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Finding The Asian Australian Identity In A Multicultural Australia
As a Chinese person living in Australia, defining who I am as an Asian Australian has always been tough. If you come from a mixed family or have moved around quite a bit, you might feel this way too. Growing up in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, my fair-haired Caucasian classmates teased my brown eyes…
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When To Ask The “Where Are You From?” Question
As an Asian Australian living in Australia, I get the question “Where are you from?” thrown at me quite a bit. When I get asked this, I pause: it’s a confusing question. Where exactly is “from”? The place where we were born? Where we live? Our heritage? One of my favourite responses to this question…
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The Race: Asian Australian, Part 10
Originally posted on A Holistic Journey: 1) How do you define yourself racially or ethnically and why is it important to you? Please tell us about the racial makeup of your family if you were adopted or come from a colorful family. I was born in Australia to very traditional Chinese-Malaysian parents. The word “Malaysian”…
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How To Answer “Where Are You From?”
As an Asian Australian who speaks with a slightly tinged Singaporean-Malaysian accent, quite often here in Melbourne people ask me when we’re mid-conversation, “Where are you from?”. This question is an ambiguous one. As Melissa Loh has discussed, it can mean: Which city I live in? Which country I was born in? Where I grew…
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How I’m Inspired To Call Myself Asian Australian
A few months ago, I got to meet the person who inspires me to call myself Asian Australian and be a writer – dancing violinist, Youtuber Lindsey Stirling. I was very lucky and managed to chat with Lindsey before lapping up her energetic performance at The Corner Hotel in Melbourne. I never expected to look…
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The Negative Things Asian Parents Say
“Why didn’t you get full marks on the test?” “Why do you always come home so late?” “Why no discount on the chicken today?” These sentences are often the music to the average Asian kid’s ears, the average Asian kid who lives with Asian parents. Truth be told, a lot of things Asian parents often…
Mabel Kwong 