it all started with a packet of m&ms...

it's 4.18 AM, and the house is eerily silent. i'm still up doing my Global Societies essay about culture and how it alters understandings of injustice. this one's a killer.

no one is keeping me company, save for a packet of crispy M&Ms, even though my brother (who's got a major exam equivalent to the SATs in the United States coming up real soon) promised me he would stay up with me and read some Biology notes. yeah. some promise. he's now asleep on my bedroom floor, as my aunt and uncle are sleeping in his room tonight.

speaking of M&Ms, i recall having a conversation with a friend of mine one day on MSN about them. this friend started off the chat with an ambitious "I want to change Malaysian culture." when i asked how exactly was he going to do that, he replied, "well, i started off with sending a letter to Mars Malaysia about their M&Ms"

as to how this would change the Malaysian 'culture', at least, i could understand. most Malaysians (no offense to my fellow Malaysian TOL bloggers and readers, but you all will probably know that this is kind of true...) have this "tidak apa" (loosely translated to "Who Cares") attitude about things, preferring to let things be than speaking out or trying to change them. instead of taking action, we sit back and complain. i say it's due to the media and the fear of the government, but that's another story for another post. anyway, that's the way it is over here, but i'm glad to see more and more people starting to make a difference in the society.

but the one thing i couldn't understand was, why M&M's? why not a letter to a Non Governmental Organization, offering new ideas or a helping hand?

in reply, he said, "Hey, they always say that you have to begin somewhere, right?" and sent me his letter.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Whenever I get a packet of plain M&M’s, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels. Taking two M&Ms between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the “loser”, and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.

I have found out that, in general, the blue and red M&Ms are tougher, and that the yellow ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the yellow M&Ms as a race that cannot survive long in the intense theatre of competition, that is the modern candy and snack-food world.

Occasionally, I will get a mutation, an M&M that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably, this proves to be a weakness, but on a very rare occasion, it gives the candy an extra strength. In this way, the species adapts to its environment.

When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M: the strongest one of the herd. Since it would not make sense to eat this one as well, I am packing it neatly to be sent to you with a message: "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes.”

Thus with all this said, I eagerly hope to receive a reply :)

by the end of the letter, i was smiling. if the guy who read and sorted out letters at the Mars company Malaysian headquarters didn't think this letter was interesting, I told my friend, then he must be blind.

my friend hasn't got his reply yet, but somehow, I know that he eventually will.