True Colors

Chatting around with my colleagues during a sunny spring day at work, I kid how a vacation would be welcomed at this time. Especially since I need to find my true colors. "The harsh and cold winter here has made me look pale", I say to them. My colleagues laugh at the irony of me needing a tan, and say "Hey, you're lucky cuz you're tanned all year". Well, only in Europe and America my chum friends.

In many Western countries, it is quite in vogue to be tanned. To Westerners, people who are tanned like myself represent a population from one of those exotic islands. We also represent those who seem fortunate to vacation and travel often to sunny destinations. There are numerous Westerners who spend quite a bit of their precious time attempting to look tan. Some Westerners have had great success in getting nice tans, while others, well, let's just say not everyone was created equal.

On the other hand, Asians in general, especially in Asia, prefer white people or light skinned Asians. To many Asians, being white is a sign of great beauty, high class, and elite. That's why we see so many white Asians on TV for instance. Even if a white Asian was not more handsome than a tanned person, the white Asian would nevertheless be considered more handsome. It is such a trend to be white, that in Cambodia, although this not healthy in the long run, many girls would regularly peel of their skins in an attempt to look white.

In the West, people try to look tanned, while Asians who are tanned try to look white. My friend from Senegal says it's the same thing with African girls. Hey, like Sting sings in his song "Englishman in New York", "be yourself, no matter what they (people) say." People who are truly sincere will see and accept our true colors shining through. So we shouldn't be afraid to show our true colors, like a rainbow ...