today...
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Growing up Asian in Australia
I recently read this great book called “Growing up Asian in Australia” edited by Alice Pung, which is a compilation of stories from Asians that have grew up in all parts of Australia and the experiences they faced growing up in Australia. I find some of the stories fascinating and some of them even reminiscent of what my childhood was like growing up. So today, I’m going to share my experience Growing up Asian in Australia.
This is the 2 year old me on Christmas Island.I came to the big Aussie land in 1988. I was only three then, and the only places I had lived up till then were Klang and Christmas Island. Both of which I have no recollection of living there and only pictures are able to tell the story.
Tilt-shift of Christmas Island I did in Photoshop - geng right! This is the little island I lived on for about a year.I was indifferent about being Asian growing up in Australia. I didn’t feel any different from anyone else even though I was clearly from another ethnic background. Actually, come to think of it, I don't even think I knew we moved to a different country!
Even though I was spoken to in Mandarin by my parents, the Aussie-ness and Aussie ways soon took over. As soon as I began school, I began speaking English to my brother and sister. My parents would still speak Mandarin to us, but my parents spoke Hokkien to each other. I always say the hokkien fusioned with the Mandarin confused us and that's why my Mandarin is so bad! The last I remember of my Hokkien-ness was when my late grandma taught us the Lord’s prayer in Hokkien! My sister and I used to race each other in who could say the prayer the fastest and then go to sleep! Soon after that my Hokkien fell like the current economic downturn and my parents enrolled us in Saturday Chinese School. *groan* I wasn’t able to grasp the significance of learning Mandarin at that age and going to Chinese School was an absolute chore! On Friday nights, after not having done my Chinese homework for the week, I would chuck fits and tantrums and burst out crying saying that the work they gave us was too difficult. I even made my mum do my homework - my poor mum! It wasn’t until much much later that I realised how much I regretted not continuing with Mandarin, even going to the extent of taking Mandarin in High School and at University level. My Mandarin has never improved much and continues to remains on a basic speaking and listening level and a very very primitive reading level.
Primary School was not totally a terrible experience for me as there were many other Asians in my class. As a result, I never felt different or excluded. The only time I ever felt excluded was when I was the last person to be picked for the sports team. =(
I remember in Year 2 (when I was 7) when we had English classes, there would be about 10 of us who were separated into the ESL class. I think at that point in time, I thought ESL was the elite English class for elite students. Haha... I asked my friend, and she enlightened me that we were in ESL because our English was “bad.” I didn’t think my English was that bad but who was I to know. I didn’t really care, and the year after that, I wasn’t placed in ESL anymore. I guess my Engrish got better fast. =)
During the summer holidays my siblings and I would naturally go outside to play with our neighbours who were Aussie Australians. My siblings and I would play cricket at my neighbour’s house for hours – I totally didn’t understand the game and to this day I still don’t understand the game even though my brother has now been totally engrossed in the game - BORING! He even joined the local cricket club *rolls eyes* I guess I haven’t embraced all things Australian!
In an attempt to get our maths and arithmetic up to scratch during our younger days, my dad would make us do sums on scrap paper that he would write out. I really couldn’t do long division for the life of me... my maths totally sucked! For that, I was always whacked by the fly swat or a wooden ruler... so hard until the ruler broke. Sorry dad, my maths is still bad to this day. This continued onto high school where I felt even less Asian mostly because I was placed in Foundation Maths and not Applicable Maths or Calculus where all the other Asians were. I felt like I was a dumb Asian because Asians were supposed to be “good at maths.” I wasn't even good at Chemistry or Physics either - I was an Asian failure in highschool.
With traditional Asian parents, our natural staple is rice and that remained the same when we came to Australia. We grew up eating rice and typical Asian dishes like char kueh teow, laksa and porridge – whatever mum cooked. One thing that my parents didn’t pass down to me was their tongue of steel. They can absolutely take anything SPICY TO THE MAX!!! They even make their own chilli paste =__+ Unfortunately for me, with anything even so slightly as mild, chilli snot will start dribbling down my nose, my eyes will tear up and I’d need to get a glass of milk on standby to calm my tongue down.
I guess over the years, I’ve adapted to Chinese customs that I didn’t know I grew to. One of them is taking your shoes off before you enter the house. I recently went to a friend’s house and they wear shoes inside their home. I asked, “Do we take our shoes off?” and she said, “Nah it’s fine, you can wear your shoes in.” So I thought I’d just wear my shoes in... but the second I stepped on the carpet, I just felt like I couldn't walk into the house with shoes on. I just had to take my shoes off! I just felt so weird if I wore my shoes in her house. I guess that’s one Asian custom that has stuck!
Surprisingly growing up Asian in Australia, I don’t have any Australian friends at all! I guess I couldn’t relate to them and I guess it was also due to the fact that there were a large percentage of Asians that went to my primary school and high school. In uni, for my Arts and Commerce degree, about 95% of my classmates were Asian, the clubs and societies I joined were all Asian and even 95% of my church has Asian people. So naturally, I would make friends with Asians, so it's a bit ironic, I grew up in Australia yet find it difficult almost to mix with Australians.
Recently for my uncles birthday, we got together with our ABC cousins that we grew up with in Perth. We don't see them often, maybe once or twice a year for special family gatherings - and you know what he said?! He said I have an ASIAN ACCENT!!! What the! I guess I didn't notice that I was turning Asian perhaps!
So begs the question, where do I fit into society since – the International Asian friends (friends who have migrated to Australia for study within the last 5 years) that I have made, speak their own language with la and ma and leh and meh and sometimes I don’t even know what they’re talking like nonya and long kang (insiders jokes)... and I don’t have any Australian friends...my ABC friends have given me a lot of comfort as we can relate to our days of playing Nintendo, watching Captain Planet, Power Rangers and Video Hits and we all have an extremely Aussie accent.
I guess at the almost ripe old age of 23, I still don’t know where I fit into society, whether I'm Asian or Australian - but I’m happy where I am. Usually when people ask me, I tell them I'm Australian. My parents did a great job of raising us and I’m glad they decided to make the big move to the Aussie land all those years ago. I’m grateful for everything they've sacrificed for us, for giving us the opportunities they never had and still for instilling Asian-ness within us. Being an Asian growing up in Australia is not that bad! I had a wonderful childhood. Sure there are times where you encounter racism and people giving you queer looks for the things you do and say - but I am who I am and I can't change that.
I’m just glad my parents didn’t open a mini mart or restaurant – otherwise I’d be a slave to the kitchen even till now probably - slaving away on the weekends! They worked it the hard way – came with almost nothing and built everything up from scratch. My siblings and I are the very priveledged first generation Australians - for that, I’m indebted to them forever.
today...
@10:25 pm
bye bye~