Tuesday 16 August 2011

Organising a new mindset for British Born Chinese




As a regular commenter for a little while now, I have noticed this blog hasn't received as much attention as intended, from the British Born Chinese online.

Maybe due to presumably radical content, maybe due to its unconventional attitude towards identity politics. For whatever reason, In my own way i'd like to address the issue of organising a new mindset for British Born Chinese.

Judging by the amount of anonymous commentors, and the humdrum of most other British Chinese online publications, people on here aren't appreciating enough the opportunity that this blog presents, which is basically to develop a new mindset for British Born Chinese.

Originally this article was meant to be a comment in reply to anonymous 6:04 on this post

http://bbczeitgeist.blogspot.com/2011/08/too-conservative.html#comments

A lot of interesting ideas tend to appear in comments, so I adopted the problem/solution structure with a view to presenting the possible reality of a new, more radical British Chinese mindset. Before I go into my personal take on this problem/solution structure.

I'll start by asking the question:

  ' what would be the goal of a new British Chinese mindset and what do you mean by 'mindset'?

My Answer:

'Create a platform based on Chinese pride or the principle of 'Te' as it is known. ' for members of the British Born Chinese community to freely express and support others , share personal problems to build deeper trust within the group,  both online, and in person, or by creating media that speaks out against institutionalised media racism, and offer of genuine trust and friendship to those in need, 

Chinese pride is essentially the engine of the new mindset. What is Chinese Pride?

For some people it means eating and enjoying and cooking Chinese food. For some it means not taking flack from racists. For others it means dating a Chinese spouse. For others it means taking a career path that will progress Chinese culture in a positive way. As individuals we can all contribute to this Chinese pride in differing ways. With us obviously being a culture that have little need for social structure thanks to our independence, our name and race have been sacrificed and now we are suffering for this.


The tough part in any voluntary organisation, is to figure out what any one person is contributing, and respect that individual for what they are doing, and trust that person to fulfil the established responsibilities for their role in that organisation.

This obviously is quite an unorthodox way to create a culture. Indeed the above method sounds like some kind of military group. In practice various issues will crop up  due to time constraints, limited skills,varying levels of commitment...but as an experiment in cultural advancement,its a start.

So what are the methods of expressing British Born Chinese cultural pride? Here is a list that I can think of , again please add comments at the end if I've missed anything.

1.Speaking out against racism. This is something that is quite important. The realistic situation of the way this racism appears is as follows

 a/ sporadic racist takeaway incidents
b/ random casual racism
c/ institutionalised casual media racism

Okay so now let's look at the actuality of our situation. We are spread out. We are few in numbers and any support we can lend depends on geographical distance, our ability to react immediately and our ability to lend support, whether it be emotional, financial,physical. Half of our media representatives are arguably sellouts for government money who haven't really put our name on the map, and if anything have rendered us invisible.Individually, some of us have more responsibilities than others and therefore less time to contribute to any significant group contribution or action.

So there are quite a few factors there. And each building block must be built step by step so that it supports the building block above. Its quite a task.

So now let's look at motivating factors.
a/ our pride
b/ looking out for others
c/ having friends/support we can rely on

I'll be the first to openly admit I dont have any British Born Chinese friends. And I'll tell you why. It's because before I was such a hardcore proud Chinese, I never really thought about these issues. And now i'm a hardcore proud Chinese, i find it difficult to find people to meet who are on a similar wavelength , as everyone else seems comfortable with their western assimilated lifestyle, and to be honest I dont find many British Born Chinese people interesting thanks to that.

Prejudice? No, it's my factual honest observation. And i wish it wasn't so, so my personal motivation for this article is mainly c/.

Is my time wasted on this blog? No, I don't think so. I still associate with people who I find interesting and of a similar mindset, but I am consciously and deliberately making an effort to reach out to fellow Chinese who can possibly see the problems we have so maybe, just maybe with our skills and personalities we can do something that will make some kind of positive difference in the life of a fellow Chinese.

As you have probably guessed from reading this blog, there's a lot of anger, ranting, and the aforementioned negativity expressed. And that has understandably, pissed a lot of British Born Chinese off, because after all, once you have adopted 'an outlook that is comfortable' its easy to overlook alternative opinions that point huge gaps in what they are comfortable with.. For a lot of us, you can remove the Chinese part and just call us British, and you wouldn't have any complaints. It's gotten that bad.

