10 May 2015 - Being Mistaken

I don't know if this is a fate that befalls every single Asian, or particularly, Asians who aren't PRC Chinese, Korean or Japanese. I say this because they are usually distinctive in their accents or their looks (makeup, dressing etc). But as a Singaporean Chinese, there's a lot of things I feel regarding this issue. 

No matter where I go, particularly the UK and New Zealand, not so much for Brisbane because guess what, 5 out of 10 Asian you see on QUT campus .... is Singaporean/Malaysian. So basically, the chance of you being mistaken for something that you aren't is a little lesser. 

In the short 17 days I was in Europe (Belgium, Czech, Paris) and even when I came back to the UK, people seem to always, always be very confused as to what I am. 

Mostly, people ask me if I am from China (something that I have learnt to not take offense to, because if I do, I would want to pull my hair out which is what Beverly and Aveline felt while we were in New Zealand). And then people spoke to me in Japanese when I was in Belgium. And when I was in Czech, the Korean ladies whom I helped out thought I was Korean. [Funnily, when I was in NZ, all these happened to me as well, namely being asked if I was from China, people telling me konichiwa while I was waiting for the traffic lights to change colour, and a Korean lady asking if I was Korean). 

And when we were in Paris, my mum and I had Chinese at a restaurant (don't ask me why, I still cry when I think of that, figuratively of course). So I was the one doing the ordering in mandarin because the menu is in Mandarin and French, and the Chinese man who took our orders asked me if I was Taiwanese. 

And when I was waiting for the hopper bus back to campus, I had a chat with this guy doing Nutrition and Dietetics. He asked if I was American because I apparently have an American accent. WHICH IS STRANGE. Because I am in the land of the Brits. I don't even watch TV shows. Where the hell did my "American Accent" came about !? 

This is not really a rant but it gets a little tiring to keep trying to explain that I am none of the above and I am in fact from Singapore. And no, we don't have our own language, per se. (Singlish does not exactly count as an official language, no matter how much we use it, unfortunately). We are bilingual, we are multiracial, we learn our mother tongue and English. Our official languages are supposedly all 4 languages, but of course, the one we use commonly is English.

AND GODDAMN IT, SINGAPORE IS NOT IN CHINA. SINGAPORE IS NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, SINGAPORE IS NOT IN AMERICA. Singapore is in south-east Asia, right at the tip of Malaysia. If you bloody hell know where Malaysia is, you should very well know where the hell Singapore is. 

The next thing is, Singapore, is a city-state. Meaning, if you ask me where I am from, I will tell you Singapore. When people ask me, okay, but Singapore where? I will just give them a blank look before telling them that Singapore is a city-state, meaning ... we are basically, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. 

Whereas, in the UK, it probably will be something like, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicestershire. And we have "towns" but I'm not going to even attempt to tell and explain that. I am also not going to tell them the area or street I live on, because it will be so tiring trying to explain Jurong or Kallang or anything else really. Unless you have the luck to stay somewhere where it's English, like Orchard road, or any other similar roads/parts. 

But yea, usually I just say, I live in the west and there's this strange divide/rivalry between the West and the East. I don't even know how the hell that came about what on Earth. 

So yes, do me a favour. Ask me where I am from, don't ask me if I am from China. And when I tell you where I am from and you don't know where it is.... please, for the sake of your sanity and mine, do not ask me if it's in China or other strange places on the Earth. Just, ask me where that would be. I would be eternally grateful to you.