maps as a foundation to create this new map. However, being Korean, they felt these maps inadequately depicted 'east of the Liao River' and their own country, Korea. So, they primarily supplemented Korean geography, adding their understanding of Japan further east, and conveniently enlarged Korea a bit. Therefore, while this map is a Korean work from the early Ming period, fundamentally, it reflects Chinese knowledge of the world from the Mongol Yuan era (1271-1368). How did this Korean map end up in Japan? Many scholars speculate it was likely taken to Japan by the Japanese after the Imjin War (1592-1598). As is known, the Imjin War occurred during the Ming Wanli era. Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Japan invaded Korea to dominate East Asia. Although Japan eventually withdrew under Ming pressure, they had occupied most of Korea and plundered many people and goods. This included various craftsmen, leading to the transmission of many Korean technologies to Japan, as well as books and paintings, leaving many Korean artifacts in Japan. After the war, although Korea sent several missions ('Sweeping Envoys') to demand their return, many items and people remained in Japan. This map was one such item. Japanese temples have a strong tradition of preserving artifacts. Many treasures from Tang and Song China, brought back, were stored in temples like Shōsō-in, Rinshō-in, and Shōren-in, acting like great treasuries. Due to historical reverence for temples in Japan, coupled with their armed forces and influence, artifacts were preserved exceptionally well. Even today, many treasures remain unknown, with new discoveries constantly emerging! This map was no different. It wasn't until the Meiji era that scholars recognized its significance. Because it was held by the Hongan-ji Buddhist sect and rarely shown, Professor Ogawa Takuji of Kyoto University meticulously copied it exactly. The version commonly used today is mainly this copy held by Kyoto University. Professor Ogawa might not be widely familiar, but mentioning his three sons might help: Yukawa Hideki, the famous first Asian Nobel laureate in Physics; Kaizuka Shigeki, a towering figure in ancient Chinese history at Kyoto University who wrote on the *Shiji* and oracle bone inscriptions; and Ogawa Tamaki, a great professor of Chinese literature who interacted not only with Qian Zhongshu but also with senior scholars like Zhou Yiliang and Zhou Zumou. **3** This 1402 map raises fascinating questions. The 15th/16th centuries were the era when new maritime empires began to eclipse old land empires and gradually dominated the world – the so-called 'Age of Exploration' or the era of early globalization. First Portugal and Spain, then England and the Netherlands, reached every corner of the world via the oceans, occupying islands, ports, and deltas. Led primarily by colonists, merchants, and missionaries, they left no 'terra nullius,' and Europe gradually became the world's dominant power. In this context, world knowledge became crucial. As the old saying goes, 'Who possesses knowledge of the world, masters the world.' Hence, the 'Age of Exploration' is also called the 'Age of Discovery.' This is familiar territory: * Dias (c. 1450-1500?; rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488) * Columbus (1451-1506; reached the Americas in 1492, 1493, 1498) * Da Gama (c. 1460-1524; reached India in 1498, 1502, 1524) * Magellan (c. 1480-1521; circumnavigated the globe 1519-1521) Hearing this, one might recall Zheng He. Zheng He's voyages (1405-1433) indeed predated the Europeans. However, his primary purpose was not trade or commodity exchange, but rather to display imperial prestige. Though magnificent, it objectively did not promote globalization. Yet, it was only *after* him that Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, and Vasco da Gama reached India via the Cape in 1497, giving Europeans a clearer picture of African geography. It is said that before the 1508 edition of Claudius Ptolemy's *Geography*, Europeans lacked a complete map of Africa. So the question arises: Several years *before* Zheng He's voyages, and nearly a century before Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, who possessed such geographical knowledge? Who knew about the previously unrecorded Cape of Good Hope and depicted Africa's inverted triangular shape? Who marked place names stretching from Japan in the east, through Korea, China, and Central Asia, to the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa? Therefore, the most crucial question is: **Is this an image of the world from the Great Mongol era? How did Asians know about African geography before Europeans? Why was such a map of Asia, Africa and Europe possible in the early 15th century?