Building this blog into a platform for ideas, and then having those ideas agreed upon and expressed within certain timeframes, carried out by volunteers - people who care enough about doing what they can to contribute. This will take great trust and It may not succeed, it may succeed a little. But like I said before, it's a social experiment based on both in our Chinese nature to support each other -and seeing each other as family,  rather than strangers,  so in my opinion there is little to lose.

Problems and Solutions:


Problem:


'We are too few'

Solution:

This blog is a solution to small numbers. And again opening a google account so your regular comments can be identified on this blog, will also help build a real , truer mindset. And the success of that will be based on how much trust and belief we can gain in such a movement.

Problem:

'We are a racial minority'

Solution:

Before my recent Chinese pride reawakening, I had read some books on positive thinking and realised the word 'minority' is self-limiting.

South asians are a 'minority' and so are Blacks, but that hasn't stopped them from voicing out.So even given all the problems we have as a community, being a minority shouldn't stop us.Again with this blog as a support system, it can be the basis of many things.

To be honest, the real test is ' do we want to sacrifice our comfortable invisibility in order to receive flack for speaking out as a minority' Of course none of us will want to admit that in order to save face but the truth is, invisibility is quite comfortable, hence excess anonymous comments and even this blog. But we have to start somewhere. The price to pay doesnt have to be that much if we have a group that is fairminded. It is essentially human rights we are fighting for and by remaining invisible it basically means that you are giving up your rights. This issue may be a western epidemic as we do admittedly live in an age of lack of social responsibility, but then maybe we need to firstly reexamine the kind of people we have become before considering ourselves to be worthy of saying that we have 德.

Problem: 

 'Our focus on family rather than community could possibly end in tears' 


Solution:

That we focus on family rather than community is indeed a Chinese mindset issue,and as unrelated as some would like to think, as an outsider, I have observed that China is also finding this as a problem as it's affluent society grows and its needs to implement new laws etc. Again, honest self expression with google IDS is the first step in creating some kind of community.

Problem:

Okay so you've talked about Chinese pride, is there anything about being British we can be proud of?


Solution:

Initially, I saw us as being born and raised in the west, the U.K. specifically as having an advantage - that  with exposure to other ethnic groups we can learn how to create more human rights and identity for ourselves.

But on further analysis , I have realised British Born Chinese have different problems that need addressing. And the solution to framing our mindset from 'family' to 'community' is based in the root of the issue in the Chinese mentality itself which i will reveal at the end of this article, suffice to say, that it will take a small group of selfless individuals to do anything when 99% of Chinese could care less. But then again, my question to you is, how well do you know 德?
Problem:

'Our  viewpoints are too varying'

Solution:

Yes we all come from all backgrounds, and personalities but when you get down to it, the 'British Born' part that varies is to do with our own personal varying levels of western assimilation.But by open debate we can find issues and how they apply to individual group members whilst at the same time respecting each individual for their contribution and better understanding where they are at. Sometimes this blog may come across as an angry male rant,  but the issues in question whether we care to admit it or not affect both male and female - it affects the future of all British Born Chinese.

Problem:

'Not enough British Born Chinese are interested in these issues to meet up'

Solution:

If we really are as pro-Chinese as we make ourselves out to be on this blog, what could be the problem in meeting up? Fear of criticism is a big factor amongst Chinese mindset but in reality everyone can have opinions, but noone really knows more than anyone else. And instead of being scared off by stronger opinions have an open mind and question what has been said. And for those who have stronger opinions must be open to listen to opinions that maybe aren't as radical but equally as important. 

And positively, the growth of the mindset on this blog in itself will create a culture. Some can label it as a clique or niche or cult, but so what. Isn't it better than invisibility?

Problem:

What if i dont want to share my personal details/stories in public

Solution:

These can be discussed away from the blog. Skype conversation, or in person. But having more group contribution to this blog in terms of articles, and feedback will then attract more new visitors, and hopefully expand the group and forge a mindset that is positive, and active and problem solving.



Problem:

No real solution found after one or two real meetings?

