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Why Are We Afraid Of Standing Up Against Racism?
I’m no stranger to racism in Melbourne. As an Asian Australian, racist encounters have been a part of my life here for as long as I can remember. But I don’t remember doing much about this. Over the years, I learned there are different types of racism. I’ve had insults about my non-Aussie accent and…
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Why Some Asians Are Short. Why I Don’t Mind Being Short
We’re all of different heights. Some of us are short. Some of us are tall. In general, many Asians are shorter than people from other cultures. I’ve been short all my life. At school and university in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, I was the shortest kid in my classes. Today, as a grown Asian adult,…
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Why Asians Like To Queue
Queuing up. Lining up. Standing in line for something free, something new or something on discount. Most of the time we’ll see quite a few Asian faces in these lines. If not a few, then a lot. I’ve been guilty of queuing on a few occasions. At one point while living in Singapore, I joined…
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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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Picking Up An Asian Girl. Being Asian Australian
As an Asian Australian girl who has lived Melbourne for nearly a decade, I’ve had quite a few local Caucasian guys hit on me. These encounters are amusing and annoying. They give me the impression some Caucasian guys are attracted to me because of my ethnicity (maybe some have yellow fever). These moments also remind…
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Why We Love Living In Cities. Especially Asians
City life. Some of us love a lot of the things that come along with being in the city. I’m one of those city-loving folk in Melbourne. Whenever I have a free day, I usually head down to the city and see what’s going on there. We love living in cities because everything is literally…
Mabel Kwong 