cultural identity

angsty rant disguised as poem

This is a poem scrawled in my journal from the upper berth of a hard sleeper carriage aboard the Kunming-Chengdu slow train on 1 February 2015. There are Times There are times when China gets all a bit much. There are times when you just need to get on a train and go 21 hours, in the oppositeContinueContinue reading “angsty rant disguised as poem”

Responding to Brian Rudman’s Push for More Nationalism and Less Dragons

Yesterday a friend of Kiwese sent through this opinion piece: ‘Why focus on other cultures and not our own?’ by NZ Herald columnist Brian Rudman. I eyeballed it somewhat carefully – any article that opens with possessive pronouns around culture and a cartoon dragon engulfing a white, flag-waving, Fred Dagg figure in a wife beater warrants several deep breaths through theContinueContinue reading “Responding to Brian Rudman’s Push for More Nationalism and Less Dragons”

Roots Manoeuvre: Chinese New Year in the Motherland

From indentured labourers exported to work on American railroads and Samoan plantations to refugees fleeing the Japanese occupation and beyond; the southern county of Taishan, Guangdong 台山，广东 has experienced an exodus of millions moving abroad since the early 19th century. For Chunjie 春节, Chinese New Year, Kiwese felt it was time to ship on down to Guangzhou and get on a bus to see her Great Uncle KanContinueContinue reading “Roots Manoeuvre: Chinese New Year in the Motherland”

“Are you not Chinese?”: Reassessing my Chinese identity in China

I pissed all over the floor. Argh, squat toilets. Two Chinese girls who went in afterwards burst out laughing. There has got to be nothing more private and subsequently humiliating than what goes on in the bathroom. This was my first day in Beijing two years ago. Kiwese offers some thoughts about traversing the seas between cultural difference and racial assimilation in China,ContinueContinue reading ““Are you not Chinese?”: Reassessing my Chinese identity in China”

When the Chinese Kid Drops Maths for Art: Interview with Allan Xia

Chengdu. An old lady in slippers fossicks about in the bright yellow leaves for fallen nuts from the local ginkgo tree. Bananas on pedicabs roll past mahjong players and open air eateries. Bundled up babies flail about like pudgy starfish on the laps of knitting grannies. The pace is chill, the sun shines, the sky is blue. This is the environment where Allan Xia 夏昊禹,ContinueContinue reading “When the Chinese Kid Drops Maths for Art: Interview with Allan Xia”

Huh, where are my roots? Oh, there they are.

“Don’t forget your roots, my friend,” jangled that awful song by Six60, bringing flashbacks of some drunk chick’s ass crack in my face as she shoulder rode her boo at Homegrown 2011. Though the concept remains present. How can I forget my roots if I’ve never seen them before? The time has come to return toContinueContinue reading “Huh, where are my roots? Oh, there they are.”

Banana Split

Kristen Ng aka Kiwese went to the Diverse Bananas, Global Dragons’ Conference in Auckland, to be told she was in fact white on the inside, but her yellow skin gave her great job prospects in the corporate business world. I was born in Wellington. So was my dad. My mum was born and raised in Gisborne.ContinueContinue reading “Banana Split”