Solution:

Okay so fine. At least we tried. can always come back on here and comment. Nothing has been lost but the potential to gain a lot is much more valuable in the long run

Chinese pragmatic nature is such that it tends to want instant results through tried and tested methods to save time. But it's only by experimenting with an open mind to accept new ideas can we possibly find a way forward, and this is essentially trusting of a single consciousness to form out of our community, and sharpen us as individuals at the same time.

It's a test of our new ability to be objective but passionate about our Chinese heritage at the same time. And shared with others, and being open and vulnerable as difficult as it may be, can reap benefits. Historically it hasn't been proven in any any new progressive areas of any new development ( science, politics, culture) that development was ever easy, or had 'easy answers'. We cant all be 100% right in our efforts, but discussion debate and acceptance of each other as individuals will help us forge a single consciousness.

Problem:

' No one specific area to socialise'
Solution:

Let's be positive on this - we can socialise anywhere. pool halls, people's homes, hired church venues. parks. there is no limit to where we can socialise...just because we are discussing heavier issues than maybe considered the norm, it doesn't make an area any less viable to socialise in. Again, if we care about it enough, where there's a will there's a way.  And after discussing online getting to know each others comments via google accounts...how about a group skype chat to begin with?

Problem:

' We are too spread out geographically'


Solution:

To begin with, creating accountability on this blog, with an identifiable google id. That way you can be accountable to yourself as well as the community of this blog.

Its great to have lots of anonymous commentors but it becomes a hassle to keep track of all the anonymous people, and when those same anonymous people have made great valuable interesting comments...there's no way of finding out who they belong to. In that respect, you are still accepting your invisible stereotype!

By forming some kind of community on this blog, this is also a solution for those in hard to reach areas and by seeing how the consciousness is building and eventually could lead to that person maybe considering in travelling the distance to meet up in person.

 Problem:
'Lack of accountability'

Solution:

Again, this blog is the best way  to get involved and show accountability as well as contributing articles. 

Personally speaking, having written my first article, I was nervous as hell, and believe me I hate criticism and attention, and half expecting to be bashed by naysayers, was reluctant to see what comments would actually turn up.

But the funny thing is, it doesn't seem that we are as different as we would think, Its only that we are in differing states of denial.Also, the act of writing articles is an act of 'giving' rather than commenting which can easily lead to trolling, which i admit ive been guilty of, so now im more watchful of my own words.

The biggest problem in my opinion :

In my opinion, our need for 'face'( and the negative stuff linked to it) is one of our biggest obstacles to any progressive movements in social consciousness and for Chinese its our biggest flaw. That, combined with our successful ability to be highly independent allows us to save face even more , which in effect creates a vicious cycle of non-commitment

Solution:

Once we can replace the above with a higher desire to be objective, and replace our need for instant results with a patient and open mind, and replacing having to be perfect infront of others ( to save face) with , again an open mind , and humbleness to openly make mistakes infront of others, we can make some headway

Problem:
'Lack of trust'

In other comments I negatively have remarked that this is an issue ( as much as BBCS wouldnt care to admit, probably to save face ) amongst Chinese.

Solution:

By creating google accounts and learning to built trust towards each other online. This is the hardest thing, but easily overcome. Because despite having a google account, you can still remain anonymous. And with enough consistency we can learn to trust and open up. At the next stage , as in most human relationships this can made stronger, when we eventually meet up in person. We all have weaknesses, it may be more difficult for some of us to actually share those up in person, but that's why we have to try that much harder.

Because the truth is lying to ourselves hasnt done any good either,. Any personal issues of trust, will vary within each individual, but this factor is the most important of all for this group to have any foundation. And this means being open about negative personal experiences and realising that we arent superhuman and admitting that to each other. Strength in vulnerability in other words.

Problem:

' Not much time or energy left to support the ethnic Chinese community at large'

Solution:

We are all guilty of not having enough time but successful people make time for things they care about.

For all the time that can be spent on here typing comments could be spent in a one hour meeting  in a park, or at a pool hall, or whatever.

Solutions are hard to come by and issues are easy to debate, but putting into action ideas that work...although would take some work...and time and maybe would not work out, as anything of this scope requires a certain amount of commitment. But this BLOG is the future of the British Born Chinese community and the only thing in our British Born Chinese life that is asking us to think outside the norm and take a new risk  towards developing a new mindset - one that hasn't been fully developed yet. And we should use it.

