Chinesecultureinamulti-culturalsociety●林丽珠ByJulianaLimReddoorsandgreenhats!MyperiodicawakeningstothingsChinesehavealwaysbeencolourfulexperiences!IwasbornoverfourdecadesagoofWesternisedChineseparents.Theproofofmy"mixed"parentageismytriple-barrelledEuropeanname,Imightadd,withouttheMandarinappendage.Igrewupinaseriesofconventschools,worebonnetstoearlymorningMassandsangGregorianchant,thepopularEuropeanclassics,EnglishFrenchfolksongs.Mandarinlessonswerethebaneofanotherwisehappyschoollife.Ihaveonlybadmemoriesofit!AlthoughIneversufferedlaoshi'swrath,Irecollectmanyknocksontheknucklesforlessfortunateclassmates.Laoshinotonlyfailedtoinspire,sherepelledusallfromclassand,thelanguage.Fortunately,itwasnotcompulsorythentopursueMandarinasaGeneralCertificateExaminationsubjectandIdroppeditlikeaproverbialtonofbricksinSecondaryTwo.Theneighbourhoodofmychildhoodwasaninterestingone.Itwasrichlymulti-cultural,ourfamiliesalignedinourterracehousesinthiscolourfulsequence-DutchEurasianswithpinkHonolulu'sandgrestsemolinacake,MalayswithgreatHariRayafoodplatters,TamilswithequallygreatDeepavaliplatters,andthen,aPortugueseEurasianfamilywiththemostbeautifullydecoratedicedbirthdaycakes.TheChinesefamiliesnearestminewereaCantoneseandaHainanesefamily.AsIspokeonlyasmatteringofTeochew,Ididnotmixmuchwiththem.Ipreferredinsteadtohangoutwithmypop-songlovingEurasianandMalaybuddies.IfoundmyChineseneighbours'wayscrude--theyclearedtheirthroatsloudlyandspatoutphlegmintounwashedspittoonseverymorning.Theyraisedtheirshrillvoicesacrosstheplayingfield,albeitinnotunmusicaltones,tosummonchildrenhome,tosummonpetdogshomeorsimplyinpettyquarrels.Ididn'tthinkIwasmissingmuch.TheonlyfondmemoriesofmyChineseneighboursareofsilver-hairedAh---本文来源于网络，仅供参考，勿照抄，如有侵权请联系删除---PornextdoorwhogavemegeneroushongbaosatLunarNewYearandoccasionally,thefour-cornereddollpincushionswhichshemadeherself.IgrewupandoutoftheneighbourhoodnotgivingmuchthoughttomyChinese-nessorlackofit.Ialwayshave,andstillfeelfirstly,Singaporeanandsecondly,Asian.IamascomfortableenteringaHindutemple,amosque,achurchandaChinesetemple.IveertowardstheearthyartofIndia,IndonesiaandMalaysia.Iamlessexcitedbytheclassicalshan-shuipaintings,preferringthemodernworksofWuGuanzhongandNieOu.Ireceivedajoltinthelate1970swhenIlandedapositioninacommunityserviceorganisation.ItwasaculturalshocktoworkwithcolleagueswhospokemainlyinMandarinorungrammaticalEnglish;andwhoexhibitedmind-setsquitedifferentfrommyown.GreenHats"wasmycrowningachievement"inthatphase.Inmyenthusiasmtosynchroniseposters,brochuresandsunshadesforacommunityevent,Iauthorisedtheproductionofgreensunshadesforguestsandofficials.Thousandsofgreenhatsweredeliveredontheeveoftheeventandupontheirdistribution,unleashedloudwailsofobjectionfrommymalecolleaguesthatmusthaveresonatedthroughouttheisland.Ispentapenitentialweekendaugmentingthegreenwithjustatouchofred,tomakethehatsslightlymoreacceptable.HowonearthcouldIhaveknownthatgreenhatsonmensignalledthattheirwiveshadcheatedonthem?Hiterto,IassociatedgreenhatswithRobinHoodofSherwoodForest!Ittookanother10yearsformetoawakentotherealisationthatIwasmissingafairbitbyignoringmyChineseheritage.Isolatedincidentspromptedthissentiment-notbeingabletoreciprocatethechatterofaTasmanianwhohadbeentaskedtohostmeonthestrengthofhisMastersdegreeinChineseStudies.Howdisappoi...