Tag Archives: home

Why We Eat Together At Home. And The Importance Of It

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Eating together at home as a family. It’s important to a lot of us. A tradition. Saying no to having meals together at home, especially dinner, is usually hard.

Eating at home with family, expect more food than you can eat | Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale.

Eating at home with family, expect more food than you can eat | Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale.

Family dinners are still quite the norm in Australia. According to a survey in 2012, 77% of Australian families eat dinner together at home five or six times a week, albeit a proportion of this in front of the TV. There’s certainly something significant about eating with family at the dining table. It’s more than just a habit.

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When To Ask The “Where Are You From?” Question

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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 is, “I’m from three countries. Guess” (I grew up in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore to Chinese-Malaysian parents; see previous post). It’s also an intrusive question that demands a very personal answer, maybe demanding that we give our life story away.

A touch of kindness. A touch of kindness makes us feel at home | Weekly Photo Challenge: Humanity.

A touch of kindness. A touch of kindness makes us feel at home | Weekly Photo Challenge: Humanity.

We usually feel the urge to ask the question when get the feeling the person we’re talking to has a different story than us, judging by the accent on the tip of their tongue, the colour of their skin, the way they dress.

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How To Answer “Where Are You From?”

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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 up? Which planet? Where my ancestors come from? Which languages I speak?

Each pair of shoes travels far and wide. Where are you from? Photo: Mabel Kwong

Each pair of shoes travels far and wide. Where are you from? Photo: Mabel Kwong

Pretty sure a lot of the time, many who ask me this question want to know where I call home and expect a simple, straightforward answer. Also, they are those whom I’ve met not too long ago and perceive as strangers.

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Migrants In Western Society: Are They Better Off Here?

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Today, many people who are born and bred in developing nations often choose to leave their country and homeland at some point in their lives and move to the Western world. To escape on-going violence in the homeland. To find a job or get an education. Or to seek greener pastures and find a pot of goal at the end of the rainbow in a modernised city.

But is life really more cushy in the new land than back home for these newly arrived migrants / third culture kids / international students / refugees who with limited resources on their backs? Even in the long run?

Many people in developing countries live in sub-par housing, unlike those in Western cities. Rainy KL, Malaysia. Photo by Mabel Kwong.

Many people in developing countries live in sub-par housing, unlike those in Western cities. Rainy KL, Malaysia. Photo by Mabel Kwong.

Migrants in Western countries are able to live with modern, solid roofs over their heads.

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The Diversity Dictionary (Part I)

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There is no shortage of discussion in the media and academia today about multiculturalism and diversity, including the many topics related to these terms (e.g. ethnic minorities and their rights, international students, languages, racism).

Google both words, or better still, chuck them into Google Scholar’s search engine and you’ll see what I mean.

When we read about multiculturalism and diversity, certain sets of words and phrases pertaining to these topics often repeatedly spring up.

Words/phrases relating to the subject of multiculturalism can be have complex, multiple meanings. It's just like how every Chinese character has various connotations. Photo by Mabel Kwong.

Words/phrases relating to the subject of multiculturalism can be have complex, multiple meanings. It’s akin to every Chinese character having various connotations. It’s also akin to how each and every person has varied personalities, traits and reactions. Photo by Mabel Kwong.

Most of the time, these words appear easy enough to grasp and understand at first glance. However, many of them are in fact complex and vague conceptions – they are ambiguous terms with multiple undertones that one can easily misunderstand.

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Home: It’s Where The Heart Is

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In an age where so many of us are geographically on the move, what does the word ‘home’ mean today?

What exactly is ‘home’?

Traditionally, (the) ‘home’ is regarded as a physical place, the place you return to after a hard day at school or work. The place that you call your sanctuary.

Home is sort of like a lost ship at sea – drifting, drifting. Where it goes and where it docks, no one knows. Photo by Mabel Kwong (Port Melbourne Beach)

In such a mobile world, ‘home’ really isn’t just about a fixed location or the house you live in. The assumption that people live in one place and abide by one set of cultures and norms no longer holds; home today often means more than one country.

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