A Chinese Who Can't Chinese.
Chinese babies don't automatically speak Chinese when they grow up.
Do you know that? Same goes for every different kinds of babies out there. If you're from the European bloodline, but somehow find yourself growing up in Japan, then the culture there would have installed Japanese into your mind! It's not rocket science.
In Malaysia, my friends call me a banana. Yellow on the outside, but white on the inside. I'm like a novelty Chinese guy lost in history, never able to relate to my ethnicity and all the traditions that come with it.
Well first of all, I don't consider myself Chinese.
Sure, my roots can be traced back to mainland China (and arguably, all of our ancestors came from the cradle called Africa, or some alien homeworld). And sure, I look like Chinese. But, I've always felt that identity should be self-defined. I mean, nobody asked you where and when you want to be born, you know? You had no say.
If you are to fill-up any forms here in Malaysia, be prepared to force yourself to answer super important stuff like your race, and your religion. Once I refused to answer any of those while applying for a previous dayjob, and they actually called in to tell me that I must answer those!
So if the authorities were to pull up all the forms I've filled up throughout the years, they'll see that I'm a confused Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. And also, a polytheist. In their official records, I'm a Christian, Buddhist, Bahá'í, and even once a Rastafarian.
What does it mean to be a Chinese who can't even Chinese, outside of China?
So in order for the country to remain stable during some civil unrest back in 1969, the Malaysian government decided to erect special privileges for the majority to give them a leg up. This goes from public university race quotas, cheaper real estate, free money, and entrepreneurial grants.
Actually, I don't feel oppressed. It's been part of the country's DNA since I was born. The race-based economic policy here is just something that hangs around in the air, awkwardly, and we're all tolerant about it. Well, the privileged of course wants to remain privileged. And people don't want to rock the sensitive boat. Life becomes much easier.
Sure, I don't deny that I'm from some Chinese heritage.. but that's all there is to it.
No one should define who you are.
You know it for yourself that you're a free being. And now with a social media platform like Steemit, I sure hope the sense of building stuff together will transcend borders, race, and religion.
This place feels like home :)
Very good advice @kevinwong and I am glad that you keep your chin up!
No matter what race are you black, or white, latino, caucasian or asian you should be proud and happy!
And like Russell Peters said in one of his stand up shows about the population of India:
You can run or try to hide but sooner or later we're gonna hump you!
He was reffering to the fact that all races will join ... sooner or later
Hahah yeah I actually watched one of his live stand ups. In 3000 years everyone would've been mixed :p
I am first generation Indian in state and I have mixed grand children. 3000 yrs want be far.
Excellent article! I'm always curious about what that's like. I call it living an alien life.
I nearly lost a whole coca cola over the banana thing. I'll probably need a new keyboard soon. Thanks!
You haven't heard of that expression before? Must've be uniquely local then :)
Closest I've ever heard is Oreo. Black on the outside and white on the inside.
Oh! We have something similar to that here too. And edible too! You can order "Michael Jackson" in hawker stalls. It's basically white soy milk and black grass jelly..
Very well said! I agree on the heritage part. I also think that if you have been living somewhere and have adapted to being that person, the heritage is the only thing that remains of your past really. I think I also hear the phrase "my heritage is ..." in movies and tv shows.
Great post!
Yes, the past don't really define anyone, it's what they do now and the future :)
Well done, earthling!
Haha thanks!
Yet 3 quarters or more of the population in Singapore are Chinese but technically, we were the barbarians. We didn't belong here and mostly were migrants in the beginning. Now, the education system include mother tongue as a required learning language.
I guess that's good, in a way. I've totally lost all ties, including the language. I've tried, but really couldn't pick the language up! I can speak a little Cantonese though
A Chinese who can't Chinese is the right candidate for Esperanto. Great post.
Is it this?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto
Very interesting! Thanks for bringing this to light!
Saluton @kevinwong ja estas tiu internacia lingvo. Vi povas legi mian artikolon jen:
https://steemit.com/esparanto/@johano/steem-engine-for-a-global-language,
Bonan tagon !
