Mabel Kwong

Asian Australian. Multiculturalism

Showers

Posted on 24 October 2013 by Mabel Kwong

Lathering up our bodies with slippery soap. Puffing up our hair with shampoo suds. Rinsing off with water. Bathing. Showering. This is something every one of us does when we want or need a decent scrub down.

But just how often? And the reasons behind the frequency?

We are all different individuals so naturally how often each of us choose to let water fall over our stark naked bodies depends on our preferences. I believe this. Interestingly enough, there is the cultural myth floating around that Asians shower more regularly than Caucasians. As ridiculous as this may sound, it may be true (but unlikely).

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Asian Australian Or Caucasian Australian, We’re All Australians

Posted on 22 August 2013 by Mabel Kwong

I was recently invited to give a talk at Kurunjang Secondary College on what it means to be “different”, an Asian Australian living in a predominantly white Australia.

As I walked to the front of the Year 12 class on a crisp winter morning, I noticed about twenty odd Caucasian and Asian students staring back at me from behind their desks. Some of them had Melbourne lawyer/writer Alice Pung’s Growing Up Asian In Australia in front of them, one of the texts they were studying for their upcoming final high school English exams.

The teacher shook my hand and I introduced myself to the class. I launched into a story about how as a kid living in the eastern suburbs, I rarely felt part of a group; all my Caucasian classmates refused to share their Shapes with me during lunch and my mum refused to buy these biscuits for me as I, according to her, was supposed to “eat Asian food”.

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