Being a South African Chinese

Me...

I was born on Tuesday 22 July 1980 at Marymount Hospital in Johannesburg. I grew up in Southdale, a suburb in the South of Johannesburg. I attended an english primary (co-ed and government) and high school. My second language was Afrikaans (I even got a distinction for this in matric!).

I am a second generation South African Chinese and I have lived in Johannesburg most of my life, except for about a year in Cape Town for work and 2 months in London. I have always spoken english at home because my parents speak english, their parents spoke different dialects of chinese.  My mom is Cantonese, her parents, who were born in Canton, moved to Port Elizabeth in South Africa when they were young. My dad is Hakka (ancestors originally from Meixian in China) and his parents came over to live in East London in South Africa.

Chinese in South Africa...

The local South African community is very small (I recall estimates around 10k). There are some community groups who get together for chinese celebrations (like for thr Chinese New Year & Debutante Balls) and sports (like the annual Easter Tournament which is held in a different city each year). Back in the day, I used to play basketball and do chinese dancing for a local chinese club. There is an old 'Chinatown' in Commissioner Street in Johannesburg. Today, there are still a couple of Chinese restaurants and grocery stores. There is a newer 'Chinatown' in Cyrildene, east Johannesburg, which has quite a lot of shops. There are a few chinese community centres and the Chinese Kuo Ting School off Grayston Drive. Today there are a lot of foreign chinese/taiwanese living in South Africa and there are many asian malls selling cheap clothing, appliances, stationery, jewelry - actually anything you can think of! Many of the local chinese have emmigrated to Australia, New Zealand, UK and the US.

During apartheid, unlike the Japanese, Chinese were classified as non-whites and were discriminated in the most inhumane way. My dad often tells me stories of how badly they were treated. I was fortunate not to have experienced any of this.

Being a South African Chinese...post apartheid

In 1994, when I was 14 years old, apartheid in South Africa ended. 27 April 1994 was declared Freedom Day (which is now a public holiday), I was fortunate to have danced at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela at the Union Buldings in Pretoria on this very day. A big turning point for our country, the day we celebrated our freedom as a democracy. 

Today, Chinese in South Africa are still a minority and still there appears to be confusion regarding which race chinese fall under. Only in 2008, were Chinese regarded as 'previously disadvantaged individuals' and allowed to participate in most equity employment schemes. Most race classifications on forms/surveys don't have a category for Chinese, they only list White, Black, Coloured and Indian.

I have grown up in a western society and admit that I don't know much about my heritage/culture. Sadly both my grandparents have passed away so along with that so has many information and traditions. Having this year, I plan to learn more about china, the history of my ancestors, the culture/traditions, chinese in South Africa, etc.

I am and always will be a proud South African but it will be amazing to learn more about where I come from especially now that China is becoming a dominant force in the world. I have started learning Mandarin and look forward to my journey of discovery and learnings about Chinese.

A good interesting link about chinese in SA and the history:

http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=875

How Boston differs to South Africa... part 3

Food
- Americans call Orange Sweet Melon, Canteloupe
- Popular foods here in Boston include Clam Cowder, Bagels and Lobster
- Authentic foods: most restaurants are run by that nationality i.e. Indian food is sold by Indians. Even when you order online, your food is delivered by an Indian person!

Shops
- We have noticed that a lot of lower end, factory/discount/liquidation shops have closed (since Athol was last here). Strange since with the tough recession times, one would think that the cheaper shops would flourish, need to figure this out
- When you order house items e.g. chairs, tables, couches, etc.  the norm is that most come unassembled. Then you need to pay extra for assembly.  Do-it-yourself (DIY) furniture is not very big in SA and most furniture arrives assembled unless otherwise stated
- Most services like telephone, cable TV, electricity, cellphones are not state owned or run by one/two sole providers (like Telkom/Eskom, Vodacom in SA) but privately run by many companies allowing for competitiveness amongst service providers for customers

Housing
- Rent is fairly high, in Cambridge you will pay nothing less than $1500 p.m for an unfurnished studio apartment (i.e. R12,500) excluding utilities. For this rental you could rent a house in CT/JHB (obviously dependent on location and quality, note however rentals are cheaper further out of Cambridge)
- Internet is common, fast and fairly cheap
- There are 'Buyer' real estate brokers where the buyer will pay a commission to the broker (whereas in SA the seller pays the commission). Commission is similar to SA about 7%-10% commission

Other interesting things
- Laundry rooms in apartment blocks are internet connected so you can check online to see if there are washing/drying machines available, or how long longer your load of washing will take so you don't have to sit in the laundry room waiting for your washing - such a great idea
- Americans call a base for mattress a 'box-spring'. In SA we call it a 'base'

Play Ball! Watching the Yankees play the Red Sox

Last night Athol and I went to Fenway Park to see the Boston Red Sox play the New York Yankees. What an awesome experience! The atmosphere was really incredible. Amazing how sports unite people. The game lasted 4 hours, ending with the Yankees beating the Red Sox 10-8.