** **4** The Ogawa copy of the *Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Ji Do* is now publicly available. Its most striking feature is its astonishing 'cosmopolitanism.' Pay particular attention: this map is quite peculiar. The right half naturally depicts Korea, Japan, and China. However, a large portion of the left half, the western part, depicts regions corresponding to today's Central Asia, West Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. Research by scholars shows that many of the place names marked indicate that Chinese people of that time possessed remarkably clear knowledge of these areas. Furthermore, the depiction of the Arabian Peninsula, the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, the inverted triangular Africa, and the bifurcated Nile River are unexpectedly precise. **5** I am not a map specialist myself, so I will introduce the research findings of academia, including not only Chinese scholars but also the late Japanese scholar Sugiyama Masaaki and his student Miya Noriko. Look at the left half of the map. Although the scale isn't perfect, the roughly outlined inverted triangular continent should be Africa. The large circular lake drawn in the middle is said to represent the Great Lakes of southern Africa. The southernmost tip of this inverted triangular continent is the Cape of Good Hope, which Europeans only rounded a hundred years later. So, who could have known so early that southern Africa formed an inverted cone? Furthermore, on this map, one can not only identify the bifurcated Nile but also distinguish the Euphrates and Tigris rivers flowing into the Persian Gulf. A place marked on the riverbank called 'Liuheda' (六合打) – Sugiyama Masaaki argued it was a mistake for 'Baheda' (八合打), meaning Baghdad. Although Yang Liangyao, an envoy during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang in the mid-8th century, had traveled from Guangzhou to Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and returned to Tang, he did not record its specific location nor mention the city's name as 'Baghdad.' **6** Particularly interestingly, in 2007, Sugiyama Masaaki published 'The World Maps of East and West Speak of Humanity's First Flat Earth,' where he conducted extensive phonological work, restoring the Chinese-marked place names to their modern equivalents. To our surprise, we learned that this map also records many European cities and rivers, such as: * Malu (should be Luma, i.e., Roma, Italy) * Talitu (Taranto, southern Italy – famous for its cathedral) * Yuelangzhai (should be Yuennata, Granada, southern Spain) * Baibuna (Pamplona, Spain – famous for its cathedral and bullfighting festival, described by Hemingway) * Bailaxina (Barcelona, Spain) * Make'er (should be Ma'erke, Malaga, Spain) * Falixi (Paris, France) * Baizhuna (other similar maps have Baizhena, Bayonne, southwestern France, near Spain, confluence of rivers) It is said this was possible because, on one hand, the Mongol armies occupied much of Europe and West Asia, making them familiar with these regions; on the other hand, many Arabs and Persians entered Mongol service, accompanying them on campaigns east and west. Thus, the map incorporated astonishing geographical knowledge. Besides Europe, it includes many cities in West Asia and North Africa, such as: * Alasa'iyi or Abusa'iyi (Alexandria, Egypt?) * Hama (Hama, western Syria) **7** Therefore, this map poses a huge question for historians. 1. As stated, Bartolomeu Dias only rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. Vasco da Gama only reached India via the Cape in 1497. Before the 1508 edition of Ptolemy's *Geography*, Europeans lacked a complete map of Africa. 2. Zheng He had not yet embarked on his voyages (1405-1433). **Before 1402, who possessed such geographical knowledge enabling Chinese mapmakers to depict Africa's inverted cone shape? Who marked the numerous place names from Japan in the east, through Korea, China, and Central Asia, to the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa?** 3. **How did Asians know about African geography before Europeans? Why was such a world map possible in the early 15th century?** **8** This question perplexed scholars for a long time. After discussions following Ogawa Takuji, consensus gradually emerged. **The only possible explanation is that Persian-Arab astronomical and geographical knowledge was transmitted to China.