This is a unique response to the book we're studying "Sons for the Return Home".
While reading Albert Wendt's "Sons for the Return Home", I noticed there was obvious separation between the Pakehas and Samoans. The separation between the two races weren't too extreme, but you did get a sense that sometimes other characters in the book felt uneasy mingling with other people from other races outside of their own.
An example I can give in the book is in Chapter 14 when the main Samoan character invites the main Pakeha girl to the Church's dance. He wanted her to meet some more Samoan people "before she met his parents". One startling comment that I found the girl made was when she asked "Don't other pakeha come here?" It's as almost she wanted other people of her own race to be there to feel more comfortable. Why should she feel uneasy hanging out with a bunch of Samoans?
The main reason the main Samoan character invited her to this dance in the first place was to let her "know something of what it's like being part of a minority group".
This got me thinking, why do some people feel uncomfortable if they're the only person from the race somewhere? We are all human being aren't we?
A can give two examples in my own life where this racial separation occurred. The first example was when I went to a Metallica concert with my brothers. Since Metallica's demographic are mostly Bogans, you can bet we were the only Asians there. To me, I did not feel uncomfortable being there because we were all there to see Metallica. My brother did comment and say he felt weird being the "minority race" here. In the end, noone really cared and we jammed all night long with other fans anyway...
Another example I can give was when my cousin was getting married. This was only in 2003, but I did sense my racial separation. This was because my cousin was marrying a half pakeha/island woman. I remember at the wedding, my cousin's family was sitting on one side while his bride's family was sitting on the other. Even when the wedding presentation was over, most people started only talking to the people they knew. I do find it weird how humans feel this way sometimes. Is it a natural response or something?
This got me thinking even further that racial segregation doesn't really exist in Science Fiction. The best example I can give is the Star Wars universe. Whenever you see the characters out in the city or in the bar, you see many humans and aliens of any kind mingling and socializing with one another. You don't see an all-human bar or anything like that in Star Wars. Even in the 2009 Star Trek film, Captain Kirk was in bed with a green alien girl. In a video game series called Mass Effect, the player can have a straight/gay relationship with several characters. It doesn't matter what they look like or even if they're male or female!
I know "Sons for the Return Home" was written during a time when racial segregation was the norm, but I do feel that some humans still feel uncomfortable if they're the "minority" in a social gathering even today. Will this type of attitude ever change? Only time will tell...
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
SEVEN BASIC QUESTIONS
SEVEN BASIC QUESTIONS
Who are you?
What is your name?
Where are you originally from?
What is your first language?
Are you Samoan or Tongan?
Can you speak English?
Are you a FOB? (Fresh off the boat)
These are
some basic questions that I started to feel like an outsider
I started to
view this new world around me differently
I started to
separate myself to my own ethnicity
I started to
feel nervous every day I go to school
I started to
question myself every time I want to join a group
Whether to
join a drama class or PE class
Because Pacific students are mainly placed in a sport category
I started to
act tough
Ending up in
the wrong crowd
Always
trying to impress friends
Friends! Or
just what I thought back then
Always
arriving class late
Started to
skip classes
My grades
was out of question
Parents
getting upset and threaten to send me back to the Island
Now sitting
in my little room
Feeling down
and disappointed to myself
Having
thousands of questions flying around in my head
Praying God
to guide me
Then I
realize the first seven basic questions
I was ask on
my first day of school
That I was
afraid to answer
Then I
realize
WHO I WAS
MY SAMOAN
NAME
MY
NATIONALITY
MY CULTURE
MY IDENTITY
MY PASSION
MY LANGUAGE
YES! I’M A
FOB
It all sums
up who I am
Then I
realize how to fix all my problems
And to
overcome criticism and stereotypes
Just be myself
Acting how I
was raised up
Respecting
other people especially adults
Helping
friends who are in need
Appreciating
every opportunity I was given to study in this new world
Taking
advantage of the chances and help I get
Asking and
searching for help
No matter
how hard or easy it is
I guess what
I’m trying to say is
I’m proud of
who I am
I’m happy to
be labelled as a FOB
Because it
reminds me every day that English is not my first language
And I am so
damn proud of myself
Of being
able to speak this second language everyday
But will
never forget my mother tongue
I am damn
proud that I can feel unique
Because of
my culture and my identity
That I have
a rich culture
With rich
values that guides me through anything
With God by
my side
Everything
is possible
Friday, October 18, 2013
Yellow Brother
This piece is inspired by J.S Iosefo's spoken word poem - Brown Brother.
