‘It’s like I’m part of every race’Posted in Articles, Asian Diaspora, Identity Development/Psychology, New Media on 2010-09-05 02:04Z by Steven |
‘It’s like I’m part of every race’
The Straits Times
Malaysia
2010-08-08
Edora Mayangsari Lopez, 18
Eurasian-Malay
The psychology student at the Management Development Institute of Singapore has a Eurasian father and a Malay-Javanese mother. Both of them are Singaporeans.
She is the younger of two children and has relatives in Europe, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. Her family lives in Marsiling.
She studied at Si Ling Primary School and Woodlands Secondary School.
Q: How has your mixed heritage shaped your identity?
I did go through an identity crisis phase in my early years of growing up, but I’ve learnt that race is just one aspect of my identity.
I’m not a stereotypical Malay and neither am I too ‘Eurasian’. I am a blend of these two cultures and their values.
Q: What are the pros and cons of having a mixed heritage? What kind of challenges have you encountered?
One possible advantage would be the number of festivals I get to celebrate – Christmas, Hari Raya and even Chinese New Year.
It’s like I’m part of every race. I get presents and red packets more than once a year, a double plus point.
Being mixed also means that your relatives have different religions.
For example, I am a Muslim and there are certain food and drinks that I can’t consume when I attend family functions. But I’m never excluded because of that. I’m very thankful for a thoughtful and understanding extended family who takes me for who I am.
I have encountered some hurtful remarks and discrimination with regard to my looks. People tend to think that Eurasians are Caucasians and some have asked me why I’m not fair or why I have black hair. I cope by simply ignoring them or just letting the comments pass…
Read the entire article here.