Taishanese

Part of Both, Belonging to Neither It was the first day of kindergarten, and I was already crying. It all started with a simple assignment. “Write a sentence about yourself.” My teacher announced to the class. The room quickly filled with chatter as my classmates talked about possible ideas for their sentences. Staring at the first page of my new composition book, my mind went completely blank, realising that I had no idea what to write. At that time, I was behind on English compared to average kids because I spoke Cantonese at home. Therefore, I was never taught how to read or write. Since I was a naive 5-year-old, I could not comprehend why I was the only one incapable of creating sentences that everyone else was easily doing. Nervously, I looked around and saw that the rest of the class was already finished with their sentences and talking amongst themselves while I still had a blank journal sitting on my desk. Feeling isolated for being the only one who did not have anything written down, I stared blankly on my paper till teardrops stained the clean, white pages. Not only did I have to endure the embarrassment of my classmates staring at me as I wept, but I still had to write a sentence while crying in front of my teacher like a baby. Looking back at this incident, I realise that this story is still relevant to what I experience normally today, just without the crying. As I grew up, there were many other moments in life where I was different from the rest of the crowd…

the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. Cancer, heart disease, and stroke are the top three leading causes of death among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The leading cause of death among Asian Americans is lung cancer, which correlates to cigarette smoking. I spoke briefly to the supervisor about my idea and she opposed because I was just an eighteen year old and the members might not listen to me. Therefore, I decided to create my visuals before fully pitching the idea to her. Before I…

him back to his motherland. With rich experience, he helped to fulfill a friend’s dream to build a railroad in his hometown Xinning, China. Later, the decision of building a railroad was opposed by citizens, but Chen Yixi’s perseverance made the dream come true and remarkably this was the first private railway built in China. Besides, he helped to fight for democratic freedom with courage and boldness. Even though he was a businessman, but in the heart of many Chinese American, he was also a…