When foreigners think they’re Asian (a controversial post)
It’s a common thing to find Asians who want to look like Caucasians, but it’s a whole other annoying thing when foreigners think they’re more Asian than the Asians themselves. That’s how they start earning names for themselves bestowed by the ‘real locals’ - orang putih, farang, gaijin, ang moh - just to name a few…
Now as uncharacteristic and rude of Asians to ‘label’ and ‘tag’ foreigners like that, there is a good reason for it. Asians don’t turn on their roots and suddenly become hostile to visitors, but I guess foreigners who wear out their welcome and overstep their boundaries by trying to ‘report about Asia‘ and dictating what IS ‘Asian’ when they haven’t even scratched the surface of it, are just asking for it.
Seriously, do you think that just because you ‘teach English/TESOL in Asia’ or you married/dated and Asian or lived in Asia that makes you Asian and able to represent/be a spokesperson for Asia? You must be delusional. We’re not racist here at EAF, but we just want to set things straight - Just as dying our hair blonde and going for rhinoplasty doesn’t make us any more Caucasian, neither does you a foreigner living/marrying/dating/teaching in Asia make you any more Asian.
Have you ever noticed that most sites about Asia are written by foreigners with ‘experience’ of Asia? Then have you ever noticed that almost half of the population who read them are Asians? Do you think it’s because we don’t know our own people, our own culture, our own history, our own country -that we turn to you for guidance? Certainly not! We’re there to see what utter inaccurate facts you have written about us and laugh at your idocracy. Depending on how inaccurate your statements are, you just might have earned yourself another nickname and an additional hiss from Asia.
Learning about other cultures is great, but when you come barging in and telling us what our culture is then obviously you can’t expect a standing ovation for your arrival. We appreciate you are trying to share what you have learnt from us, but know that there is likely more to what you have seen or heard so you’re not an expert. We don’t appreciate your foreign supremacy. It’s mutual respect and dictating on what you don’t know to the people who do know is not respectful.
If you’ve read this far, then you probably think that we hate foreigners, but contrary to that- Asians adore foreigners! You even get better treatment than the locals! Imagine how that biased treatment itself already annoys the locals.
So with your “privileged” experience, can you really accurately describe Asia? If you’re not even treated like a local Asian, what makes you think you know what it’s like to be Asian?
All your books about Asia or the Asian culture/history etc were sourced from Asians but did you stop to realise that perhaps some bits were lost in translation or misunderstood? You might not know everything because we can’t tell you everything - everything is a lot to tell! And we know this for a fact because like the websites, we too read your books and we see what you don’t - inaccurate representations.
We just don’t kick up a fuss about it because as unhappy as we are, we want to stay as polite possible. (name calling is already bad enough) But when your inaccurate facts paints stereotypes that weigh on us Asians and the continent of Asia, we know humility is something that you have forgotten.
EAF is not against the ang moh kui/farang/gaijin/orang putih/beruk. We apologise to even mention those names here but a fact is a fact and we just want you to know that you once came to us with respect…where is that respect now?
We do not support any form of supremacy, Asian or Caucasian… we just want everyone to practice responsible journalism/writings and remember to be humble - know humility when you enter a world that is not yours.
[...] We’re not racist here at EAF, but we just want to set things straight - Just as dying our hair blonde and going for rhinoplasty doesn’t make us any more Caucasian, neither does you a foreigner living/marrying/ dating /teaching in Asia … Read more [...]
[...] here: When foreigners think they’re Asian (a controversial post) Tags: ang-moh-kui, asian, controversy, culture, current-affairs, india, orang-putih, phyu, racism, [...]
[...] is the original: When foreigners think they’re Asian (a controversial post) Tags: asian, china, Culture, indonesia, malaysia, orang-putih, philippines, racism, singapore, [...]
While the tags a labels are not kind and should be used with care I believe that a lot of what you said in the article is true.
As someone who writes about Japan I am very careful to quote my sources for information and always welcome corrections or clarifications. I also think that the attempt to learn more about a culture and to share it with others is very valuable.
The people that you describe as “trying to be more Asian that Asians” can be annoying to people of their own culture (speaking from my point of view as a Caucasian woman). It’s one thing to humbly share what you’ve learned vs. claiming to be an expert. I’ll take the humble version and go to the source if I want an expert as hard as that may be when I’m not fluent in the language.
Thanks for your two pennies worth. I’m glad you understood the point I was trying to get through. I’m sure you never make that mistake with the care you put into your journalism.
Maybe it’s the excitement some people get when they learn something new which makes them so edger to share they forget about everything else.
But either way, it’s just good to remember we are not the best and we don’t know everything…nothing wrong with being humble, makes everyone else more forgiving when we make a slip-up…
I would like to think that most of us who write about wherever we are are careful to express that we are reporting on our own experiences and not make generalizations about an entire area like “Asia” or even a specific country or city. Everyone’s experience will differ for multiple reasons and, as a favourite writer of mine likes to say “the plural of anecdote is not data.” Nevertheless I have read plenty of blogs which regularly make sweeping statements about ALL Japan or ALL Asia which they are clearly unqualified to make and agree that they should not.