You could say it's a response - kind-of-ish. Haha. I don't make any sense. : /
Yellow Brother
I am Yellow.
Yellow like the sun that radiates in the sky.
No, not the sun that gave us "small eyes".
The sun that burns the backs of my hard-working people, on a farm with both arms, to make their dreams visible.
To fund enough funds to travel across the seas, to the land of a long white cloud, and feel the ease of free breeze.
I am Yellow.
Yellow like a durian, my people love to eat.
The smell excels at obstructing the senses, you assume the fruit is only unpleasant.
But the spiky, shelled exterior only protects the real treat, like my people, like my colour, there's more to me than you can see.
I'm more than deep-fried - deep-fried chips, deep-fried fish, spring rolls and chicken thighs.
Bakery pies, dumpling chives, dim sum and fried rice.
My identity is not the food that my people produce.
I'm more than just an Asian that you pass by at uni.
"He must get A's, not B's or C's, with the ability to only study."
"He must not go out and just stays home, books are his comfort when he's alone."
I'm not shy, I'm not timid, I'm not withdrawn but outspoken. Yet you only assume that my english is broken.
It's far from the truth, but to you, you see to understand.
But what can I show, when your eyes have already decided who I am?
You believe the TV, what the media wants you to see, you've been decieved, it's not me, that society portrays me to be.
I'm only a kung-fu fighter, like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
I have no artistic skill, William Hung's my people's legacy.
Asians are bad drivers and only make decent meals, they belong at home not on roads, especially behind a wheel.
The sport they play is ping-pong, no wonder Rugby has no ching-chongs.
Society is doomed and needs to be redeemed, there's no right to exclude and rob my people's dreams.
Yellow brother.
You can be a singer, a dancer, an actor on the silver screen. A painter, a writer, a philosopher, by all means.
If they drag you down, kick you down, smile and get back up on both feet.
Because end of the day, giving up is our only defeat.
I am Yellow.
Yellow like the gold that my people pursue and chase.
Not the object, not the wealth, but the dreams, hope and faith.
Their eyes gleam a glow, that reflects a need to change, it's not the race, it's the pace, that makes a person grow.
So don't be afraid to step out and spread those wings afar.
You can fly, you can soar, you can ascend to the stars.
The only failure you can have is not to have tried.
So from one Yellow brother to the another.
Reach for the skies.
You could say it's a response - kind-of-ish. Haha. I don't make any sense. : /
Yellow Brother
I am Yellow.
Yellow like the sun that radiates in the sky.
No, not the sun that gave us "small eyes".
The sun that burns the backs of my hard-working people, on a farm with both arms, to make their dreams visible.
To fund enough funds to travel across the seas, to the land of a long white cloud, and feel the ease of free breeze.
I am Yellow.
Yellow like a durian, my people love to eat.
The smell excels at obstructing the senses, you assume the fruit is only unpleasant.
But the spiky, shelled exterior only protects the real treat, like my people, like my colour, there's more to me than you can see.
I'm more than deep-fried - deep-fried chips, deep-fried fish, spring rolls and chicken thighs.
Bakery pies, dumpling chives, dim sum and fried rice.
My identity is not the food that my people produce.
I'm more than just an Asian that you pass by at uni.
"He must get A's, not B's or C's, with the ability to only study."
"He must not go out and just stays home, books are his comfort when he's alone."
I'm not shy, I'm not timid, I'm not withdrawn but outspoken. Yet you only assume that my english is broken.
It's far from the truth, but to you, you see to understand.
But what can I show, when your eyes have already decided who I am?
You believe the TV, what the media wants you to see, you've been decieved, it's not me, that society portrays me to be.
