Disclaimer: I am not the 'Singaporean blogger'

Hi everyone. Now the interview I have done with Alvin Tan recently has been very popular in Malaysia and currently, it is the sixth most read article on my blog despite it having been just over a week old. This interview has been widely read in Malaysia and I have been referred to as the 'Singaporean blogger' - can I just make a clarification please as this is incorrect! I am not Singaporean, in that, I do not hold a Singaporean passport. I am a British national, I hold a UK passport. My dad is from Malaysia, my mum is from Singapore and I was born in Singapore as a Singaporean. I grew up in Singapore, but I left Singapore in 1997 after having completed my national service and have lived mostly in Europe since. I have since renounced my Singaporean nationality after having acquired my British passport.

This is when I am having some trouble defining myself - I am British by nationality but I am from Singapore (as in, that's where I was born and grew up), but saying that I am 'Singaporean' implies that I have a Singaporean passport, which I don't. Even saying that I am from Singapore may mislead people into thinking that I live in Singapore - I don't: I live in London and have been here for many years. Thus I am quite careful, I may describe myself as 'from Singapore' but never 'Singaporean' to avoid confusion. In the past I have used the term British-Chinese, but having felt such disgust against Chinese people of late (especially in light of the protests in HK) and after having discovered that I am actually Eurasian-mixed, I am reluctant to use the term British-Chinese, I just use the ambigious word "mixed" instead.

Please don't slap a label on me. I'm too complex for that.

At least the word "mixed" implies a more complex cultural identity which may would invite the other part to inquire what my ethnicity or cultural identity actually is - that would give me a chance to explain and maybe indulge the other party in a meaningful conversation. But I dislike labels, it just gives lazy people a hole to stick you in without making any effort to try to get to know you better - then they make all these assumptions about you based on that label ascribed to you. I hate that. No, I shall not give anyone the opportunity to stick a label on me: hence I use the word 'mixed' to describe myself. Thus I am the Singapore-born mixed British blogger in London whom Alvin talked to - gosh that's a bit of a mouthful, ins't it? Just call me Limpeh instead and stop trying to stick a label like 'Singaporean' on me please, okay? Kum siah.