Welcome To My Worlds

Book of the Week: Anita and Me by Meera Syal

By some fortuitous alignment of both lunar and Gregorian calendars, we will simultaneously celebrate two days of significance two cultures today. Earlier this morning (i.e. night back home), my nearest and dearest on the other side of the world sat down to a scrumptious Malaysian-Chinese family dinner, as they have every year on Chinese New Year’s Eve. And later tonight, Gareth and I will sit down to our very own dinner, which will comprise haggis and mash with caramelised onions and mushrooms in honour of Burns Night.

It’s a meal that I look forward to (not just because Gareth makes the best mash in the world – I was torn between having bangers or haggis with it) and will hold much symbolism for me because tonight, my Chinese roots and heritage truly meet those of my adopted country. And it’s not just any Chinese New Year’s Eve or Burns Night we’re commemorating either: it’s the last day of the Year of the Golden Rat, and tonight marks the 250th anniversary of the Scottish Bard’s birth, the official start of Homecoming 2009. My only regret is that there won’t be anything Malaysian or Chinese on tonight’s menu. Maybe we can toss some five-spice powder or chilli into the mash…

It’s definitely a night worth celebrating. I discovered early on – my first trip to the UK to be exact – that people here can have incredibly outdated, stereotyped views of what it’s like to be non-white, and when I moved over here, got a lot of the same old stereotyped views from people back home of what life is like over here. Basically, at risk of overgeneralising it, the two worlds I live in don’t really know what life is like in the other, despite my attempts to explain it to them. Back home, they still think we only ever eat haggis over here and turkey is the main meal at Christmas. And there are people over here who are amazed (in a patronising kind of way) that I speak such good English. And that’s made me realise how lucky I am – that I am comfortable in both, fit into both (well, perhaps a little better in Malaysia) and love both. Maybe I don’t live enough of the intellectual life, but I just don’t get the whole crisis in exile and struggle for identity thing (see Shirley Lim). In fact, I think it’s a bit contrived. I’ve just finished reading Ireland by Frank Delaney and feel that’s how the subject should be addressed: the pride in what and where you come from and who that makes you.

I’m happy being who I am, with a foot in both hemispheres. I have wee linguistic nuances that I am barely aware of when I’m over here, but get pointed out to me when I’m back home (and vice-versa). I might be oversimplifying it, but I enjoy a good bowl of fishball noodle soup as much as I do cullen skink. I’ve got Gareth eating laksa and spouting Hokkien and lahs, and I’ve got my family (those without borderline diabetes anyway) hooked on the very best Dean’s shortbread. I don’t think I’ve lost any of my identity – in fact, I think living over here has enriched me in every sense, and I’m thankful for that. I’m always going to be a Malaysian Chinese girl, but tonight – tonight, I’m going to celebrate being Malaysian Chinese Scottish. I just wish my family could be here with me. Maybe next year Gareth will go home with me for Chinese New Year and we can have some haggis on the dinner table.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone, and Happy Burns Night!

Factoids of the Week:
The Chinese lunar calendar is believed to date from 2600BC when the Emperor Shih Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. A complete cycle, according to the Chinese calendar, takes 60 years and consists of five cycles (featuring one element) of 12 years (of 12 animals) each.

The 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, in chronological order, are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Robert Burns is the only person outside the Royal family to feature on three special stamp issues. Royal Mail issued commemorative stamps in 1966 and 1996, and the latest edition went on sale on Thursday.

The Selkirk Arms in Kirkcudbright, reputed to be the birthplace of Burns’ Selkirk Grace, has put the poem on the lids of all its toilet seats. Nothing like a bit of reading in the loo, eh.