I'm only a kung-fu fighter, like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
I have no artistic skill, William Hung's my people's legacy.
Asians are bad drivers and only make decent meals, they belong at home not on roads, especially behind a wheel.
The sport they play is ping-pong, no wonder Rugby has no ching-chongs.
Society is doomed and needs to be redeemed, there's no right to exclude and rob my people's dreams.
Yellow brother.
You can be a singer, a dancer, an actor on the silver screen. A painter, a writer, a philosopher, by all means.
If they drag you down, kick you down, smile and get back up on both feet.
Because end of the day, giving up is our only defeat.
I am Yellow.
Yellow like the gold that my people pursue and chase.
Not the object, not the wealth, but the dreams, hope and faith.
Their eyes gleam a glow, that reflects a need to change, it's not the race, it's the pace, that makes a person grow.
So don't be afraid to step out and spread those wings afar.
You can fly, you can soar, you can ascend to the stars.
The only failure you can have is not to have tried.
So from one Yellow brother to the another.
Reach for the skies.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Response To Brown Brother
Still writing some more on this...
Here is my personal response for "Brown Brother" written by Joshua Iosefo.
I had the chance to interview Joshua Iosefo on his intentions for writing "Brown Brother" in the first place. For him, he feels that Brown people in general lack motivation and pride to achieve great things. He feels that brown people get stuck and are often stereotyped to fit certain roles in society. One of the most telling lines in his poem is when he lists the thing that brown people are known for. He says that they are "cleaning ladies, fast food burger making, factory box-packing and rubbish truck drivers" among other things. If brown people are good at one thing, it's only Rugby.
Another example he gives is that the media don't really portray Brown people in a positive light either. He lists shows and movies like Sindarella, Bro Town, Sione's Wedding, and The GC as examples were Brown people are shown as mockeries. He says will there ever be a time "when our representation goes deeper than putting our own people to shame". This is a great line because I feel the shows he mentioned don't really show Brown people as being normal intelligent beings. The "Mozzies" in the GC are seen as "dumb" while very brown character in Brotown are either poor and lack intelligent too.
You can also list a show like "Police 10/7" or "Motorway Patrol" where brown people are not portrayed in a positive light either. Of course these shows are about crime and you only see the "bad" brown people that drink too much alcohol or are robbers. With these shows and the ones that Joshua listed too, you get an unfair representation of brown people on television.
The only kind of show I see on television that shows Brown people normally in Shortland Street. Most of the characters are either nurses and doctors. You don't really see them do stupid stuff on a daily basis and the brown people on the show aren't there just for comic relief either. They lead normal lives and are portrayed as normal kiwis. T.K. Samuels (played by Ben Mitchell) is one character who I feel is portrayed in a good light. He's a Maori doctor and lives in a nice house and (from what I've seen) has never been a comic relief type of character. Even Doctor Ropata (played by Temuera Morrison) who featured back when the show started in 1992 was shown as a competent and smart character.
Although the one thing I liked most about the interview I had with Joshua is that he told me the speech can be inspirational even if you are not a brown person. He said the intention for "Brown Brother" was to "let people of ALL different backgrounds know that they are capable" (of doing more). He also said "we need more diversity when it comes to storytelling instead of just sticking to one stereotype".
Even though I'm Asian, I still connected to the themes that Joshua was trying to put across. I consider myself to be more "Kiwi" than I'm Asian because I was born in New Zealand and English is the only language I speak. Despite this, I still get questioned by people in the street about where I come from. Some people still even ask me if I know how to speak "English" even though that's my first and only language. Even a fellow AUT student thought it was surprising my Dad owned a bookstore and not a Fish And Chip shop.
To me, I feel popular culture always likes to stereotype Asians too many times. In Hollywood, most Asians are only cast in movies if they know any type of martial arts. That, or they're either in a film as a nerd. You rarely see Asians get cast in the main role of a TV show or movie that doesn't involve them doing kung-fu in any way. On TV, Asians are often seen on cooking shows as chefs.
