INSIDE:

NEWS/STORIES/ARTICLES
Book Reviews
Columns/Opinion/Cartoon
Films
International
National
NW/Local
Recipes
Special A.C.E. Stories
Online Paper (PDF)

NW RESOURCE GUIDE
Archives
Consulates
NW Job Market
Organizations
Scholarships
Special Sections

Upcoming

The Asian Reporter Thirteenth Annual Scholarship & Awards Banquet -
April, 2011

May, 2011

Asian Reporter Info

About Us

Advertising Info.

AR Merchandise
Contact Us
Subscription Info. & Back Issues

ASIA LINKS
Asian Studies
Currency Exchange
More Asian Links
Public Holidays
Time Zones


Copyright © 2000 - 2010
AR Home

My Turn by Toni Tabora-Roberts

From The Asian Reporter, V20, #6 (February 9, 2010), page 6.

Growing up as a Filipino American in the Midwest, we never celebrated Lunar New Year. The first time I learned anything about the holiday was from a part I played in a high school musical. I had the role of Connie Wong in our school’s production of A Chorus Line. As Connie, I had a monologue in which I shared some background information about myself, including the fact that I was born in the "Year of the Chicken." This was the extent of my knowledge of Lunar New Year.

After all these years living on the west coast, I’ve learned Lunar New Year is a much bigger community-wide celebration here. Folks of all Asian stripes even exchange the Chinese New Year greeting, Gung Hay Fat Choi. Yet, I still feel so out of touch with the whole thing.

Growing up Filipino, I felt so Asian, so very different from my white "American" friends. (To this day, my parents say I’m married to an "American," which sounds like I am not American. When I gently ask them to clarify, they always say, "You know what I mean." Yes, I do. They mean he’s white and I’m not. It’s true.)

On the flip side, as a Filipino on the west coast, I sometimes feel I’m not Asian enough. We don’t celebrate Lunar New Year. Our typical foods don’t generally have any exotic or spicy flavors like wasabi or curry. Due to colonization by Spain in the 16th century, most Filipinos are practicing Roman Catholics, which is unusual for Asian countries. Filipino written language uses a mostly Latin alphabet rather than Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters. (Actually, I recently learned that Filipinos used a written character language called Baybayin in pre-Spanish colonialism. Apparently it is popular for tattoos.)

Okay, I don’t really feel un-Asian. I just get frustrated with assumptions defining "Asian culture" so narrowly. When someone or something is referred to as "Asian," images of lion dancers, red envelopes, Chinese characters, chopsticks, or martial arts immediately come to mind. These stereotypical images are primarily East Asian cultural references. They don’t reflect the vast diversity of Asian culture in South Asia (countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc.), Southeast Asia (the Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and others), and even Central Asia (Afghanistan, Iran, and Mongolia, among others).

Sometimes it seems bizarre to lump all these disparate groups together. It doesn’t matter if it is put upon us or we choose to band together. What does matter is how we can honor and empower all our communities’ voices.

For Lunar New Year, some of those East Asian images are certainly fitting given the deep history of the Lunar New Year in countries such as China, Korea, and Vietnam. However, events like the Lunar New Year have also become a great way to bring Pan-Asian communities together. Perhaps we can take a cue from the year’s Tiger, who is known for bravery. It’s an opportunity to boldly seek out new perspectives, delve deeper than the existing stereotypes, and empower dialogue across our Asian communities and the Portland community.

Gung Hay Fat Choi!