Great article Kevin, I am trying to learn a few words and phrases in Mandarin at the moment, but it's hard to get anything to stick. :-)
Cg
Thanks @cryptogee :)
I've been trying to learn chinese (and japanese) over the years, but the mode of thinking (I feel like they're different) is really getting my way. I think my mind's too dominated by the English language!
I can relate to this very well. I was born in Poland, but grew up in Germany. Even though I am polish by birth I rather behave german if you know what I mean. There are subtle differences between the people even if there from neighbouring countries. I speak both languages, but in Germany my name gives me away, while in Poland my accent gives me away. I always feel a bit inbetween both countries/cultures. Well, it is a bit different for you, when you look different than the others. That's not the case for me. Be a proud banana :)
I'm sure there are plenty of us in different pockets all around the world :) While it's not a big problem for me here because we all speak the local language anyway, I think it's a real blessing to have the Internet, and now Steemit where I can connect with people I wouldn't normally find around here :). I'm gonna have some bananas lol
Dzień dobry @okkiedot and Saluton ! I am born in a country which doesn't exist anymore (you know, your former German brother neighbor land). Now I live in the mother land of the capitalism. Interesting change. And I am a bit inbetween as well. And a lot of people around me too. My conclusion, we are all inbetweeners more and more. However I am focusing on the positive aspects of that phenomenon.
Dobry wieczór @johano ;-) I experienced what you describe while I was living in Potsdam. I meet people who kind of did not feel home. They stayed in the same place, but kinda everything around them changed. The reunion of both German countries surely was a very incisive event, which shaped a lot of lives.
So true.
Chinese who can't Chinese are probably unusual out of the billion or so ethnically Chinese out there. On the other hand, Irish who can't Irish are the norm, even in Ireland.
there are many chinese who are 2nd or 3rd generation chinese who have integrated so well into western society. You would be surprised how many there are.. Sure, it makes a very small fraction of the 1.5billion Chinese but it is a sizeable number. I have been friends with quite a few 2nd generation chinese and I have to say, it's amazingly refreshing to speak with people who look Chinese but inside have a completely different make up.
2nd, 3rd generation relative to? There are many here in Malaysia, it's about ~20% of the population, but most have remained with the traditions and language, I'm really just the oddball around here when it comes to that haha..
Yeah, I'm actually the only person amongst all my friends who dont speak Chinese, and not even into the festivities etc. What's being Irish about ;) ?
I've never understood having a politically privileged class of people. Here in the US, the government has passed many so-called "affirmative action" and "civil rights" laws that grant special privileges to people based solely on their race (in other words, the arbitrary location of the earth in which their ancestors were born).
For instance, regardless of peoples' qualifications, employers must hire a particular percentage of each race and universities must have a student body representing particular percentages of races.
I wouldn't be in favor of these laws, even if it were my own race that was given these special privileges. Why? Because accepting the "affirmative action" laws would be an admission that we, as a race, are inferior. An admission that we cannot survive in society based on our work-ethic, intelligence, qualifications, and achievements. Rather, we need things handed to us based on the hue of our skin.
p.s. I've been struggling to think of what to write in my next post, and I think I just found it. Thanks for the inspiration.
Great Article and amazingly broken down in to a bite size portion.
