Generality:“Yellow”. 113
Anonymous | 22 | she/they | nationality: Singaporean| ethnicity: Malay
“Yellow”.
such a warm, inviting and vibrant hue - i’m surprisedthat it just
became my favourite colour only in recent times. asa child i was rather
indifferent to colours, never really resonating withtheir respective
vibes or the things they supposedly represent accordingto colour
theory. it wasn’t until i dropped out of my tertiarystudies a few years
back that i had time to dwell about my mental health,identity and
purpose. and henceforth, i simply found myself feelingvery at home
with yellow after accepting that the life i’ve livedup till then wasn’t my
own, but built around the expectations of those aroundme.
“Asian”.
my initial response would be to say “anyone who’sborn in an Asian
country”, but that would be nullifying the existenceof Asian people in
other parts of the globe. with that said, i thinkthat someone is Asian if
they are a descendant of people who originate froman Asian country
and that they adhere to the Asian culture they identifywith - no matter
what they may be living geographically (eg. celebratingthe festivities,
wearing the traditional clothes etc).
i strongly believe that upbringing, cultural influencesand shared
experiences aid in helping a person identify as ‘Asian’,though the
culture and race one identifies with may defer fromanother being since
there exists a multitude of Asian countries. fromthe way i see things,
each Asian country has its own way of living whichbrings about a
subset of culture applicable to only its people (ontop of those defined
by race and religion). The delicacies, ethnic wear,and languages may
differ across the different races, religion and countriesbut it does not
make someone from Singapore any less ‘Asian’ thansomeone in
Mongolia, for example.
in regards to who is allowed to call themselves Asian,i don’t think
anyone else has the right to judge who is ‘Asian’other than themselves
should they any ties to an Asian country (genetically,culturally or
ethnically), especially if they did not grow up inan Asian country since
as a child. with a different way of living from livingin another country,
some of such people may not be able to connect totheir roots due to
the lack of common shared experiences or the lackof cultural practice.
i believe it’s entirely up to them to embrace theirAsian roots or
relinquish it altogether. but again, i don’t thinkof them to be any less
Asian compared to their counterparts should they declaredthemselves
as one. they merely have a different way of livingis all.
Ethnicity|part1.
as a whole, i would say that my ethnicity is ratherbright, harmonious
and diverse; that i appreciate how community-drivenmy people are.
mchaos
(mchaos)
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