And aside from being a blog where we can express our anger at injustice, we can also create the future of our community and record for ourselves a sense of achievement of milestones that we can be proud of as a real community. I mean who really considers Chinatown a community? To me, it's where a bunch of Chinese people happen to work. Lets go beyond that.

THE FUTURE:

Its possible that if we dont develop, then there is the very real potential for future of British Born Chinese, to become extinct. But the focus of this article is....lets make hay whilst the sun is still shining.

THE REWARDS:

A new found confidence, new rolemodels to give future generations, more respect gained from mainland Chinese, giving them another positive reason to move to the UK, boosting the UK economy and boosting our community as well and indirectly solving SOME of the problems on this blog that British Born Chinese face.

If that's not enough reward, then what else is there?

The work that creating a new identity or culture will take a lot of work and sacrifice. And why would any self-respecting Chinese sacrifice themselves and their short term benefits for long term benefits that they will not be able to benefit from?

Well, that's exactly my point. And until we reframe the short term gain for long term again, we wont be able to shrug off the 'selfish' stereotype either. It's time we looked out for other Chinese, and break the cycle, not perpetuate it.

Being a western born Chinese is a great privilege. Whilst in China, there can be differences between different areas such as north and south, Hong Kong and Mainland, we can show that overseas, we are united. Because as is always the situation in human mentality, when there is a bigger war to fight, smaller armies join together. Not the greatest of analogies, but you get what I am saying.

Problem:

'What power do we really have as a group of maybe 4-5 people?'

Solution:

No, a blog can't save the world, but it can provide the foundation of change. 4-5 people with a united mindset is enough to influence that change i believe. No guarantees as to results, but what have we lost except more time playing xbox watching eastenders or the footie? The key here is to realise the importance of social development in our culture. It's amazing for me to see that whilst a lot of us Chinese love to catch up on the latest social technology we never see how our own social awareness has been allowed to stagnate at the same alarmingly rapid rate.

Conclusion

So that's it, despite all the obvious glaring holes in our culture, I've tried to be as supportive and realistic as possible. British Born Chinese can come across as an oxymoron, and a certain cause of embarassment as in a sense we are proud of being identified with China's oppressors.But really we can make up for that by presenting a strong foundation based on 德, combined with the fairness and genuine positive qualities that the people of this country represent, as well as the real celebration of embracing our real Chinese roots , ancestry and the freedom to express that as individuals, united, who happen to communicate with - but not limited by, the British language.

What other problems do we need to deal with and else can we do to create a new British Born Chinese mindset that expresses our Chinese pride?

28 comments:

  1. Black people in certain parts of London are the majority! However for us Chinese, we are the minority of the minority except for probably Viets and South Koreans. However in some parts of London such as Deptford, Viets are a lot of them. And New Malden for S.Koreans.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry can't read the top comments of others, anyway...

    Good idea, I am also a "BBC" my views are more moderate than the writer (top), I like to see little changes, evolution not revolution. I find the discussion about enpowerment identity, and equality etc is often hijacked by unemployed actors with gripes or self-interested people seeking funding by sneekingly playing the race card and stirring up trouble for their bit of PR. It is a shame because its distracts the real issues that needed to discussed, debated and changed. I think the older generation needs to be changed or replaced by a younger generation that is more streetwise. educated and travelled, because the existing status quo lack the intellectual substance and are too interested in themselves, besides alot come across a bit fake and narcissistic, after a few testing questions.I don't tell them of course :)

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  3. I'd find your ideas slightly more credible if I hadn't read the racist, sexist vitriol that you've spouted in so many of your previous posts. Plus ca change.

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  4. @Kai. Thanks for that. was that comment meant for this article?

    @anonymous 20:31 please contribute with a google ID as you have some interesting thoughts and from the sound of you we'd appreciate your regular comments on a regular basis..and your right. People need to be accountable, not selfinterested

    @anonymous 20:39. ideas stand on their own regardless of the person creating them. do you have any constructive suggestions of your own other than criticising some previous posts of mine unrelated to this article?

