Racist Compliment

Racist compliments are demeaning. They strip people of their agency.

Last week someone made a comment to me that's been on my mind and I want to get it out there. The person told me that I have a 'strong work ethic' because of my ethnic background. It was meant as a compliment, but it stripped me of my agency. It stripped me off all the conscious choices I had made to be who I am today. It stripped me of all the effort and hard work I had put in to be where I'm in life today. It all boiled down to my ethnicity. And I think that is racism. 

Yes, it was a compliment, meant with good intentions. But, good intentions alone are not enough.

Even though other people might not have taken such a comment to heart, it hurt me. 

At the time it was a shock. And the fact it was compliment made it harder to confront. I could only say 'I'm where I am today because of my strong work ethic'. I'm still unsure if my response was adequate to confronted and acknowledge the racism. 

Since then I have had time to think about it and I feel it's important to raise awareness of racial compliments and the hurt it can cause. It's better to acknowledge people for who their are, not their ethnicity, background, skin colour, gender, etc. 

No Bake, 4 Ingredient, Gluten Free Chocolate Cheese Cake

This cake is my own creation, the method sort of just popped into my head. It only needs 4 ingredients and is really easy to make. Also, it freezes really well.

Ingredients
250g Philadelphia Kraft Cream Cheese at room temperature
250g dark chocolate
40 butter
120g gluten free ginger cookie (or alternatively use a gluten free digestive or graham-cracker type of biscuit).


Cake base

1. Butter: Melt the butter.
2. Cookie: Process the cookies in a a food processor until finely crushed.
3. Add the melted butter to the crushed cookies and mix well until you get a bread crumb like texture . (If using alternative cookie, add butter a little at a time to obtain the bread crumb like texture).
4. Press the mixture into a lined cake tin. Use a flat bottomed glass to press the cookie mixture to create an even cake base. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Filling

1. Dark chocolate: Break the chocolate and melt in a microwave
2. Cream cheese: Using a cake mixer, whip the cheese for about 1 minute. Add the melted chocolate and mix well.
3. Transfer the mixture into the cake tin and refrigerate for another 1 hour.

My research

After working in academia for a while (almost 10 years as a lecturer, tutor, research assistant and researcher), I’ve come to realise that academics live in world of our own.

So what? It’s it good to have your own capsule, a niche for you. It’s good in some ways, but bad in some other ways. One thing about having your own world is, the people outside do not know or understand what you are doing. Thus, they don’t appreciate your work or the work of other researchers in general. This sucks, as most PhD students and researchers put a lot into their work. We put our heart, soul, body, spirit, time, energy, brain power (you name it and its there) into our work.

When people don’t understand your research, they are also not able to see the benefit of it. About how research helps us understand the world around us and make it a better place. I choose a career in research because I genuinely believe that my work will help to make the world a better place.

I have come to realise that researchers have to reach out and explain our work to others, in a non-technical terms. Not dumb down our work, but explain it in a way that almost anyone reading it can understand and maybe appreciate it. So, here I am, starting to write about my research work. I also hope this process helps to improve my writing skills.

I did my PhD in the area of sleep, specifically studying the brain waves of sleeping infants. Please wait for my next entry, on why we sleep. 

Coconut Macaroons

Macaroons are usually made with almond meal, but these are made from shredded coconut. These macaroons are pretty easy to make and are amazingly delicious. You have to try them if you have a sweet tooth and love coconut desserts.

This recipe makes about 55 2-cm-diameter macaroons. They can be stored in an air-tight container for 5 days, or for longer in the freezer.

Ingredients
(Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten Free)
3 cups shredded unsweetened coconut (the dried coconut, sold in packets at the supermarket)
3 (additional) cups shredded unsweetened coconut
300 ml water
¾ cup pure maple syrup
1¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. pure almond extract
¼ tsp. fine sea salt


Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 160C
2. Blend the 3 cups of shredded coconut and water until a fine thick paste is formed. 
3. In a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients with the blended coconut paste. 
4. Create small balls (about 2 cm in diameter) out of the mixture, flatten them a little, then bake at 160C for about 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and rest the macaroons for about 25 minutes. 

Two sets of morals

I am tutoring for the Women’s Health course at QUT. Yesterday, I attended my first lecture for the course, given by Dr. Julie-Anne (Ju) Carroll. I really enjoyed it, as Ju is a very engaging lecturer.

At the end of the lecture, Ju played a YouTube clip about Somaly Mam, who rescues sex workers in Cambodia (some as young as five or six) and offers them shelter and rehabilitation so they can develop a new life. Somaly Mam herself was sold into sexual slavery when she was twelve years old and managed to escape after a decade of suffering. Her story got me thinking about sex workers, and how the law and society perceive them.

The laws governing sex work are complex and they tend to vary drastically from one country to another, sometimes even from one state to another. In Australia, prostitution is regulated and brothels are legal in some states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and ACT) and illegal in others (Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania).

