| Overseas " Chinese Bananas" | |
|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2007 03:22 | #31   |
 | Chinese are always paying attention to our history, culture, ancestors, etc. That's the tradition marked on our soul. |
| Sep 14, 2007 05:00 | #32 |
| Quote: "The reason I became interested in visiting China was because I had met so many wonderful Chinese living here in Canada. Some who came recently and some have beenm here all their lives. All were proud of being Chinese and to varying degrees, interested in showing me Chinese culture and history. One common trait among chinese in Canada, born here or new arrivals is they work TOO hard!" JEDWAD, I agree with you on this point that the overseas Chinese are renowned for their diligence. Yes it is the common trait among overseas Chinese not only in Canada, but in US, UK , Australia, New Zealand or else parts of the world. As for the isssue of " being externally yellow, internally white", your response seems a little bit fierce. This is a very common situation of overseas Chinese such as the second generation of ABCs (American Born Chinese.) There are still some " Mango ABCs" both white externally and internally. |
| Sep 14, 2007 05:16 | #33 |
| Leopold, I have to say you are right about the joy and pleasure western Chinese people shows about their mother land China. |
| Sep 15, 2007 18:51 | #34 |
| LEOPOLD, I did feel discrimination when I was growing up in Saskatchewan. Thirty years ago, there were few Chinese in my prairie town, so the kids at my school had lots of nice names for me. My last name was "Chou" which means "cauliflower" in French, so they called me "cauliflower". every day. Then they called me "shrimp" too because I was short. My parents kept dressing me in clothes my grandma sent from Taiwan (big boxes every Christmas). They looked very *unusual* and too fancy compared to the clothes the other kids wore. Some people thought I was weird because I dressed differently... And my parents were very strict, so other kids could not identify with what I told them about my home life. THEN, then were my lunches. I threw away my lunch almost every day, without telling my mother. She would pack sandwiches with Chinese fillings -- that all the other kids would ask me about "What is that?". One time I shared my dessert with my white friends, and they said, "Hmm... That tastes like sawdust." It takes pretty thick skin to grow up as a minority in a white community. That changed when I went to university though... then there was Asian fever in Canada... These days, lots of people are interested in Chinese culture, and Chinese people are seen as a wealthy and high-profile ... The first wave immigrants (from Hong Kong) had a lot of money so they built a lot of Chinese businesses and shopping malls here.. but the second and third-wave immigrants (coming now) from mainland China are kind of poor (unless they used to be government officials) so they are struggling... but in any case I feel very comfortable in Toronto and Vancouver... because of the large communities and multiculturalism over here. |
| Sep 15, 2007 18:51 | #35 |
| There is a lot to discuss on this thread... First, the banana term (which I don't really like): I would tend to agree with the fact that ANY immigrant in Western country would loose his parents traditions, culture, religion and so on. In fact, I beleive that times are changing and that in the Western world there is a hughe transformation going on between generations. People are working hard (to pay the big screen TV and the two cars...) and children are often left to themselve; parents barely have time to pass their values and heritage to their childs. And I won't even get into the divorce rates are mono-parental families. I also believe that China is one of the only few countries in the world where its past (and everything cited above) is still important to its society in general. That is why I totally agree with the fact that Chinese have nothing to envy from the Western world. As far as Canada and the way that Canadian sees Chinese immigrants, I would say that they respect them and that they are always greatful of their contribution to the society. I am Canadian and I really think that Canada is one if not the most open-minded country in the world when it comes to immigration and respect for cultural diversity. There are and will always be easy racial jokes anywhere you go; it's a (unjustified) matter social affirmation. But racism in Canada is very close to zero and social diversity, integration and tolerance is what the country is now built on. As opposition, I cannot say as much from our southern neighbors... |
| Sep 15, 2007 19:16 | #36 |
| I just want to mention a grain of salt when we are talking about multiculturalism in Canada. I think generally Canadians embrace other cultures. One of our best qualities is that we do not have a strong national identity, so we can embrace other cultures and their customs. Our national policy is emphasizing human rights and equality and its great our government places such importance on that. However, Canadians are known for being PC They might not tell you what they think in their heart of hearts. There is underground discrimination in Canada. It's subtle. Some big banks, financial companies prefer to hire tall Caucasian guys for managerial positions in big companies, and Asians with similar competencies cannot get these positions easily. In my parent's company, there was all Caucasian people in managerial positions, not one Asian in the whole of Canada. Doesn't that strike you as unusual? But only someone who looks carefully will see this. We Canadians are a very polite bunch, but it