Generality:“Yellow”. 235
Anonymous | nationality: Malaysian | ethnicity: PeranakanChinese
“Yellow”.
I don't mind referring to myself as yellow since I'mChinese, although I
don't really do it because I don't see the need to.I don't mind it coming
from other East Asian people either. It does, however,make me very
uncomfortable when someone who isn't East Asian usesthe term. I
don't think it really carries negative connotations,and I'm not entirely
sure why it makes me uncomfortable, but I just knowthat it does. Just
call me Chinese, it's not that hard.
“Asian”.
To me, you're Asian if you're ethnicity is Asian.Whether you're fully or
partially Asian, you're Asian. Less than 1/4 and Iguess that's sort of up
to you on how you wanna see it.
Even if you're a white person adopted into an Asianfamily and you
practice Asian culture, you are not Asian. Even ifyou live in Asia. You
benefit from white privilege, and you do not fullyunderstand what
Asian people go through. Yes, we share the culture,the language, some
experiences and surroundings. But you are not Asian.
I do not usually refer to people from Asia who arenot ethnically Asian,
as Asian, despite it being technically correct.
We, as Asians, are bonded together through our cultures,languages,
the sense of community. Although we come from manydifferent
backgrounds, I'd like to think there's still thatmutual understanding of
each other when you meet someone who's Asian.
Ethnicity|part1.
I usually tell people "mostly Chinese", but it's morelike "roughly 3/4
Chinese, peranakan/babanyonya and kristang, becausewe were
colonised by the Portuguese and British. So I haveboth of those in me,
my great-grandmother is English, and my great-grandfatheris
Portuguese, hence my Portuguese last name. But I don'thave any
connections to those because we're more culturallyChinese and Malay.
The Malay is because Chinese people came to Malayaand intermarried
with locals, and the cultures started to mix. Alsobecause we live in
Malaysia, surrounded by Malays."
Being in such a diverse country has exposed me toa variety of things.
When I say local food, it could be Malay, Chinese,Indian. I listen to
English and Malay music, I speak both, I eat withmy hands, but also
with chopsticks, rarely with forks and spoons andknives.
I feel somewhat disconnected from my heritage becauseI feel like a
mish mash of things. We celebrate Christmas and ChineseNew Year,
but we also visit and participate in Deepavali celebrations,the same for
Eid. I feel Chinese, but I also feel Malay, and Ialso feel partially
white-washed because of how much I'm on the side ofthe internet
mchaos
(mchaos)
#1