    @ any one else.if you care about a new bbc culture now is the time to get a google ID and start commenting suggestions. so far the 3 comments above show me there is possible interest from 1 of 3 people...

    ReplyDelete
  5. HappybritishChinese, nice article, very long article! The alternative is to put the blog on registered users only, that will force anonymous users to open a google account or a blogger account if they wish to comment, we could trial that.

    Regarding the article, being British Born Chinese doesn't begin nor end with the internet, but one can certainly appreciate its functional use as our dispersed 'community' is spread geographically, the internet offers new opportunities for connections, that over a decade a ago was not possible and certainly not possible during my teen years living in a white area with very few other ethnic Chinese around me, but it remains the case that due to the nature of the internet, online communities are invariably weak, nor its avenues used constructively - merely to kill time as entertainment.

    @20:31 can you give an example of evolution? As far as I'm concerned, it implies greater assimilation into British society. I personally hold a more pessimistic view regarding the future of BBC's, this is something I'll address later in my own article.

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  6. BBCz thanks for the comment bro. British Born Chinese online have regular meetups. I guess that's the idealistic tone I was gearing for with this article.

    Anyway, as we can see from the turn out of above, 1 out of 3. Looks like your upcoming article on the future of BBCS is what everyone seems to be eagerly waiting for...Plus ca change, indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. happybritishchinese - I stand corrected, I was referring to the racist cant of BBCzeitgeist rather than your previous articles. I find it inordinately depressing that your well thought-out, measured article is posted on a site which regularly features trite and racially offensive material.

    You only need to look at Zeitgeist's thoughts on mixed-race relationships, his frequent snide comments about blacks/whites/South Asians or his muddled misogyny to see what I'm talking about.

    His entire philosophy seems to revolve around his own personal prejudices, and his writing peppered with pseudo-intellectual, faux-scientific non sequiturs.

    Two more points:

    1) You should consider setting up your own blog to counter this tedious nonentity's drivel. The reason so few BBC's contribute to this page isn't passivity or political non-involvement, but simply because Zeity's points are completely irrelevant to most of us.

    2) Asking people to identify themselves is a bit rich considering that Zeity, in what can only charitably be described as "coyness" (though some might be inclined to infer cowardice on his part), is completely anonymous. I'm sure he'll claim he's afraid of racially-motivated retribution or some such nonsense, but the truth is he really fears being exposed for the hypocritical fraud he actually is.

    My advice - set up another blog which deals with the pertinent issues you've addressed in your above article, and leave the vitriolic witterings to Zeity.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Firstly thanks for BBCZ for the creation of this blog, I like it because it does what it says on the tin- controversial issues affecting BBCs, as long as it stays within that remit I will be staying tuned unlike another sites that are really advertising venue for a self interest clique and as a result tuned out long time ago.
    @ HappyBC, the phrase that resonates most with me is ... British Born Chinese community to freely express and support others , share personal problems to build deeper trust within the group, both online, and in person, or by creating media that speaks out against institutionalised media racism, and offer of genuine trust and friendship to those in need.

    This isn’t hard to achieve if you just want to get 4-5 ppl with similar ideals, the solution is a primarily “marketing” one. I used to be a Uni Chinese society organiser, we got loads of members just by asking anyone that looked Chinese within the vicinity, all you have to do is have the front to ask anyone if they are interested that walks past, and there are lots if you have the sales patter. Like the “missing chink” fiasco done in Chinatown, and they done it with a video camcorder fishing for negative stereotypes for their dreadful misguided project.
    What we need is a BBC view for BBC ppl, where others have failed so badly, I not suggesting a revolution but a more robust and stronger presence, as to the assimilation issue most BBC are well assimilated and speak much better that the (David Starkey has a point) nonsense that looters espouse.

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  9. MingRev:

    I wonder if that Chinese girl who speaks like a Black is now hiding her face after the riots ? LOL

    Kno... whA.... Ahh meann ?

    ReplyDelete
  10. She is a product of her environment, that you cannot blame her for picking up a local accent, if anything it is her Chinese parents who are to blame, they raised her in a south east ghetto. Malaysians speaking English, their accents are equally as strong.
    Have you heard Goldie Cheung speaking english? Her accent is very stereotypical piss take too in the way she pronounces the L and R.

