Mixed Race Studies

Mixed-race authors write fantasies with Asian and Middle Eastern heroes

The Straits Times
Singapore
2017-07-10

Olivia Ho

Roshani Chokshi was shortlisted in February for a Nebula award for The Star-Touched Queen (2016), which is steeped in Hindu mythology and folklore. PHOTO: AMAN SHARMA

Authors Roshani Chokshi and Renee Ahdieh struggled to identify with the white protagonists of books they read growing up and have written stories that draw on their heritage

Young adult authors from mixed- race backgrounds are making their mark with fantasy worlds that draw not on European fairy tales or Greek myth, but on Sanskrit epic or samurai lore, and where the heroines are not blonde or blue-eyed but Asian or Middle Eastern.

Among these is best-selling Scottish-Korean-American author Renee Ahdieh, who drew on the Arabian Nights and her husband’s Persian roots for the Scheherazade-inspired novel The Wrath And The Dawn (2015) and its sequel The Rose And The Dagger (2016). She is exploring feudal Japan in her new novel Flame In The Mist.

Writer Roshani Chokshi, an American of Indian-Filipino descent, was shortlisted in February for a Nebula award for The Star-Touched Queen (2016), which is steeped in Hindu mythology and folklore…

Read the entire article here.

Identity for mixed-race kids? ‘Eurasian’ already exists

The Straits Times
Singapore
Forum Letters
2013-03-30

Michael Ang York Poon

I am baffled by Mr Peter Wadeley’s letter (“S’porean identity must include mixed-race kids“; March 16).

What he is calling for already exists – that is, Eurasians, who are one of Singapore’s four main racial groups.

In the first four decades of Singapore’s independence, immigration was not as common as it is now, and the number of migrants relatively insignificant. Hence, it would have been absurd to even wonder if Eurasian youngsters were non-native…

Read the entire letter here.

S’porean identity must include mixed-race kids

The Straits Times
Singapore
Forum Letters
2013-03-16

Peter Wadeley

MRS MARIETTA Koh Ai-meng (“Citizens have every right to expect privileges”; last Saturday) claims that rising consciousness of what it means to be Singaporean should not be decried as chauvinistic or jingoistic.

Last year, former president S R Nathan said that a clear Singaporean identity has yet to develop (“Building a S’porean culture takes time, says ex-president”; March 18, 2012).

Whenever such an identity is formed, it must be broad enough to include all Singaporeans, without distinction of race.

My children are Singaporean, have lived here their whole lives, and speak Singlish and Chinese. Most importantly, they identify themselves as Singaporean.

But as they are “only” half Chinese and look different from other children, they are, regrettably, treated accordingly…

Read the entire letter here.

It’s dual-race for 1 in 6 babies of mixed parentage

The Straits Times
Singapore
2012-01-11

Amanda Tan

One in six newborn babies of mixed parentage was registered as having a double-barrelled race last year after a new policy kicked in allowing parents to do so.

This full-year figure, released for the first time to The Straits Times, comes a year after the policy was implemented in January last year.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said 16 per cent of mixed-race babies born last year were recorded as being of dual race…

Read the entire article here.

‘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.

Dreaming of a colour-blind S’pore

The Straits Sunday Times
2010-08-08
page 30

Edwina Shaddick, 22
British-Chinese

Edwina Shaddick, final year politics and sociology major from SMU, has a father from Swindon, England and a mother who is Chinese Singaporean. She shares how her mixed heritage has shaped her identity.

The politics and sociology major from Singapore Management University (SMU) has a father from Swindon, England, who is a Singapore permanent resident. Her mother is a Chinese Singaporean.

The eldest of three children goes to England occasionally to visit relatives and friends.

Her primary and secondary school years weres pent at Methodist Girls’ School.

She is known as a Eurasian on her identity card. She had asked for Anglo-Chinese, but it was not allowed. Her two siblings are classified as Caucasians.

Q: How has your mixed hetitage shaped your Identity?

I think being mixed is but one facet of my identity. When I was younger I used to grapple with issues of race much more, like what it meant to not look like the majority of people in Singapore, what it meant to have an English father, which culture I liked more.

But when I got older, I found other things that defined me, like my interest in sports or my sense of humour, so I placed less emphasis on something as trivial as race to define myself…

Read the entire article here.