technically, i would wager most of these individuals would define themselves as asian-canadian, but if we don't even know what Canadian identity is, how is anyone expected to understand what Asian-Canadian even means? maple syrup fried rice?
i've narrowed down the asian-canadian identity into two principles:
- wealth
- practicality
and thats it. i can't help but feel that for the vast majority of asian-canadians, these are the two over arching values on which entire lives are premised.
for those who do not necessarily hold these principles key, we are generally more confused and at times self-loathing about our identity.
i feel somewhere, there is an asian-identity that can be defined by culture, and that i would be proud to embrace as my own. but i feel like most asians spend more time trying to just fit in than actually celebrate our differences, and that's ultimately what i find most confusing.
what are we so afraid of?
asides from being poor, that is.
12 comments:
wow, that was pretty brutal. i mean, i think it's fair to say that those two principles are important in the lives of a lot of asian-canadians, but to say that our entire identity boils down to only those two things is a gross generalization. and quite frankly, a bit unfair.
i said it was a generalisation, so obviously it's not true of ALL asian-canadians.
but i think you'd be hard-pressed to deny it's also very true for an awful lot of us.
it's like saying black people like hip-hop...
I pretty much agree with your generalisations (but really i think those 2 points should be somewhere on everyones top 5 list of life direction). I mean our parents did get of the boat dirt poor and then work their way to the upper middle working class just so we could live off their blood sweat and tears. They hopefully taught you the value of a dollar and that you should work to sustain your own standard of living. And not to waste your hard earned $ on unpractical things.
I dont think they totally define us though, i would say its more:
1) love of food (cuz our asian genes generally lets us stuff our faces without getting obese until we are little pot bellied middle aged adults) and
2) being able to relate better with canadians than our fobby counter parts, all the while enjoying the yummy speciality candies, boot legged videos and fake designer handbags.
don't twist the reason for your poorness as being your not trying to fit in. just because most of your friends are responsible people who have the very common goal of wanting to live independently and obviously anyone of any race needs some money to do that, it just happens most of your responsible friends are asian. how is it that you make that sound like a bad thing?
i know that is a very poorly constructed sentence. haha...
i second that we like our food.
shiet, i don't have either
yeesh, aren't y'all a touchy bunch.
all i'm saying is this: if you took a survey of all the people in toronto who listed something like "helping the homeless" or "making the world a better place through [insert talent or skill]" you would end up with a whole lot of people who aren't asian.
asian people want to be rich, for better or for worse. it's part of our cultural values. look at china -- money consumes their lives, to the point where people will do anything, or scam people for the smallest amount of profit. why doesn't that happen here? where did that moral rift come from?
if you disagree, or think that's an unfair observation, fine. i'm not saying it's wrong, but i am saying that our generation of asian-canadians has been given the option by parents who DID have to make being rich a priority to afford us this opportunity to NOT have to chase the almighty dollar as an end instead of a means.
if that makes me sound like an asshole, so be it. but i stand by that.
this has nothing to do with me personally being poor. i don't understand where that came from.
If we all really wanted to support our chinese heritage we should all go to the "Chinese New Year Spectacular in Toronto" http://shows.ntdtv.com/node/2433
Their catch phrase is: "...true traditional Chinese culture without any Communist Party Culture" hahaha with a slogan like that who wouldnt want to come! :)
It looks pretty spectacular actually...
Lets go! hahaha
i was going to buy my mom tickets to that for christmas...she turned it down. hahaha
i honestly do not believe chinese people want to be rich any more than any other culture. everyone wants to be rich. some chinese ppl are just really hard working so it seems like they put more effort into it haha... the fact that there are a lot of scammers i think is a by product of there being a) so many friggin people and b) its still a developing country. Honestly, you would much more likely be scammed in SE asia or pickpocketed in europe. i don't know anyone who's had problems in china. this is coming from someone who isn't even a fan of the country. haha
I agree that asians, well more precisely chinese, from my experience/encounter are very pragmatically driven. i hate it. i do think it was dictated by history.
sorry, i couldn't help but notice ur title "she-ra? i would." yes.. along with "gem and the holigrams"..
i will agree with Steph about a focus being food, hahaha
and with Cam that you can definitely get scammed in places other than China. but to be fair, i did get scammed a bit in Beijing. who charges a separate fee for a knapsack anyway? haha
you make it sound like being practical is a bad thing. maybe boring and blah, but sometimes necessary..
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