    @17.59: Indeed, I understand exactly what you're saying, it is one of the reasons why I started blogging - the result of a total absence of a radical ethnic Chinese voice in the UK. I looked at the radical Asian American bloggers in the USA and compared them with the UK, Until I started blogging, what online presence did we have in the UK? Only the lamest Chinese diaspora website Dimsum - read by middle aged FOB housewives and their white husbands.

    It is due to British Chinese apathy and BBC apathy that has allowed mixed race to hijack the British Chinese platform in some quarters to promote their own mixed race interests in the name of 'British Chinese.'

    ReplyDelete
  11. i wanted to comment on the funding cut blog, but discussion closed....

    as a CONSUMER what would I want to see? like TVB stories but simply set in England.
    you have chinese guys who cheat, girls who date non white as well as chinese. family uproar, investment disasters, cheating by whites, cheating by chinese who rip off fobs.. etc etc... there are loads of simple everyday stories...

    but...

    as producer, this is what i have to consider:
    a 10 minute broadcast quality drama, 10 minutes! with a cast of 3 actors, a crew of 4, will cost NO LESS than £2.5k its estimated figure but you can do your own research, equity rates, hair and make up talent rates etc etc.
    where will the money come from? will there be enough people who will pay to watch. will advertisers pay to advertise to a niche market, even with online potential global audience...?

    and this is only 10mins people. that cost quickly goes up for say 20mins webisodes.

    its possible... but i dont think local market is enough... so it'll HAVE to be global.... then what do you do? cantonese? or mandarin? if mandarin,., who are the audience? mainly FOB who work in the food establishment... and we all know the sort of stories surrounding them... still they are stories.

    second thing i wanted to express is this... why would a powerful british producer want to put any chinese in a good light? even with Xin on Corrie... she's not a good person... is she? according to chinese culture...?

    only in china where they make the white guy the attractive token guy.

    token chinese male? heck there's hardly even a token chinese female these days.

    what do you want to see bbcxeitgeist?
    by the way,,, i really would like to know your real name and see you face.

    you can see mine at
    chrisli.co.uk

    chris is my real name btw as well as stage name
    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ming Rev:

    Wha.... ? AH Dunnnoo wha... you meannn maaaan ?

    LOL

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  13. You're gonna find it hard to compete online with the plethora of Chinese productions.

    Also how good is your Chinese and knowledge of Chinese culture ? good enough to weave it into something truly worth watching.

    ni zhidao le, zhongwenhua bu shi rongyi de !!! Buguo, shenme yeh kenung !!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Okay listen, im the writer of this article, Not BBCzeitgeist.I'll take responsibility for the flack.


    BUT FIRST: to address the single positive comment from anonymous 17:59.

    Please, please, sign up for a google ID. And email the editor of this blog so i can get your email address, as i feel you had some interesting comments, and with a background in interviewing people, thats a great idea!

    In such a scenario its important that the questions would be well thought out. Please leave your email address /website address here, where you can be contacted. Thanks.

    okay now to everyone else:

    @mingrev - get a google ID. at least kai is being accountable for his unintentional comedic presence.

    @chris li - i agree with you that British Born Chinese have everyday stories to tell.And to me, the ones that worth showing are ones, at least initially, are the ones that empower us. We are already divided enough as it is. Typically, Chinese hero stories are being the underdog. And in a country like the UK, with such a minority, with such fragmentation, with such a mix, its only the hero stories that would find an audience. Typically these could be hero stories in any environment - everyday jobs, family life. etc. I think anyone could relate to these stories and these days positivity is something that is lacking. even tv drama realism these days is too exaggerated for the point of hopelessness. Someone dying every second makes great drama but isnt realistic nor uplifting. There has to be a balance. And as you say, every day life creates scenarios that you wouldnt expect. Life is sometimes stranger than fiction. Look at the comments on this blog for example :D

    Regarding production, yes i agree noone would fund that, but personally im more interested in starting off small with the idea that

    anonymous 16 August 2011 20:31

    and

    22 August 2011 17:59 suggest

    in that we first need to establish some small miniclips discussing and debating who we are and let that evolve. whatever format that would take, my opinion is that holding a video camera and interviewing people to get peoples opinions is not a bad start. Evolving mindset is key here.