I would suggest, though, that even those of us writing about our home countries need to take the same care - my experience of my home city is often surprising to others who grew up in Melbourne and similarly there are activities and places and attitudes which others from Melbourne might say are “esentially Melbournian” and yet I have never experienced them. I’m sure I slip up occasionally, as we all would, but it is important to remember we cannot truly know what is in anyone else’s heart, even if we grew up next door!
I do hope that when the “Asians” you speak of read posts/articles about Asia written by foreigners that they sometimes read them to discover what is an honest, personal experience of their country/region by a foreigner and don’t only read them looking for material to mock and jeer, assuming that the post will be “idiotic” purely because the author is not Asian. There are certainly a fair share of “ïdiots” in the blogosphere but many bloggers and travel reporters write in hopes of helping each other and making the world a smaller, friendlier and more understanding place.
So if living in Asia, marrying an Asian woman, and reading books about Asia does not make one qualified to write about Asia or think they know something about Asia, what in the world would qualify a non-Asian person to be able to do so?
You took almost every single word right out of my fingertips. I don’t think this is a controversial posting at all since it speaks the truth.
Non-Asian looking foreigners in Japan tend to get a bit more priviledged treatment because face it, the average Japanese brain goes into the “foreigner” mode during those encounters. If they were to put themselves into the shoes of anyone Asian looking, the amount of leeway they would find themselves subjected to would be less favorable as they would for the most part be ignored.
Another thing I notice in Japan with many gaijins is how they tend not to acknowledge each other. Quite a difference if you’ve ever stayed in other countries where you often times bond with someone who is foreign to the country. You would think in general, there would be a little bit of instant comradery in Japan but what you often observe is the exact opposite. It’s like this odd territorial thing where they want to protect “their piece of Japan.” Foreigners often set their own hierarchy once they find out how many years one has been in the country as if it were a license which determines their knowledge level of the country. I bet some of these same people are the ones who blog online to impart their wisdom in authoritative fashion to their readership.
Being one of Japanese ancestry and upbringing, it is often humorous to have to read or watch videos of these people who think they can decipher some of the social and cultural nuances of why the natives think and do things the way they do in Japan.
The thing I found with many gaikokujin, despite the length of time in the county and their fluency of the language, is that a good majority are clueless about the details of the history of the country which often times, affects their ability to really understand the cultural aspects of the society they live in. For someone having grown up in constantly immersed in a particular culture, certain things become ingrained and second nature. How do you explain all these symbiotic relationships to someone who grew up in a completely different paradigm? One tiny example is sho-ga-nai. Drives many foreigners in Japan crazy to the point where they cannot grok the concept of how Japanese people can just shrug their shoulders and say “it can’t be helped.” Many gaijins make fun of “the Wa” when that particular aspect of group harmony is related to shoganai and tied deeply into Japanese history and culture which again, many foreigners tend to know very little about. And like you mentioned, there is the lost in translation aspect because again, the language also often times ties into the cultural context which results in a less than accurate interpretation of what was trying to be conveyed. Foreigners tend to look at this as an Asian being vague when part of that vagueness is because not everything needs to always be said directly. And that aspect also drives foreigners crazy in Japan. Many who have lived here for years think they know a lot but the reality is they are just scratching the surface.
Reading this article was like reading a parody with no irony - It’s just a bunch of nonsense beneath a cloak of preachy-misinformation.
I take that back - There was some irony in the piece. You are trying to inform foreigners of who they are, and why they are bad for trying to inform Asians of who they are. And look, here I am trying to inform you of who you are! And so we come full circle.
First off, Japanese call people “gaijin” when the Japanese are tourists in a foreign country themselves. It has nothing to do with labeling a sub-culture of Japanophiles who think they know all about the culture. (This is also true of Koreans using “weiguk-in” - Why not add that to your list?)
Next, how ludicrous is it that you group such an abundance of Eastern cultures into the singular “Asian”. I don’t think Koreans would say that they have very much in common with Japanese, just like I don’t have very much in common with most other white people besides we’re, well, white. (Although I’m technically more of a minority in Western countries than Asians - I’m a Jew, and there are even less of us in the entire world [14,000,000] than even just the population of Korea alone [44,000,000])
People document their experiences in foreign countries not as be-all-end-all lectures, but as perspectives. Even this blog entry here, it’s a perspective, although not a very well thought out one. The writing itself has this underlying agenda that hints at some social injustice or revenge. You try to soften your opinion with phrases like “we appreciate, but…” and “we aren’t racist, but…” which is the same as the incredibly annoying, “I don’t mean to offend you, but [insert intentionally offensive comment].”
And that last bit about “responsible journalism” - Priceless! Isn’t that just the pot calling the kettle black.
What qualifies a non-Asian to have a valid opinion?
How about living in that Asian country for 15-20+ years. Married to an Asian. Divorced from an Asian. Living with Asian in-laws. Working in an Asian company. Mastering (reading and writing) that Asian language. Participating with your Asian family in the many rites of passage - birth, death, marriage, divorce….
Um, that could make a good start.
“We do not support any form of supremacy, Asian or Caucasian… we just want everyone to practice responsible journalism/writings and remember to be humble - know humility when you enter a world that is not yours.”
Forgot your own rule buddy
Leave a comment!
Categories
Subscribe to EastAsiaFair
________________________
A book by CosmoFair founder, Bill Belew, that might change your world
_____________________
Add to Technorati Favorites
Archives
Recent Posts
Random Posts
Latest Video Post