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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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Why Being A Writer Is Hard
It’s never easy being a writer. Some days the words flow, and some days they don’t. Sometimes we know exactly how our stories will end, and sometimes when we write we wonder, “Where is this all going?”. Recently, I got tagged to participate in a writing tour by Sofia from Papaya Pieces and Lani over…
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When Is It Okay To Wear Cultural Costumes?
A few months ago, I was wandering through Bourke Street Mall on a summer’s Saturday afternoon and spied some buskers wearing traditional cultural attire (photo). I wondered if anyone saw this scene as racist. I stopped to watch. It stuck me as odd that they were wearing sunglasses with their outfits. There are two scenarios…
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Why Do We Go To The Beach When It’s Hot?
When the sun shines brightly on hot summer days in Melbourne, many of us make a beeline for the beach. A lot of us say we go to the beach to cool off on these days. This has always baffled me. Numerous times I’ve went down to St Kilda beach on 30-degree days decked out…
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The Outdated “Australian Dream” In A Multicultural Australia
The “Australian dream” is a longstanding marker that has always been used to describe the so-called successful Australian person. An Australian is said to live the “Australian dream” or the “Great Australian Dream” if they own a house with a backyard in the suburbs. Such a person who lives this dream is deemed a respected…
Mabel Kwong 