Regarding this particular response which is not the sole view I am sure of Shenanigator. The Aiffirmative actions and Civil rights Laws are more about minorities gaining a foothold in a society where they may not be given such major opportunities were there not such laws or practices in place. If we take somewhere like the united states for example where the minorities make up 37.4% of the population and if we take away 14.4% for the minorities that are not to distinguishable from the majority spread across the states unevenly it would be quite difficult for these minorities to work their way up the ladder in sufficient numbers. I think a lot of the time when we look stats we forget how the interviewing systems work and how many people apply for specific jobs. If we take the police services here in the UK there was a recent uproar as there was an application launch that only included ethnic minorities, women and people from the LGBT communities. No this is understandable that a white English male out of work or seeking a job in that profession would feel aggrieved especially being born and raised there and lets say of good education. Now if we look in to it taking a few more factors in to play it becomes a lot me clearer as to why things are done in this way in some cases. First of all what is the ethnic demographic of that area? If you hold an open interview all the time then the chances are that you will have people of the same level of education and lets say suitable for the Job. Now if we just use the laws of average then we can assume out of those 30 people applying for the jobs each quarter the majority will be white English/British Bar a few areas in London if we use that as our location. Now that means on each occasion possible 20-25 of those people will be the aforementioned (possible 15 on some occasions) So lets say 10 out of the 20 are suitable for the job and out of the remaining 10 only 3-5 of the minorities are suitable for the job. already they are at a disadvantage as the next factors that come in to it are may be familiarity or similar interests exct... now this may mean the 5 or 3 who were lets say Asian, gay and female on this occasion could be dwindled down to 1 or even none on some occasions just due to those factors. Then we look at this process over the course of a year,5,10 it will still not have a great representation of the minorities in a decade due to the fact that those groups or minorities may no longer be attracted to that line of work as there is not a great representation of them in the force in this case. The world currently revolves around marketing and representation is one of the subliminal factors of marketing. Now if we look at groups of people and how culture develops and take color, gender, sexuality out of it people will tend to follow the majority or Alpha's views right or wrong and this is where we get our discrimination from or partly. So even though this can cause more resentment amongst teams, companies the general public if it was not in place the people and places of power would probably not be in the way of thinking to cater for the minorities in any way shape or form as they would not be the target market to drive your business. There would be no progress all be it there is some slow progress where these things take place. People are forced to except it and then they conform and becomes the norm. After your 1st 5th the 10th year the feeling of resentment (Can be removed). We are currently in a world were we are living against our actual nature that got us this far over a period of about 200000' 100000 years from the first evidence of thinking man and all that molded us before. Those that are in power sadly understand that in order to up our numbers a lot of bullshit has to be done and only the elite are prepared to do it! None of it is fair but as a species this is what we are good at! dividing and then forcing a minorities opinion to make it the majority or seem that way. What your saying is probably felt on both sides in the sense that those who may feel they are over looked due to their nationality or race will be pissed and those that are chosen or offered this for the same reason may think they don't want hand outs they want to achieve it on merit. Neither is fair as you can't help where you are born and you can't help being a majority or a minority. I think the problem lays in that a lot of these systems were put in place for the wrong reasons therefore were not rolled out correctly along with the fact that it is extremely hard to change the views of a nation who have held or lived with a certain way for such a long period of time so were seen as the best option . It will always have a knock on effect regardless of delivery. It's always great to hear the view of someone who is faced with inequality and they can see the positive side of it. I think it always boils down to how we interpret such words as Inequality, justice, fair, right and wrong as there is always a question of balance. A tone is a tone but you'll need a lot more feathers to match the weight of the bricks!
Much Respect to both writer of the original article and responder!
Many would argue that it's not about ability but righting the wrongs of the past which have put certain ethic groups in distinctly disadvantaged positions on the whole.
However I agree with you, I think we should act in accordance with the ideal of every individual treated as having equal rights before the law. The individual should be supreme, regardless of what demographics, privileged or underprivileged they can be classified as. We shouldn't be moving back towards the days where we treat race, gender etc. as our primary defining traits, and encourage intentionally or not a perpetual 'us versus them' mentality.
Yes, that's one of the arguments I frequently hear. However, it doesn't make sense to me. If someone committed murder 200 years ago, do you bring charges up on a great great great grandchild who was born long after the murderer died, just because they happen to be related? Of course not, that's preposterous. Yet, that's akin to what I see today. Furthermore, that view is seen as not only okay but it is often viewed as morally reprehensible to think anything differently.
Couldn't agree more.
Interestingly the executive order from which we get the phrase "affirmative action" actually states that affirmative action should be taken to hire people without regard to their race etc.
So any deliberate minority hires (because they are a minority as opposed to with no regard to it) is a violation of that executive order....
But I also think executive orders are not legitimate law anyway.
Government are just band-aiding solutions one after another... and then one day it'll collapse under so many half-patched holes. Np man, do link me up to your post when it's up :)