Issue 02: Letter to my younger self
Letter to my younger self: Christine Chan
My dear Christine,
2020 is a momentous year that eats societies alive for breakfast and drinks economies as an aperitif before dinner – one day you will know what I mean. For now, there is no time for euphemism: you will be judged your entire life based on your gender and race, leading to uncomfortable challenges. You will learn to overcome, and to fight back, even if it gets you into trouble (mostly good trouble; look up John Lewis when you’re done reading).
I will now say three things about the world that awaits:
- Asia is where you belong
- You encounter racism in every western country you visit but learn that you can rise above it
- You become an ardent feminist, sick of the discrimination, harassment,and violence committed by men against women and girls around the globe
Why these three things? Because they will shape the person you become. Because nobody will talk to you intelligently about racism and sexism, leaving you to learn about them at the hands of strangers. Because you will feel hurt and anger from the prejudice you encounter but won’t know how to overcome those emotions. And because 2020 is the year when you realise the truth of these three statements.
Ever since you can remember, daily life in white rural America was filled with racist slurs, chants, and, on a few occasions, punches. Teachers liked your perfect scholastic record, but classmates seldom spoke to you. Never mind, you say to yourself, one day I will leave this pit of intolerance and make my way in the world, which is filled with wonders. Good attitude; you were partly right. You will travel the world, you will see and learn wondrous things. But you will also encounter suspicion, bigotry, even hatred because you look different from the rest of the population. Shopkeepers in America who fought in WWII will refuse to sell you merchandise because they mistakenly think you are Japanese and still an enemy. You will learn what racist taunts sound like in french (similar to english) from a gang of schoolboys in the south of France. Men expecting you to embody a sexy, submissive asian female stereotype will try to get close to you even when you don’t want them to, not by a mile. You will learn to avoid/shut down all these types. More importantly, you will learn to not let this belittlement affect your self esteem because it doesn’t change who you are – bright, curious girl who believes in her own potential. One day you will land in Hong Kong, the city where you were born. Surrounded by your people, you’ll experience the incredible lightness and freedom of belonging. This, you’ll realise, is how all those white people felt, and it will be an utter revelation to you. It will be like discovering a pair of wings on your back and no longer needing to trudge through the streets dodging insults from people who don’t know you but feel assured they are superior.
You will travel the world, you will see and learn wondrous things. But you will also encounter suspicion, bigotry, even hatred because you look different from the rest of the population.
But you’ll also doubt your motives: Am I living here because it’s not demoralising? Isn’t this the same homogeneity that I found so dangerous when I was the one who didn’t belong? Am I running away from challenges, or do I deserve a respite from racist manifestations? Am I Eastern with Western tendencies, or am I Western with an Eastern face? What are my own biases toward whites? These are questions worthy of your deep curiosity, and you will do well to associate yourself with friends who can also ponder these questions, for these are the people who will enlarge your thinking.
Take a deep breath, dear C., because things get more complicated from here.
You will travel the world, you will see and learn wondrous things. But you will also encounter suspicion, bigotry, even hatred because you look different from the rest of the population.
As one of three daughters in a family where the fourth sibling was a prized son, you learned that in some cultures, girls are fungible (yes, look that up) or made invisible. All the classical music you studied was written by men, all the art you absorbed from museums was made by same. How many of your textbooks came from the mind of a woman? None, until you reach graduate school. Women were half the world’s population. But where were we in the archives? Were we being conditioned to accept a male world view? Screw that, you say, I have a brain and boundless curiosity and nothing will stop me from making my mark.
But it gets worse. Despite the UN’s efforts to end violence and trafficking of girls and women, the statistics are still shocking, even after decades of global efforts toward human rights. Worldwide, women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, setting us up for a lifetime of economic disadvantage and a precarious retirement. You will live in a world that devalues women’s work and contributions to culture, the economy, and governance. You will be furious about this; you will engage in patriarch- enraging actions while searching for ways to channel your outrage. But listen, here’s what you do instead: you hold your head high and excel in school so nobody can say you’re unqualified. You absorb knowledge and other world views so that you are fearless when questioning the status quo especially when it is unjust, racist, or misogynist. You overcome your cultural reluctance to ask for help and find smart, kind people who will raise you up when the burden feels too heavy. You mentor and empower other women by sharing your experience and hard-earned confidence, and by supporting them in their fight for equality. You learn to stop someone from mansplaining in mid-sentence.
Fortunately, you will grow up to see the world become less hostile to the idea of female governance. Look up the careers of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Christine Lagarde, Mary Robinson and Christiana Figueres and ask yourself: how did they succeed, and what will my legacy be?
You will find your tribe of brilliant women around the world and learn that ambition and empathy are not incompatible, I promise. Run towards them and keep them close.
And finally, never let anyone disparage you for being female or a minority. Racism, sexism and even ignorance are the perpetrator’s offences, not yours.
‘I majored in unafraid.’
– Anna Quindlen.
Good luck, kiddo.