** Let us recall the Mongol era – the global history between the 12th and 14th centuries. As is known, the Mongol armies, under Temüjin (Genghis Khan), Ögedei, and Möngke, swept across Eurasia multiple times, reaching Europe and North Africa, establishing a super empire. They not only transmitted the Black Death but also brought Eastern news to the West and Western knowledge to the East. In Yuan history, three important Persians or Arabs (called 'Hui people' in Chinese sources) are recorded: Ala-ud-Din, Ismail, and Jamal-ud-Din. Chinese historical records state they brought much astronomical and geographical knowledge and instruments. The most important was the Persian Jamal-ud-Din (also written as Jamāl al-Dīn). The *History of Yuan* records that Jamal-ud-Din not only presented the 'Wannian Li' (Perpetual Calendar) to Emperor Kublai Khan in 1267 but also constructed various 'Western instruments' for the emperor. One instrument, recorded in Chinese as 'Kulaiyi A'erzi' (was a terrestrial globe. Linguists suggest 'Kulaiyi A'erzi' is a Persian reading of the Arabic *Kurah-i-arz* ('Kulah' meaning sphere/sky, 'i' indicating possessive, 'arz' meaning land/earth/country) – essentially a *terrestrial globe*. The *History of Yuan* describes it: 'Its construction used wood to form a round sphere; seven parts water, colored green; three parts land, colored white. Rivers, lakes, and seas were painted, their networks interwoven within. Small squares were drawn to calculate the breadth and length of the land, and the distances of the routes.' Moreover, according to the *Secretariat Supervisor Records* (*Mishu Jian Zhi*), Jamal-ud-Din supervised the Secretariat in 1286 and directed the compilation of the *Great Unified Gazetteer of the Yuan* (*Yuan Dayitong Zhi*). He reportedly told the emperor: 'Our empire stretches from where the sun rises to where it sets. Therefore, we must not only compile historical-geographical books of the empire but also draw a comprehensive map of the Mongol Yuan empire. Besides, we already possess Arab maps, so we can create a general world map.' It now seems highly likely that these Hui people transmitted Persian-Arab world geographical knowledge to 13th-century China. Li Zemin, a 14th-century Chinese cartographer, assimilated this knowledge to create the *Shengjiao Guangbei Tu*, which encompassed most of the known world. Ultimately, in the early 15th century, Koreans based their map on these Chinese sources to create this world map covering Asia, Africa, and Europe, which then traveled from Korea to Japan. **Therefore, within this ancient map lies a story of global history.** **9** Allow me to extend the topic and insert a brief discussion on a historiographical debate concerning global history – the theory of three 'Renaissances.' According to some Japanese scholars like Miyazaki Ichisada, there were actually multiple 'renaissances': one in the Arab-Islamic world during the Abbasid Caliphate (8th-10th centuries, roughly corresponding to the mid-late Tang dynasty in China); another in China after the 10th century (the Song dynasty); and finally, centuries later, the European Renaissance from the 14th to 16th centuries. Naturally, this historical narrative implies a 'contest between civilizations' and resonates with later Japanese ideas like *chōkoku kindai* ('overcoming modernity'). Simply put, it applies the European Renaissance model to understand history elsewhere, while simultaneously locating earlier 'renaissances' and 'modernity' in Arabia and East Asia to counter Eurocentrism. This approach may not be entirely appropriate. For human history, what matters more is what comes *after* a purported 'renaissance' – whether it leads to the 'modernization' of institutions, ideas, and state structures, forming a completely new political, cultural, and economic world, thereby fully stepping out of the medieval tradition. This is the subsequent Enlightenment. Arabia did not experience this; neither did China. Nevertheless, both the Arab-Islamic world and China did have glorious eras. From the 8th to 10th centuries, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a translation movement lasting nearly two centuries, a period of immense cultural flourishing. They translated numerous ancient Greek, Persian, and Indian texts, including works by Aristotle and many scientific treatises. Particularly important was the Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom). Through their translations, many nearly lost ancient Greek texts were preserved and later retransmitted to Europe, ultimately stimulating the Renaissance (literally 'rebirth of ancient learning'). Where did this 'rebirth' come from? Much came from the Arab world. This year (2025), at Harvard's Houghton Library, I saw them prominently displaying Ibn al-Haytham's (Alhazen, 965-1040, Islamic astronomer, mathematician, 'Father of Modern Optics') *Book of Optics.* Its cover illustration depicted Archimedes using parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight and set Roman ships ablaze. The *Book of Optics* recorded the Greeks' significant advances in understanding optics. Translated into Latin around 1200, it profoundly influenced European science during the Renaissance. Another book displayed was Euclid's *Elements* (written c. 300 BC in Greek), preserved thanks to its inclusion in the 13th-century writings of the Persian scientist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274, Islamic theologian, scientist, instrumental in building observatories and calendars under the Mongols). The *Elements*, foundational for geometry, was lost in the original Greek but survived in al-Tusi's work. These two books illustrate how Islamic preservation