Page 28 - 2023 eMag Final Draft
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Jointly reported by:
Lau Kai Ren Sr1ScF
Our last interviewee hails from Lee Xue Rui Sr1ScF
Australia. Daniel Zhou treasures his Foreign
upbringing surrounded by Chinese Foreign
and Australian culture. He has fond
Friends
memories of celebrating Chinese
holidays like Mid-Autumn Festival and
New Year’s with the hanging of bright Friends An EXCLUSIVE
red decorations and the consumption
of delicious zongzi and moon cakes. Interview
with
He regaled us with the history Foreigners
of the Australian Chinese diaspora. Chinatown in New York
Back during the gold rush of 1951, an Attending KCHS!
influx of Chinese prospectors came
to the British colony in search of a
A
richer future. They eventually settled t the start of each year, I’m sure you will look through your class’ name list,
down in Australia after the rush, and either curious about potential friends or looking for familiar names. Among the sea of
the first wave of Chinese immigrants Lees, Tans, and Wongs, sometimes a unique name pops out at you. It is unlike the typical
entrenched themselves in Australian 3-word English-spelt name the average Chinese student has, but rather a 2-word name
society. Nowadays, Australia has a with a foreign pronunciation. However, it is rare to find such names. A fellow reporter
similar Chinese immigration boom, and I, curious about how the high school experiences of these students differ from the
with Daniel reporting an increased typical Chinese student, scouted for foreigners in our beloved school to learn more about
number of first and second generation their experiences.
migrants. The suburbs of Box Hill
and Glen Waverly are predominantly The first person that came to our mind
inhabited by a Chinese community. In was a good friend of ours who happens to be
the cities, there are officially sanctioned Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur Korean! This lovely individual is Victoria
Chinatown areas in the Central Hwang from JR3S3, who agreed to have
Business Districts (CBD), but most a chat with us about her history. She was
Chinatowns started out as rural towns born in Korea and lived there for three years
founded by Chinese settlers during the before migrating to Malaysia. We knew we
gold rush. would learn a lot about her experiences
at Kuen Cheng High School as she had
attended preschool in Korea and lived there for a few years before coming to Malaysia.
“No matter where you visit, chances are that there’s a thriving Chinatown district
somewhere in the city. Pay them a visit, and you might just learn something new To provide a bit of additional context, Victoria’s parents decided to migrate their
about our Chinese heritage.” family to Malaysia as they look highly upon Chinese education here. She is also very
fluent in English as she consumed a fair amount of English media during her childhood.
Attending SJK(C) Kuen Cheng 1 had helped facilitate her integration into Chinese
student life when friendships were formed with a few local friends during her time there.
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