Being Chinese
In this modern city called KL, there are many Chinese who grew up like foreigners.
Their parents are highly educated, successful and well-to-do. Their offsprings grew up under the best education that could be offered - some even went to foreign boarding schools as young as 15-year-old and naturally progressed to foreign colleges and universities.
Their lifestyle is totally immersed in the western culture. Many do not speak Chinese - and for some, not even a single chinese dialect. When they were young many felt alienated by the ching-chong-changs around them, the redbox karaokes and the halo cafes. They would rather be in Zouk catching Architecture in Helsinki, or maybe filling up their ipods with another damien rice, james blunt, mylo or chemical romance download.
They just can’t blend in with the other Chinese.
Many years down the road, this group of Chinese would undergo a strange transformation. They strangely become advocates of Chinese culture - antiques, art, fabrics, furniture, literature, musical instruments, etc etc. As if fervently embracing something they never had when they were growing up as Chinese.
They become the reborned Chinese.
On this conservative side of this city called KL, there are also many Chinese who grew up attached firmly to Chinese roots. They hung on to all the cultural traditions and thinkings, observing all the superstitions and do-nots, worshipping all the Gods and ancestors that they could name of. Their children grew up trying to shake off that cultural beast their parents had unleashed on them. They perceived all these as outdated and old-fashioned ideologies.
This is the group of people who would eventually adorn their house (or condo) with, at the very least, IKEA furniture and modern arty paintings or photography - to make their homes look like a page off Elle Deco or Ikea Cataogue. They would try not to speak Chinese (or any form of its dialects). Some would even try to speak English with an accent. They would try not to read Chinese papers or books and would rather chew on The Star or Tash Aw.
They would go through a bleaching process to wash off all that is yellow about them.
To be a whiter Chinese or a yellower Banana - that is a prevailing paradox.