doesn't mean that everyone is embracing those of different colour or creed. Canadians are too nice to tell you sometimes of something they believe that is not politically correct. Also consider this, almost 50% of Torontonians (largest city in Canada) are immigrants. I am pretty sure they've brought over old world attitudes with them. They have their own prejudices, ie Chinese people think white skin is the best, ie fair-skinned Chinese are superior to dark-skinned Asians. Some people don't want their kids to marry black people, or non-Jewish people, or Muslim people. They think immigrants should stay where they came from -- because they are taking away jobs from Canadians. At some time or other, someone has expressed these thoughts to me. And it's normal for people to have some thoughts like these once in a while. Even people of the same culture have ways of stratifying their own society (ie in India, different castes, or in Asia, there is marked segregation by wealth). The important thing is that after people have lived here for a long time, they share common Canadian values and that's why the idea of being a Canadian unites immigrants here from many background more than anything else. They see themselves as being Canadian first, and their own ethnicity, second. |
| Sep 15, 2007 22:37 | #37 |
| I will have to agree fully with you Chinagyrl. There is and there will always be a degree of discrimination in Canada like anywhere else; it's human nature. All I would add here is that it is when you compare that you find that Canada as come a long way and is far ahead of many other countries. Also, regarding what have been said in this thread before, just remember that Canada -has we know it- is only about 400 years old and very largely composed and growing from immigration since only less than a 100 years (I would even push this to 30-50years)...so compare to the intrinsic centuries old moral values of Chinese...one can easily understand that some ethnic 'frictions' will remain and that national identity is not that deep into the blood of Canadians. If you would look at what is going on in schools today, you would see that the descrimation you were once victim of is certainly less present. At least, if a Chinese girl you be victim of caucasian Canadians, I bet that many of her classmates, Canadians, Ethiopians, South americans.... ..... would quickly be on her side and fight the injustice. Afterall, I believe that history is a very important thing and deep and honnest moral values are the very thing that make each of us what we are. Nationality is just another word that we need to use to give us a sentiment of 'appartenance' [sorry only this french word comes to my mind..] and should not be what defines us. We all are citizens of the world and the world is now smaller than ever. What is different, what is unknown is what scare people and make them react badly.Let's all share our respective cultures toghether and the whole world will just be a better one. / AL |
| Sep 15, 2007 22:55 | #38 |
| Quote: I did feel discrimination when I was growing up in Saskatchewan. Thirty years ago, there were few Chinese in my prairie town, so the kids at my school had lots of nice names for me. My last name was "Chou" which means "cauliflower" in French, so they called me "cauliflower". every day. Then they called me "shrimp" too because I was short. My parents kept dressing me in clothes my grandma sent from Taiwan (big boxes every Christmas). They looked very *unusual* and too fancy compared to the clothes the other kids wore. Some people thought I was weird because I dressed differently... CHYNAGYRL , I am sorry to hear your hardships in Canada. I can feel how hard it is for an overseas Chinese child. I don't mean Canadians are unfriedly. But as we all know, during our childhood, as kids , we were ignorant and exclusive. The Canadian kids might think we all have the white skin, but you are yellow, so you didn't belong to us. "And my parents were very strict, so other kids could not identify with what I told them about my home life. " As for this issue, in nature, it is an expression of cultural clash. This simple phenomenon mirrors the cultural gap between the East and the West. Canadian kids didn't identify with you told them. It is comprehensible, because we have different national identities. It is hard for Canadians to identify with Chinese ways of thinking or even Chinese culture. "It takes pretty thick skin to grow up as a minority in a white community" . I was deeply moved by these words. Anyhow, glad to hear :"That changed when I went to university though... then there was Asian fever in Canada." |
| Sep 16, 2007 07:25 | #39 |
| My future kids will be finnish. That is the plain truth. Although their mother is chinese, they will be born in Finland. They will live among finnish people, finnish culture, speak Finnish, have finnish education. Otherwise, I think it is extreamly important that they learn Chinese. When they grow up, language is their first connection to their other roots. Without language they have not very good possibilities whatsoever to be partly chinese. I think it would be like we would deny their other roots if not teach them Chinese. |
| Sep 20, 2007 04:11 | #40 |
| Right, Carlos. I think you are quite open-minded. Yeah, "it is extreamly important that they learn Chinese. When they grow up, language is their first connection to their other roots. Without language they have not very good possibilities whatsoever to be partly chinese." Language is the only tie between the overseas Chinese and their motherland. |
Post a Reply to: Overseas " Chinese Bananas"
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.