Saturday, 4 October 2014

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.


2 comments:

  1. People won't care one lah, they will still treat you as Singaporean, just like those PRC who convert to Singaporean, yet they still label as PRC, whether they integrate to local society or not.

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    Replies
    1. I realize... but still, I had to get that disclaimer and clarification off my chest. My regular readers know exactly who I am lah, but this is really more for my new Malaysian readers. Huge spike in traffic dari Malaysia these days.

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