Even when a role that is meat to be for an Asian, they would normally cast a white person instead. A perfect example of this is the movie called "21". The movie is based on a book called "Bringing Down the House" which were mostly based on real-life Asian-Americans. It was a heist movie, yet the main leads went to Kevin Spacey and some guy named Jim Sturgess. Asians (again) were only cast in supporting roles. This shows Hollywood is still too scared to cast Asians outside of the king-fu stereotype in a main role in a movie.
During my interview with Joshua, he and I both agreed that more had to be done to balance out ethnic representation in the media and popular culture. Not all Brown people are dumb and stupid, while not all Asians are nerds, martial artists or chefs.
Here is my personal response for "Brown Brother" written by Joshua Iosefo.
I had the chance to interview Joshua Iosefo on his intentions for writing "Brown Brother" in the first place. For him, he feels that Brown people in general lack motivation and pride to achieve great things. He feels that brown people get stuck and are often stereotyped to fit certain roles in society. One of the most telling lines in his poem is when he lists the thing that brown people are known for. He says that they are "cleaning ladies, fast food burger making, factory box-packing and rubbish truck drivers" among other things. If brown people are good at one thing, it's only Rugby.
Another example he gives is that the media don't really portray Brown people in a positive light either. He lists shows and movies like Sindarella, Bro Town, Sione's Wedding, and The GC as examples were Brown people are shown as mockeries. He says will there ever be a time "when our representation goes deeper than putting our own people to shame". This is a great line because I feel the shows he mentioned don't really show Brown people as being normal intelligent beings. The "Mozzies" in the GC are seen as "dumb" while very brown character in Brotown are either poor and lack intelligent too.
You can also list a show like "Police 10/7" or "Motorway Patrol" where brown people are not portrayed in a positive light either. Of course these shows are about crime and you only see the "bad" brown people that drink too much alcohol or are robbers. With these shows and the ones that Joshua listed too, you get an unfair representation of brown people on television.
The only kind of show I see on television that shows Brown people normally in Shortland Street. Most of the characters are either nurses and doctors. You don't really see them do stupid stuff on a daily basis and the brown people on the show aren't there just for comic relief either. They lead normal lives and are portrayed as normal kiwis. T.K. Samuels (played by Ben Mitchell) is one character who I feel is portrayed in a good light. He's a Maori doctor and lives in a nice house and (from what I've seen) has never been a comic relief type of character. Even Doctor Ropata (played by Temuera Morrison) who featured back when the show started in 1992 was shown as a competent and smart character.
Although the one thing I liked most about the interview I had with Joshua is that he told me the speech can be inspirational even if you are not a brown person. He said the intention for "Brown Brother" was to "let people of ALL different backgrounds know that they are capable" (of doing more). He also said "we need more diversity when it comes to storytelling instead of just sticking to one stereotype".
Even though I'm Asian, I still connected to the themes that Joshua was trying to put across. I consider myself to be more "Kiwi" than I'm Asian because I was born in New Zealand and English is the only language I speak. Despite this, I still get questioned by people in the street about where I come from. Some people still even ask me if I know how to speak "English" even though that's my first and only language. Even a fellow AUT student thought it was surprising my Dad owned a bookstore and not a Fish And Chip shop.
To me, I feel popular culture always likes to stereotype Asians too many times. In Hollywood, most Asians are only cast in movies if they know any type of martial arts. That, or they're either in a film as a nerd. You rarely see Asians get cast in the main role of a TV show or movie that doesn't involve them doing kung-fu in any way. On TV, Asians are often seen on cooking shows as chefs.
Even when a role that is meat to be for an Asian, they would normally cast a white person instead. A perfect example of this is the movie called "21". The movie is based on a book called "Bringing Down the House" which were mostly based on real-life Asian-Americans. It was a heist movie, yet the main leads went to Kevin Spacey and some guy named Jim Sturgess. Asians (again) were only cast in supporting roles. This shows Hollywood is still too scared to cast Asians outside of the king-fu stereotype in a main role in a movie.
During my interview with Joshua, he and I both agreed that more had to be done to balance out ethnic representation in the media and popular culture. Not all Brown people are dumb and stupid, while not all Asians are nerds, martial artists or chefs.
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