In Australia the focus of law enforcement is overwhelmingly against prostitutes, not the clients, and against women rather than men. (1) In places around the world where sex work is illegal (such as Malaysia) it is common for the sex workers to be prosecuted rather than the clients.(2) To me, it is unfair to just penalize the sex workers, and not the Johns.

This unbalanced prosecution could be related to how society perceives prostitution, where many people are morally outraged about prostitution and look down on sex workers. Sex workers are considered as ‘bad people’ while the clients are considered to have ‘done something bad’. Society seems to be able to ‘accept’ someone who solicits for sex, but are harsh and ‘unforgiving’ towards the sex workers. There seems to be two sets of morals.

Even when sex work is legitimate, it is difficult to remove the stigma associated with it. For example, in Germany sex workers face difficulties with regards to obtaining insurance and in The Netherlands, banks are reluctant to allow sex workers to open business accounts.(3) Again, double standards!

I will continue from time to time to pen down my thoughts about issues that arise in the Women’s Health course.

Notes

(1) Hancock, Linda (1991) Legal Regulation of Prostitution : What or Who is Being Controlled?, in Gerull, Sally-Anne and Halstead, Boronia (eds), Sex Industry and Public Policy, Proceedings of a conference held 6-8 May 1991, pp. 165-171, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, A.C.T.

I was only able to obtain information about law enforcement on prostitution from a 1991 conference paper by Linda Hancock. I have not been able to find any more recent information

(2) In Malaysia, the media show programs about police enforcement on prostitution, where the sex workers are arrested and taken to police station, but the clients are not usually taken into custody

(3) Elaine Mossman, International Approaches to Decriminalising or Legalising Prostitution, Crime and Justice Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Oct 2007

Carrot ‘Tagliatelle’ / Carrot Pasta

I saw a recipe for a Carrot 'Spaghetti' online and immediately went 'duh, why I didn't think of this'. It seems like an ‘obvious’ dish.

I modified the original recipe by including red capsicum for more colour. It's an amazingly simple, easy and healthy dish. The inner child in me loves the colours in it. I love it on its own, but you could always try it with your favourite pasta sauce.

Ingredients
(Vegetarian, Vegan, Four Hour Body, Slow Carb Diet, Gluten Free)
500g carrots
2 large red capsicums
1 medium-sized onion
4 small cloves garlic
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Onion: Slice thinly.
2. Garlic: Dice finely.
3. Capsicum: Slice into 3mm slices
4. Carrot: Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrots into long thin strips. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with the ¼ teaspoon salt.

Cooking:

1. Vegetable oil, onion and garlic: In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil on a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure that the garlic does not burn. 
2. Carrot and capsicum: Add the vegetables and toss them frequently using tongs. Cook until the carrots are soft, about 20-25 minutes.

Almost Instant Soft Serve Ice Cream (Vanilla or Chocolate)

Craving for ice cream but have none in the freezer, and feeling too lazy to go out and get some? Here’s an easy and simple recipe for an almost instant soft serve ice cream, made from everyday ingredients. It’s ‘almost’ instant as it takes about 10 minutes to make. Vanilla extract can be used to make vanilla flavoured ice-cream, and cocoa powder can be used to make chocolate flavoured ice-cream.

Ingredients for the ice cream
(Vegetarian)
½ cup milk
1½ - 2 tablespoons sugar
For vanilla ice-cream: ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For chocolate ice-cream: 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Additional equipment/ingredients
1 large (approx. 3.8 litre) zip lock plastic bag
1 small (1 litre) zip lock plastic bag
2 trays of ice cubes
6 tablespoons salt


Method

1. Milk, sugar, and vanilla extract or cocoa powder: In the small zip lock bag, mix the milk, sugar, and vanilla extract or cocoa powder. Ensure the zip lock bag is well sealed.
2. Ice cubes and salt: Into the large zip lock bag, put the small zip lock bag followed by the ice cubes and salt.  Ensure the large zip lock bag is well sealed.
3. Shake the large zip lock bag for about 7-10 minutes. You will notice that the milk in the small bag will start to freeze and that its texture will become like soft serve ice cream. The plastic bag will get really cold, so it best to wear mittens or wrap the bag in a cloth while shaking it. It’s good exercise, you might burn a few calories during the work out. 
4. After 10 minutes, take out the small zip lock bag and cut a corner off, to use it like a piping bag to squeeze the ice-cream out for serving.

Options
I can think of a few variations on the recipe, though I haven’t had a chance to try any of these yet. If you try any of them, let me know how they turn out.

1. Substitute the milk with non-dairy alternatives such as soy milk, almond milk or rice milk. 
2. Substitute the vanilla essence with other essences or extracts, such as almond, strawberry, peppermint or lemon extracts. 
3. Substitute the sugar with other sweeteners such as palm sugar, brown sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners.