Been sitting in Draft mode since 3/2/2011 so I figured I should let it loose finally!

People often say that you need to know where you are from before you know where you are going to.

Now, because of my Australian accent and, strangely, not-so-genuinely-Chinese looks*, I am often asked where I was from? This happens even right here in Singapore, a place I have been living and working in for close to 9 years.

For a period of time while I was overseas, since my point of departure was Singapore and the fact that I have been in Singapore for more than a decade by now, it was actually natural to answer “Singapore” when asked where I came from. However, being rather pedantic about such things, I know deep down that this is not the whole truth. There is the matter of Vietnam, Taiwan and Australia.

Sometimes, I do wonder a little: where is my home?

There are certain allegiances that I feel compelled to follow: my cultural heritage (Chinese), place of my upbringing and whose values I uphold (Australia) or a place of convenience (Singapore)?

* This is in spite of the 100% Chinese pedigree for, well, at least the past 4-5 generations!? However, after 30-odd years, I do have a plausible explanation for this conundrum.