Baseball is not very popular in SA but I really like it.

Some cool facts/things I nocticed at the game that I thought I'd share:

- At the beginning, there were some members of the US airforce who parachuted into the stadium - very cool! Being part of the US Navy/airforce/army is a huge thing in the US, these men and women are highly respected unlike in South Africa

- Every few innings, the sweepers come on and sweep the sand

- A really nice they do, is that they allow people to take home any baseballs that they catch and they often (almost after every ball is used!) use new balls so then just throw the used balls into the crowd - an awesome souvenir for any supporter.

- Each batter has a signature song, so it is played every time that batter comes on. Punto's 'Who let the dogs out' got a few barks from the crowd when he came on :)

- During some of the innings they play some songs for the crowd to sing along to, they played Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline' (not sure how this links back to baseball!) and the crowd just loved this! I guess that there a lot of Neil Diamond fans out there :)

- These baseball players get well paid, Red Sox salaries range from $1m-$21m a year - somewhat ridiculous considering most of these guys are much younger than me!

- There is a Citgo electronic advertisement board just outside Fenway Park, this company went out of business years ago but the sign board was left since supporters felt that this was part of the Fenway "landscape" as seen in many photos of the stadium

How Boston differs to South Africa... part 2

So my analytical husband challenged me on my quest to compare a city with a country... fair point! When I say South Africa I mean Johannesburg and Cape Town in general as the smaller towns are very different to these two cities.

How Boston differs to South Africa... continued

- They have Zipcars, a wonderful invention where you can book a car online (there are many cars parked around Boston) and use it for a certain time period and then just return it to where it was parked. Far cheaper than buying a car
- Public transport (bus, subway, taxis) is huge here in US, unlike SA where most people have a car
- Baseball, ice hockey, basketball  and american football are the popular sports. Surprisingly soccer has become fairly popular here
- Education is critical. Everyone is educated. A Masters is the norm whereas in SA the majority of people don't have a Matric Pass never mind Honours/Masters
- Most food/grocery items are super-sized and the variety is amazing
- When you buy electrical appliances they try sell you insurance with it
- Grocery bags (paper or plastic) are free, even when you order online. Unlike, in SA where we now pay for plastic bags at grocery shops
- Their debit/credit card machines by cashiers are operated with a "pen" by the customer who signs and approves the transaction

Some obvious differences:
- They drive on the right side of the road whereas we drive on the left side in SA
- Their weather is more extreme than SA, summers are extremely hot and winters extremely cold (or so I will learn!)
- Their voltage is 110W compared to 220W back home. Plugs differ. They don't have on/off switches on the plugs like we do in SA
- US use dollars and have a $50 note even - equivalent to over R400 (the biggest note in SA is R200)

Some similarities which I was surprised by:
- We both have whales coming to our shores (CT in SA)

Celebrating Independence Day

Today is the Fourth of July, today Americans celebrate their independence from Great Britain in 1776. Major festivities are planned around the country. Here in Boston, celebrations started yesterday at the Esplanade on the Charles River and will continue throughout today ending with a huge fireworks display tonight.

What I really admire about the American culture is the 'can do' attitude and their patriotism. They are proud to be American and believe that they can do anything...  South Africans could learn from this.  There is a sense of togetherness even in a city like Boston where there are so many foreigners. Despite religion, culture, favourite sports team or country of origin... today people unite and celebrate being American!

Happy Fourth of July!

How Boston is different to South Africa... part 1

Some small differences that I've noticed here in Cambridge...

- They have traffic lights (we call them robots back home) that count down when you can walk and when it will stop
- They recycle paper, plastic, etc. in a major way
- There is a lot of waste, packaging is of high quality and everything is wrapped (our broom arrived in a huge box! so unnecessary)
- They have garbage disposals
- They don't have walls (and electric fences, etc.) around their houses
- They have 'refill' vouchers for your cellphone (we call them recharge vouchers back home)
- They say 'all set?' when we would say 'all good/ok?'
- They say that the shop 'carries' the item whereas we say 'stock'
- There are a lot of bicycles (not motor bikes)
- There are parks and play pens all over
- There are emergency/assistance machines all over for pedestrians
- Nobody gives out bank details for EFTs, you must either pay cash or write a check
- Service is great, most people are educated

A higher standard of living

I have noticed that Americans have a higher standard of living than back home in South Africa.

Security is not an issue - there are no walls, electric fences, alarms, etc. Anyone can walk right up to your front door. You can walk around late at night by yourself, it is safe.

Everything works - guess that's one of advantages of a developed country. Public transport is always on time. Online food ordering is the norm. Service is great, they deliver things when they say they will. The postal system is efficient. People are friendly and are willing to help.

Quality of life - all the packaging are good quality. Basic items are of good quality... things are bigger and better!   Roads are constantly kept clean. They recycle. There are assistance machines all over.

So overall, it seems that the US standard of living is better