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Activity

Directions: Read and understand carefully the story titled “Gio, Latif, and the Laksa” retrieved from:
Claudio, L. & Abinales, P. (2018). The Contemporary World. p. 3-5.

A Story: Gio, Latif and the Laksa

When Gio was a second-year international affairs student in a university in Cebu City, he obtained
funding to join the school team participating in an international Model UN competition in Sydney,
Australia. At the height of the competition, Gio made plenty of new friends and became particularly
close to Latif from the Malaysian team. The two first started talking when Latif asked Gio where he
was from. Upon discovering that Gio was from the Philippines, Latif lit up and declared that he was a
big fan of

Filipino actors Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa. Gio was pleasantly surprised to learn that Latif
had seen every episode of the ABS-CBN telenovela Pangako Sa’yo (“I Promise You”). The show had
aired on Malaysian TV a few years back, and its two stars had developed a modest following.

Ashamed that he did not know much about Malaysia as much as Latif knew about the Philippines,
Gio asked Latif what his country was like. Latif, he discovered, was from a Muslim university in
Kuala Lumpur. Gio asked him what he liked best about living in Kuala Lumpur, and Latif
immediately mentioned the food. Latif explained that in Kuala Lumpur, one can find Chinese, Indian
and Malay cuisines. He told Gio that this assortment of foodways was the result of how the British
reorganized Malaysian society during the colonial times. The British did little to change the way of
life of the Malays who were the original residents, but brought in Chinese laborers to work in the
rubber plantations and tin mines, and Indians to help manage the bureaucracy and serve as the initial
professional core of a potential middle class. One of the ways that these ethnic groups were identified
was through their foodways.

According to Latif, Malaysia eventually became famous for these cuisines which can be found in the
various

“hawker centers” across the nation’s cities and towns. These food stands are located in outdoor food
parks where locals and

tourists taste the best of Malaysia, from nasi lemak to laksa.

Gio interrupted Latif and asked, “What is laksa?” He felt more ashamed at his lack of knowledge.
“Ahh…let me show you what it is and how it is prepared!” replied Latif.

The next day, Latif took Gio to a Malaysian restaurant a few blocks away from the university. Gio
was surprised to discover that Malaysian food was readily available in Sydney. Having noticed this,
Latif explained to his Filipino friend that, over the years, as more and more Malaysian students moved
to Sydney to study, Malaysian restaurants followed suit. Soon after, they were catering not only to
these students, but to Australia-born “Sydneysiders” as well, whose culinary tastes were becoming
more and more diverse.

Gio finally had his first taste of laksa--a rice noodle soup in a spicy coconut curry sauce. He found the
flavors intense since, like most Filipinos, he was not used to spicy food. However, in deference to his
friend, he persisted and eventually found himself enjoying the hot dish.

After the meal, Gio and Latif went to a nearby café and ordered “flat whites”---an espresso drink
similar to latte, which is usually served in cafés in Australia and New Zealand. Both knew what flat
whites were since there were Australian-inspired cafés in both Kuala Lumpur and Cebu.

The new friends promised to stay in touch after the competition, and added each other on Facebook
and Instagram. Over the next two years, they exchanged e-mails and posts, congratulated each other
for their achievements, and commented on and liked each other’s photos. Latif sent his mother’s
recipe to Gio and the latter began cooking Malaysian foods in his home.

A few years after graduation, Gio moved to Singapore, joining many other overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) in the city-state. The culture was new to him, but one thing was familiar: the food served in
Singapore was no different from the Malaysian food he had discovered through Latif. He would later
learn from Singaporean colleagues that the island country was once part of the British colony of
Malay and the postwar independent Federation of Malaysia. Singapore, however, separated from the
Federation in August 1965 and became a nation-state. Today, they may be two distinct countries in
this part of the world, but Singapore and Malaysia still share the same cuisine.

After he settled down in his apartment, Gio sought out and found a favorite laksa stall in Newton
Hawker Center. He would spend his weekends these with friends eating laksa and other dishes.

One Saturday, while Gio was checking his facebook feed along the very busy Orchard Road--
Singapore’s main commercial road--he noticed that Latif had just posted something 5 minutes earlier.
It was a picture from Orchard Road. Surprised but also excited. Gio sent Latif a private message. Latif
replied immediately saying that he too had moved to Singapore and was, at that moment, standing in
front a department store just a few blocks away from where Gio was. The two

friends met up, and after a long hug and quick questions as to what each other was up to, they ducked
into a café and renewed

their international friendship…by ordering a pair of flat whites.

***
Analysis

Directions: After reading the story entitled “Gio, Latif, and the Laksa”, answer the questions that
follow. Write your answers on the spaces provided below and be guided with the rubrics indicated.

RUBRICS

4 – EXPERT – 150-word piece was written in an extraordinary style and voice which made it very
informative and well organized. There was virtually no spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.

3 – ACCOMPLISHED – 150-word piece was written in an interesting style and voice which made it
somewhat informative and well organized. There was few spelling, punctuation errors and minor
grammatical errors.

2 – CAPABLE – 150-word piece had a little style and voice and gave some new information but
poorly organized.

There was a number of spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.

1 – BEGINNER – 150-word piece had no style and voice and gave no new information and very
poorly organized. There was a lot of spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors that it interferes
with meaning. (Adopted from www.thoughtco.com)

Directions: Write a synopsis or a summary of the story (essay form) in no more than 150 words by
answering these questions:

1. Who is/are the major characters that played an important role in the story?
Answer:_________________________

2. What is the situation of the story?

3. What are some of the global experiences mentioned in the story? Cite at least three (3)
experiences.
Answer:_________________________

4. What is the morale of the story?

Directions: Accounting all your perspective based on your readings, fill in the table of the
corresponding answer per category. The answers must be a one (1) situation correlating to what is
happening today around the globe.

What is globalization?

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Financial Cultural Political Sociological Technological

Directions: Globalization certainly impacts the world both positively and negatively in many different
ways. But those who decide to take on international expansion, like the Philippines, find several
disadvantages to it.

Now, analyse and describe the flow chart below and explain how ready is the Philippines with regards
to the following that is stated below. Write your answers on the spaces provided and limit it to 100
words.

Philippines

Access to New Cultures

The Spread of Technology and Innovation

Higher Costs for Products

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