Tag: acculturation

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Chinese or Canadian?

I’d rather be called a ‘banana’ without the laughter and mocking of my pronunciation

Creator:
Hailey Leung 梁嘉怡 (she/her)

People used to assume that one’s cultural identity is extremely simple: For bicultural individuals, their two cultural identities change like a hydraulic system – the stronger that one identity is, the weaker the other identity becomes. More recent work recognizes that cultural identity is complex, and numerous things contribute to one’s cultural identity – comfort with particular cultural values, preferences for cultural foods, proficiency with various languages, and others. It’s no surprise, then, that bicultural individuals, including Hong Kong Canadians, often find themselves to be at the crossroads of two cultural worlds – kind of fitting in both, but not really fully embodying either. Hailey’s comic does a great job of depicting her personal struggles with her bicultural identity – whether it was because of her accent, her family’s perception of her, or the discrimination that she faced. What other factors do you think can also impact someone’s cultural identity?


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Food is Life

Food physically represents beliefs and values that would otherwise be intangible and difficult to maintain morale with.

Creator:
Mandie Leung (She/her)

When one thinks of a diasporic community, it takes very little for us to get to the question of “What foods do they eat?” Afterall, food is one of humanity’s basic needs, and food varies dramatically across different cultural groups. This variation indexes the different geographical, geological, and climatic conditions from which these cultures emerged; the interplay with other political entities; and individual ingenuity. In this piece, Mandie traces how foodways for Hong Kong diaspora persist, and help Hong Kong diaspora preserve and maintain their connections to a distant home – real and imagined – whether it’s through Hong Kong style cafés, or dim sum restaurants. When you think of Hong Kong food, what other offerings can you think of?

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Hong Kong Diaspora in a Post-Unrest Era

“We cannot be prosecuted due to our lifestyle or expression of thoughts in other places…”

Creator:
Adrian Chan (He/him)

Migration is an immense undertaking because it entails that one is uprooting their entire life and existence, stepping away from an ecosystem within which they have become accustomed, to join an ecosystem in which they are strangers and novices. Such an immense undertaking must be predicated on an equally immense motivation; but that motivation varies drastically between individuals. Some do it for employment opportunities, others do it to avoid political persecution, among innumerable other reasons. Through interviews, Adrian uncovers the motivation behind two Hong Kongers’ migration to Canada, and how they relate to the current political situation in Hong Kong. What other kinds of motivations have you observed from Hong Kong diaspora migrating to Canada, or other destinations?

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Reflecting on Migration

The strum of cascading xylophones are my parents FaceTiming us 7pm our time, 10am their time.

Creators:
Agatha Chiu 趙倩怡 (She/her)

Migration is often seen as a pathway to a better life – a chance to leave behind troubles at home, difficulties in one’s current circumstance, and burdens from one’s family. Unfortunately, the realities of migration are often very different from those that people imagine. Loneliness. Homesickness. Missing family. Missing food. Acculturation. Many things. People engage in all kinds of artistic pursuits to express their migration experiences. In this series of poems, Agatha details her own experiences of migration – whether it’s about trying to connect with family back home, or finding her place in this new culture by navigating a lot of self-doubt and lack of belongingness. Do her experiences resonate with you as well if you have a migration history?

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Of Confucian women and men

“I embraced my Asian heritage a lot more in elementary school…but in high school — I don’t think…as much.”

Creator:
Sharene Kim

Acculturation can be a difficult and confusing process; but while it might be tempting to give overarching support or advice for people going through the acculturative process, one must also understand the intersectional nature of acculturation. For example, those who have a low socioeconomic status will likely experience acculturation in a very different way compared to someone with a high socioeconomic status. In this podcast, Sharene interviews two people who speak about how they see the gendered and cultural nature of acculturation as well, and how this might even coincide with different forms of cultural identity that they have come to adopt. Based on relevant cultural perspectives and expectations, how do you see people from different cultures and genders differ in how they acculturate?

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Sexuality and Migration

[L]iving in Canadian society as part of the LGBQ youth is by no means a smooth sailing journey…

Creator:
Patricia Li 李晴 (she/her)

Canada very successfully projects an image on the international stage as a welcoming and inclusive country where sexual and gender diversity are not just tolerated, but are accepted and appreciated. Patricia points out the fact that such an image is more idealism than reality – while there is much more safety associated with being an LGBQ youth in Canada relative to numerous places around the world, there is still much to be done to ensure that LGBQ youth can live authentic and fulfilling lives free from worries, fear, and uncertainty about their identities. She also folds in theoretical perspectives of acculturation to provide a more comprehensive perspective of the experiences of LGBQ Hong Kong diasporic youth. What can society and the Hong Kong diasporic community do to ensure that LGBQ youth are supported, accepted, and protected?

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