RAINism and Han

Was watching Discovery the other nite and came across this piece on Korea. Who do they feature but Rain, the singing sensation.

I must say i had my reservations about any manufactured eye candy parading as entertainers that is being churned out constantly these days so it was with total disinterest that i followed the story.

Slowly however, the story started to take an interesting turn as they delved into his earlier years as a struggling actor/dancer and the shit this boy had to go thru to get where he is today.

Apparently though he had some dancing and singing talent, nobody would sign him on as he didnt have what they required: Double eyelids. (apparently the chinky eyes wasnt commercially viable at that time).

But he soldiered on and then slowly started to get recognition for his true talent. The rest is history.

What was also interesting is the concept of "HAN"... being described as such :

"feeling of unresolved resentment against injustices suffered, a sense of helplessness because of the overwhelming odds against one, a feeling of acute pain in one's guts and bowels, making the whole body writhe and squirm, and an obstinate urge to take revenge and to right the wrong -- all these combined."

Well apparently this is a cultural thingy with them Koreans, described more or less as "unfinished business", this is apparently the philosophy that drove Rain to be successfull.

From a poor, meek weakly kid to an international superstar, he had used Han to drive himself to the top....all in his twenties!

Damn! What resolve! Imagine that: Using all that anguish, pain, humiliation and handicap to overcome your shortcomings and to great success....whew.

I wonder what Malaysians have in our culture thats driving us? MALAYSIA BOLEH is probably the closest but even then was coined by and advertising agency for a popular drink.

Resilience in the face of adversity....that used to be my personal motto and i have never felt the true meaning of this phrase as much as I do now..

I guess we all need a motto in life (no..not idiotic ones like "Born to be Wild" and all that shit ) to see us through the dark times that come.

So no...im not going to start buying Rain's albums ( am not THAT gay..actually im not gay at all...just a little bit happy) but i must say i have some new found respect for that chinky eyed batty boy. HEEM NAY SAY YO!