of lost ancient Greek texts facilitated the revival of European scientific traditions, while also demonstrating the highly developed and rich scientific knowledge within the Islamic world itself. What about China? The familiar 'Tang-Song Transformation' theory of Naitō Konan and Miyazaki Ichisada represents modern Japanese scholarship's reinterpretation of Chinese history, essentially an Eastern version of 'Renaissance' history. They argued that China during the Song dynasty had already emerged from the Middle Ages, exhibiting characteristics like a Renaissance, Reformation, urban citizenry, and nation-states, with highly developed culture and science (e.g., scientific discoveries by Shen Kuo, Yan Su, Zhu Xi; printing; sugar refining; gunpowder; urban life described in *The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor*). The theory of three 'Renaissances' was primarily proposed by Miyazaki Ichisada. In 1940, he published the paper 'The Oriental Renaissance and the Occidental Renaissance.' In it, while acknowledging the Renaissance as the inevitable gateway to modernity, he simultaneously strove to write another 'Renaissance' world history. He stated that the earliest 'Renaissance' occurred in the 8th-9th century Persian-Islamic world, which already exhibited 'remarkable features of the early modern period.' Next came the Oriental, i.e., Chinese Renaissance in the 11th-century Song dynasty, marked by a great socio-cultural transformation. He cited philosophy, literary style, printing, science, and art as evidence. Only then came the European Renaissance. His conclusion was that the Oriental Renaissance occurred 'about two centuries later than the Persian-Islamic world, but three centuries earlier than the West.' This greatly boosts Eastern pride. However, this view might be debatable. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that Arab-Islamic culture and knowledge were highly advanced and rich for a very long period. Their world knowledge significantly influenced the later world. The world knowledge of Eurasia and Africa depicted in the *Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Ji Do* we discussed today likely originated from the Islamic world. Just as the European Renaissance benefited from Arabic translations and preservation of ancient Greek texts, the Islamic world was a crucial component of early global civilization, knowledge, and thought. **Their world knowledge reached China, making this ancient map possible.** **10** As a historian of ideas, my primary concern is not the map itself, nor even the intellectual history *of* the map, but rather the intellectual history questions *behind* it. The preceding explanations relied on research by scholars like Sugiyama Masaaki. Building on their work, I wish to discuss the intellectual history questions behind this ancient map. Therefore, at the end of this story, I invite you to ponder three questions with me: 1. **Global Interconnectedness:** That such knowledge about the world (especially Africa, the Middle East, and Europe) reached China in the 13th-14th centuries, *before* Europeans arrived in East Asia, suggests that cultural exchanges between ancient regions were far more extensive and profound than we often imagine. Modern global history seeks to uncover these human connections and interactions, revealing that Earth is one and humanity is interconnected. 2. **Ancient China: Closed or Open?** Was ancient China closed or open? It seems simplistic to label it definitively as either. 'Closed' and 'open' are tendencies of thought. In reality, China could never be absolutely closed or absolutely open; cultural, intellectual, religious, and material exchanges were inevitable. **The crucial question is: Why did such abundant, concrete, and rich geographical knowledge of the outside world fail to fundamentally alter traditional China's self-centered 'all-under-heaven' (tianxia) worldview?** – As a historian of ideas, I care about this: Why is there such a vast gap between the advancement of knowledge and the transformation of fundamental concepts? 3. **Self-Centered Worldviews: A Unique Chinese Trait?** Is a conservative tradition of 'imagining the world centered on oneself' an inevitable 'Chinese characteristic'? Actually, Europe and the Islamic world also exhibited strong self-centered tendencies. For example, the medieval T-O maps placed Jerusalem at the center. This is a common tradition. **What fascinates me is the similarities and differences in the 'worldviews' manifested in Eastern and Western ancient maps. Why has the Chinese tradition been so tenacious, preventing us even today from fully moving beyond a 'self-centered' worldview?** This article first appeared on Appia Institute and is republished with permission. Read the original here.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Malaysians embrace ‘babi' banter as pig farming course goes viral
