How Many Cultures Did You Kill Today?

Brilliant metaphor!
This is why those truly searching for authenticity scour Italy in search of meals free of that dastardly tomato, and snub their noses at any dish prepared with the delectable spices of Malacca when outside the peninsula. Cultural homogeneity, indeed! Of course, to kill a culture presumes that cultures are static things, destroyed by change, rather than ever evolving and transmuted through contact, trade and tourism.

Well, let's see how many cultures were killed in Malacca...
First, the Malays destroyed the culture of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Malay peninsula. Then it was either the Hindu Hinda raj (Indian) or descendent of Alexander the Great (European) founder of Malacca who destroyed the culture of the Malays. And once it became a trading center, the cultures of the "...Chinese, Moors from Cairo, Mecca, Aden, Abyssinians (Ethiopians), men of Kilwa (Tanzania), Hormuz (Iran), Parsees (Indian Zoroastrians), Turks, Christian Armenians, Gujaratees, men of the kingdom of Deccan (central India), Malabars (south India) and Klings , merchants from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Bengal, Siam (Thailand), Malay, Cambodia, Champa (central Vietnam), Cochin China (southern third of Vietnam), Chinese, men of Brunei, Timor, Java, Palembang (Sumatra), and the Maldives" who destroyed the culture. This was followed by the destruction wrought by the English, Dutch, and Portugese in the 16th century onwards. And finally, the culture of not only Malacca, but almost the entire civilized world was destroyed by the American culture of movies, music, clothing, and fast food restaurants; and the dominance of the English language. I make that 30 cultures destroyed in Malacca. In another few centuries the dominant culture will look back on the culture of Malacca of today just as we are looking back at the culture several centuries ago...as authentic. I prefer to think of this blend like you described "Nyonya cuisine, which for the uninitiated is combination of Chinese, Malay/Indonesian and other influences into a unique blend, also known locally as the cuisine of the Perakanans, “descendants”. The 30 cultures did not destroy, but created a unique blend. I agree, however, that when you are in the midst of a cultural takeover, we regret the passing of the previous culture. I regret the impact that the American culture has had on the world, just as I regret the passing of the American culture of earlier generations. I also agree that tourists can accelerate cultural decline. I recently visited Thailand after having been away 25 years. I was aghast at the changes to their culture. Twenty five years earlier the Thai celebrated just a few events for themselves (Songkran in April, Loy Kratong in November, etc). Now there were celebrations almost every weekend for the tourists, and the dances and costumes used were glitzed up to appeal to the tourist audience. That's why when I was in Fiji and ran across a dance celebration by Fijians for Fijians, with me and a friend as the only foreigners, I felt that I was seeing an authentic cultural event. Anyway, I look forward to seeing Ali's response to the question you didn't raise in KL, but did here!

The conclusion is...
the search for authenticity is futile. I heard somewhere that no scientific observation is accurate as the mere act of observing influences the results.

AND AFTER
And after the authentic cultural dances...they changed from their authentic cultural dress...and put on their authentic denim jeans & T-shirts...and went out on the town with their friends...can't get more authentic than that!

Hes so big now!
Its hard to believe this is the baby that you brought to the philippines, or i may be mistaken