    Times have changed since the missing Ch-nk, and so do people. Maybe we are more open now to new ways of thinking.

    @anonymous 23:58. Once again, in my opinion, im not interested in being involved in a 'Chinese production'. i would be interested in understanding British Chinese people and their thoughts and the way they see themselves. It's obvious that British Chinese are brainwashed beyond belief, that we end up attacking each other, instead of trying to understand each other. But again to reiterate the two positive anonymous comments that we've had so far on this page and that is keyword: evolving.

    Knowledge of Chinese culture and language has nothing to do with understanding British Born Chinese lifestyle.

    It's that exact narrowminded mindset that we can only be 'white ' or 'chinese' and not of 'chinese ethnic origin' that we end up being imbalanced and misrepresented in british media by white HAPAS or FOBS.

    Evolving. Thats the keyword IMO. And it's a challenge, but with the right group of people, not an impossible one.

    As a final note, im aware that BBCzeitgeist may be restricting this blog for an 'account only' basis for a certain time period.

    Hopefully that will encourage those of you who do have constructive / critically constructive opinions to express them with an actual google ID identity on a regular basis. If people cant seem to get that message from this article, and continue to spam like crazed trolls,then maybe that will do the trick, for the time being.

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  15. Ming Rev:

    Why should I get a Google ID when it is used for spying.

    Don't you know anything ?

    You are suggesting that there is something real about a " BBC culture ".

    OK, So what precedence is there ?

    The Black community comes to mind but if that is your model then I feel sorry for you.

    And this is not to say anything wrong with Blacks perse, but certainly it does not bode well for " mixed bbc " culture.

    And yes I am PROUDLY 100% Chinese FOB call it what you like I really don't give a you know what.

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  16. i do wonder if the some of the contributors here are spies themselves!

    chris li

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  17. i dont understand why people are hiding if they truly want a bbc society.

    is it because they are spies and are working for a higher order... and are doing this to make sure nothing will ever happen.... which in most likelihood... wont anyway.

    chris li

    stop hiding and show yourselves cowards... there lets begin by stop being so passive hiding in your holes.... show yourselves... this should be one major mindset to achieve!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Gosh, so many comments, so many different and overlapping issues to discuss here

    "TVB stories but simply set in England."

    Chris, that would be great, but obviously spoken more in english than canto/mandarin and with a pin up british ethnic chinese male model in a leading role, that is really what the british chinese requires, a touch of glitz and glamour.

    No Benedict Wong in lead roles, whilst he can do comedy, he is also one of ugliest looking Chinese men to grace the screens and wont pull an audience. Who are people going to want to watch - Bosco Wong or Benedict Wong? Theres no competition.

    I watched Benedict Wong in "My Dad the Communist," What a depressing dreary film. Whilst I cover racism extensively on this blog, its a news blog, but racism is not something I want to see covered under the banner of 'British Chinese entertainment.' I agree with britishhappychinese, we need 'uplifting' entertainment, I'm sick to death of this repetitive British Chinese racism, illegal immigrant, CD selling nonsense both on stage and the small screen.

    In TVB drama's, most of the white people in those drama's are kae lae fae, thats precisely how a British Chinese proudction should portray White people, the focus should be entirely on the Chinese characters, not this multi-cultural nonsense where its compulsory to feature non-chinese actors in Takeaway the Musical or any production about china with a white actor under the assumption an all-chinese cast will never sell to a white audience.

    Secondly, the misrepresentation of BBC males with mixed race actors who are continually cast to play BBC males - in takeaway the musical and my dad the communist - the son of 2 ethnic chinese parents were both played by mixed race, how is it possible for 2 ethnic chinese to give birth to a mixed son? When i watch something about a chinese person on TV etc I'm looking to be able to identity with him, to be represented as BBC, how am I suppose to identify with the actor if hes mixed race?

    I cannot recommend anything , not one thing that I've ever watched in the whole history British TV or film or stage production about British Chinese. what does that tell you? If anything I would rather watch a FOB TVB drama, north american chinese production or a bubbiosity youtube production, although I'm perhaps a tad too old to watching the latter, but still, thats really all we have for entertainment that is distinctly 'BBC/ABC.'

