India is one large, unique country. It is located above the equator, forms a part of the Himalayas and borders Nepal, Pakistan and China.
India is also culturally expanse, comprising of thousands of ethnic groups, languages and traditions. Its culture has a strong influence on neighbouring Asian countries and vice-versa.
Holi Festival Melbourne 2019
Often India is referred to as its own continent. So is India a part of Asia? Do Indians see themselves as a part of Asia?
Race and ethnicity are terms used to group and categorise people.
While these two terms are often used interchangeably and have similar overlapping ideals, they have distinct meanings.
At some point in our lives, we might get asked, ‘Where are you from?’. Or ‘What is your ethnic background? What is your race?’
Endless faces of race and ethnicity | Weekly Photo Challenge: Elemental.
That’s when we might realise each word can be hard to define and understand.
As someone who was born in Australia and has lived here for many years, some stereotypes, myths and perceptions about Australians ring true. And some don’t.
Australia is a diverse country, with the outback and city side by side as I wrote in this blog post about the geographic land of Oz itself. Naturally, Australians are a pretty diverse bunch in general, diverse in terms of what they like, the way they choose to live their lives and who they chose to be.
Australia, a land where Australians are all shapes, sizes and personalities | Weekly Photo Challenge: Ambience.
There is the tendency to think of the average, person-next-door Australian like this:
Some say yes and some say no to a new Australian flag. There are countless arguments for and against this discussion, especially when Australia Day comes around each year and Australians reflect on what our country and flag mean to us.
Our current flag was chosen through a national competition in 1901. 32,823 entries were submitted and a panel of judges declared five entrants who presented similar designs as the winners. That was a while ago. As someone who is lucky to live in an Australia in a time where there are world class facilities and a multicultural population, sometimes I wonder: does our current flag truly represent Australia today?
Sometimes a flag unites us, and sometimes a flag divides us | Weekly Photo Challenge: Circle.
There is a blue ensign and red ensign; under the Flags Act 1953 the former was officially chosen as our national emblem. The symbolic elements making up the Australian flag are the:
Talking about language is confusing. Mother tongue, first language, native language and so on, we all define these phrases differently. And each of these definitions aren’t wrong at all since each phrase holds different meanings for each of us.
The other weekend I thought about this as I walked through the shopping centre near my place. Walking briskly, I passed by the stall selling organic beauty products, passed right in front of a middle-aged-looking Caucasian female stall attendant.
Languages help us get along with one another. Including body language | Weekly Photo Challenge: Afloat.
“Ni hao!” she exclaimed. I slowed my walking speed. What? She’s assuming I understand Chinese. Assuming that Mandarin is my mother tongue, which isn’t. It’s Cantonese. No, wait. My family speak Chinese too…so it’s also my mother tongue…
When it comes to choosing a dish that represents Australia as a nation, us Australians have always been divided on this. There are so many foods we associate with our country. A few months ago, the Asian Cup 2015 tournament hosted by Australia chose the meat pie as Australia’s favourite food. But a few years ago, 8,000 Australians voted roast lamb as our national dish, with the meat pie coming in second.
No matter which way you turn this plate of avocado on toast, it looks the same | Weekly Photo Challenge: Symmetry.
As a kid, I never ate meat pie. In fact, the first time I had a meat pie was about five years ago. One afternoon while walking around a shopping centre, I was hungry and on a whim bought a snack-sized beef pie from Michel’s Pattiserie, a rather fancy, pricey bakery. The pie was piping hot and as my teeth sunk into the semi-crispy brown crust, and a savoury taste filled my mouth. Couldn’t decide if the meat tasted like beef. I chewed.
Mabel Kwong 