What began as an innocuous university course on pig farming has become Malaysia 's latest viral trend, with hundreds playfully tagging friends as babi – a word that, in Malay, is as much insult as it is animal. It all began when Universiti Putra Malaysia's Sarawak campus, located in Malaysian Borneo, promoted a one-day course aimed at educating participants about pig rearing. The course advertisement, featuring a cute piglet, quickly ricocheted across Malaysian social media, drawing both laughter and pointed cultural commentary. In Malay, babi is a loaded term, often used to disparage those deemed rude or arrogant. Its sting is sharpened by religious sensitivities: for Malaysia's predominantly Malay-Muslim population, pigs are considered haram, or forbidden, under Islamic law. In Malay, 'babi' means pig, but is also slang for a rude or arrogant person. Photo: Shutterstock Yet pork remains a staple for the country's sizeable ethnic Chinese community and non-Muslim groups, making the animal somewhat divisive. A social media post for the course, shared by the university last week, garnered more than 6,400 likes and over 400 comments, as users gleefully tagged their friends. 'Today I learned that I need to attend a course before I can start rearing you,' one user name Amairee quipped. The presence of a Malay agricultural expert among the three course trainers in the advertisement did not go unnoticed by commenters, some of whom responded with equal measures of humour and irony.
HKFP
6 days ago
- HKFP
‘A sanctuary for us': China's Gen Z women embrace centuries-old script
At a studio in central China's Hunan province, a teacher grips an ink brush, gently writing characters of a secret script created by women centuries ago and now being embraced by a new generation. Nushu, meaning 'women's script', emerged around 400 years ago. Barred from attending school, the women secretly learned Chinese characters and adapted them into Nushu, using the script to communicate with each other through letters, song and embroidery. Passed down through generations of women in the remote and idyllic county of Jiangyong, it is now gaining popularity nationwide among Chinese women who view it as a symbol of strength. Student Pan Shengwen said Nushu offered a safe way for women to communicate with each other. 'It essentially creates a sanctuary for us,' the 21-year-old told AFP. 'We can express our thoughts, confide in our sisters and talk about anything.' Compared to Chinese characters, Nushu words are less boxy, more slender and shaped like willow leaves. 'When writing… your breathing must be calm, and only then can your brush be steady,' Pan said. On Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, the hashtag 'Nushu' has been viewed over 73.5 million times — mostly featuring young women sharing tattoos and other modern work incorporating the old script. Student He Jingying told AFP she had been enrolled in a Nushu class by her mother and that writing it brought her 'a deep sense of calm'.'It feels like when the brush touches the paper, a kind of strength flows into you.' Against 'injustice' Nushu is more than just a writing system — it represents the lived experiences of rural women from the county, Zhao Liming, a professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University, told AFP. 'It was a society dominated by men,' said Zhao, who has been studying Nushu for four decades. 'Their works cried out against this injustice,' she said. The words are read in the local dialect, making it challenging for native Chinese speakers not from the region to learn it. Teacher He Yuejuan said the writing is drawing more attention because of its elegance and rarity.'It seems to be quite highly regarded, especially among many students in the arts,' He told AFP outside her gallery, which sells colourful merchandise, including earrings and shawls with Nushu prints. As a Jiangyong native, He said Nushu was 'part of everyday life' growing up. After passing strict exams, she became one of 12 government-designated 'inheritors' of Nushu and is now qualified to teach it. 'Really special' An hour's drive away, around a hundred Nushu learners packed into a hotel room to attend a week-long workshop organised by local authorities trying to promote the script. Zou Kexin, one of the many participants, told AFP she had read about Nushu online and wanted to 'experience it in person'.'It's a unique writing system belonging to women, which makes it really special,' said Zou, 22, who attends a university in southwestern Sichuan province. Animation student Tao Yuxi, 23, one of the handful of men attending the workshop, told AFP he was learning Nushu to gain inspiration for his creative work. He said his aunt was initially confused about why he was learning Nushu, as it is not typically associated with men. As it represents part of China's cultural heritage, Nushu has to be passed down, he said.'It's something that everyone should work to preserve — regardless of whether they are women or men.'