    I would also like to see a british chinese cable channel, but again, I'm well aware that nothing i've listed above will ever come to fruition - unless you are able to create your own british chinese production company with ample funding from Chinese companies or the Chinese community itself and since most of the companies are run by FOB's, we know FOB companies will only fund FOB projects.

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  19. Good on BBCZ don't let "kelly fairs" or out of touch FOB Sympatherisers bully you or undermine some of your points which I agree mostly, not to undermine your points I find slightly funny. For toooo long actors with loose morals have hijacked the agenda of chinese representation who are to be frank the biggest perpetrators of negative Chinese iconography and are all too comfortable with Mr Moto, Banzai and I-am-herbalist hehehaha type roles that don't really care about the wider cause and effect consequences that actually effect BBCs living in the Uk as long as the pay cheque comes in. To be fair Benedict Wong is a talented actor regardless of his looks, not his spoken chinese though.
    We need more BBC people to put forward more robust BBC opinions where other lames sites ignored. Personally I would of expressed similar BBCZ's sentiments but more politely myself, but hey BBCs are not clones but nuanced. I stress the point isn't to dislike other races or have a massive chip on ones shoulder, but as suggested already a more robust and defence against chinese racism and negative representation. If a role is negative racist stereotype, IT IS.

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  20. yes.... of course bbc will be the feature if ever such drama is made...
    but the question is... who is going to fund it?

    we can probably make something small scale but entertaining like a stephen chow spoof.
    all chinese cast speaking a mixture of canto and english and making fun of gwei los.... well why not... gwei los make fun of us and the blacks and browns for their own gains... but i digress.

    and then put it on youtube.....


    any material... please forward me
    chris.li.uk@hotmail.com

    thanks


    ps... still hiding are we?
    is it someone alterego?

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  21. @Chris : Thats a great idea. Unfortunately i dont have any ideas or materials for creating entertaining videos per se, as i am more interested in belonging to a group of activist-minded thinkers, hence my suggestion of getting people to create regular google ids enabling regular contribution of thought, and at some stage meet up, on a friendship basis with a goal to create a bigger platform on a partime basis which would be made possible with more varied contributors. Which im sure was stated in the article.If not i apologize for not clarifying it.

    IMO the chances of a group succeeding largely has to do with the amount of interest it can firstly gain, such as this blog. The more members, and more traffic, the higher the chances of success.

    As to any suggestions of this blog being used for spying or big brother....IMO as far as i can see theres obviously an open policy here for anyone to contribute articles freely, or email the blog author re other tissues but i'm the only one so far who has done this.

    Anyone else?

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  22. Tsk.... what you fail to realise is that many Chinese don't want to integrate or become more visible...

    Hakka are called Hakka for a reason..... they are transient peoples. Funnily and ironically my parents in moving to the UK to make money feel as if they have no home any more as their China home doesn't feel like home anymore. While the discrimination they face here means it doesnt feel like home either.

    And tbh nowhere is home for me either.

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  23. This article is about BBCs and not Chinese in general, almost all BBC's have integrated into British society, its just matter of how much they've integrated.

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  24. Us BBCs should move to Vancouver or Melbourne. At least they are ranked as one of the best cities to live, far above London, and probably have more Chinese.

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  25. I'm a BBV (British born Vietnamese) so I'm a minority of the minority. I can relate to the same sort of problems that a BBC has whilst growing up. While I do not identify as Chinese, I am in support of this mindset for BBCs. After all, if BBCs do not have their own culture then what hope is there for the other British born East Asian minorities?

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    Replies
    1. Welcome to the blog! Also nice to know you are female too.

      Yes a lot of the issues here do affect all ethnic British Born East Asians. re BBC mindset,

      Whether we have latched onto the 'te'principle 100% is anyones guess just yet lol maybe getting there

      British Vietnamese have a stronger sense of family, IMO and togetherness, and less of a white-washed attitude IMO so look forward to hearing more of your viewpoints on here.

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  26. BBCs need to stand together and stand tall. We should take this blog as a start to highlight all the problems we have and use it to our advantage, to turn the tide. Learn from the Jewish and Hindu communities and stick together.

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