Does My Future Lie in China or America?

[achtungbaby]

by Robert Dunn
Chinese Digest, May 15, 1936

Throughout the early years of the life of any American-born Chinese, he or she is constantly confronted with an important problem, the decision of which will inevitably influence, if not determine his or her future happiness and success. The problem has been well-expressed in the question: "Does My Future Lie in China or America?"

Having been born in America (Roxbury, Mass., 1915), I, too, have been haunted with this problem. Which road should I choose? Which is more advantageous? Which road would lead to more happiness and greater success?

full story (http://yellowworld.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=103&mode=thread&order=1&thold=-1)

[SunWuKong]

where did you find that article? it's a pretty good one.

whether to work in china or the US is something i've asked myself. more specifically the question was whether to work in HK or the US. perhaps it was easier for me to make my decision because i actually had my childhood in HK. i did not really have any question of allegiance like the writer. perhaps it's because back in his day and what was going on in china, it was a natural question to ask. but now the world is alot more peaceful and people are more concerned with their own individual lives. i have asked myself what i would do in the nightmarish scenario where the US and China went to war. i can't decide who i would support in that case. perhaps that depends on the cause of the war. but either way i'd have to say that i would somehow work with peace advocacy groups, either within china or within the US.

i basically had 2 questions to consider. one, would i be happy and adjust well to HK society? two, would i find work with comparable pay in HK? the second question was answered when i got a very good offer from a company in HK. the first question was answered when i considered that a chance to live and work in HK doesn't come by very often. so i did it.

now i'm back in US. the second question which i've answered before has gone bust, along with another famous bust that just happened not long ago, if you know what i mean. i love HK but it didn't make any sense for me to stay there any longer. but having worked over there, i have become quite addicted to the idea of working overseas. now with no hesitation i would love to try working in a number of cities in asia.

the question of identity is something that i see alot of asian americans ask with respect to what people would think of them in asia. many people have lamented that they are not accepted as truly asians in asia. i can only speak from my own experience, which is that of living in HK. my friends think of me as sort of half chinese and half westerner. they have called me names but they have always done this in an adoring and playful manner. the point is that they never looked down on me because of it. quite the opposite, HK society and people in mainland china has presumptions about overseas chinese people as being more educated, intelligent, and richer - which is something that i do not like. do i think they truly accepted me as just chinese? no i don't think so. they've always thought of me as something between an american and a chinese, or an overseas chinese. but the fact of the matter is - i am a chinese american or overseas chinese. so what i have to say is, if you go to asia, unless you've fully accepted that you're not just plain asian, unless you feel very comfortable with your identity as asian american, you'd find it uncomfortable that people do not accept you as simply asian. but for me, i actually loved it when my friends call me buhn yan buhn gwai (half man half ghost).

[artsfartsyjanet]

I was surfing through the internet one day thirsting for literature written by Asian Americans (specifically Chinese American) and stumbled over it. I thought it would be nice to share. =)

[SunWuKong]

I was surfing through the internet one day thirsting for literature written by Asian Americans (specifically Chinese American) and stumbled over it.  I thought it would be nice to share.  =)


ah, you were the one who found it. are there similar articles like that? i mean writings from the same era that this one was from? care to give me a link for it?

[ChinaLama]

USA all the way, baby! (well more like I'm too lazy to learn nuff Chinese to work in China ;))

[kasia]

i'm trying to get a fulbright grant to work in hong kong. i'm wondering if indigent people there are provided for free legal services--perhaps i could start some sort of pilot program. (and while i'm there i can stalk all of the stars).

i do want to work in h.k. for at least a year, though.

[deez nuts]

Yeah USA for me too. Medical technology and advances better in the states. More opportunities in medicine here, as well.

[SunWuKong]

USA all the way, baby! (well more like I'm too lazy to learn nuff Chinese to work in China ;))

actually you don't need to know any chinese to work in china. many expats there don't speak chinese. although it would certainly help. i know white people who are fluent in mandarin. and in HK there are white people who are fluent in cantonese, but they're usually brits who had been raised there.


i'm trying to get a fulbright grant to work in hong kong.  i'm wondering if indigent people there are provided for free legal services--perhaps i could start some sort of pilot program.  (and while i'm there i can stalk all of the stars).

i do want to work in h.k. for at least a year, though.

yes i think there's something like that. i remember a friend of mine said he had a lawyer friend who was helping immigrants from the mainland do some paperwork for free. but if you're going to help indigent people, you've got to brush up on your chinese!

and another thing, if you really love HK, i think you'll come to find that you'll want to stay there for much longer than a year. most people who go to live in HK will experience this:

1) first, excitement at having moved to such a bustling city
2) at the 6-month mark, you will get homesick, and start to get sick of the city
3) after that you will either really love it, or really hate it

[strawberry05]

I think China will be the next dominant country in the world. Although there are many problems that it will encounter in the future like AIDS, health care, enviromental abuses, corruption in the government etc, it is poised to become the most influential/powerful nation on earth. This might not happen in my lifetime (I'm 19) but I'm confident that if China is able to get its act together, it will to overtake the USA.

fyi, i'm chinese-american, born in the good ole US of A. i'm not bashin usa or anythin like that, if i had to choose, i would pick usa for now, but for my children and descendants, china

[SunWuKong]

fyi, i'm chinese-american, born in the good ole US of A. i'm not bashin usa or anythin like that, if i had to choose, i would pick usa for now, but for my children and descendants, china


that's something which i've recently started thinking about. i would like my children to be very in touch with chinese culture and the chinese-speaking world. but at the same time, i have no doubt that the US offers a more nurturing environment for children to grow up in than in asia. i know it's possible, if rare, to grow up being very in touch with chinese culture in america. but it's just not the same as growing up in a city that's predominantly chinese. however, if i raise my children in asia, they will definitely be sent to international schools.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Morientes@Aug 12 2002, 12:21 PM
Just on a side note: who would you support if China goes to war against USA. I had a friend from HK who stated that because USA was always making trouble in Asia he was going to -- get this  party on the anniversary of 11 September 2002. I don't know about you but this shocked me. :(
that's a rather extremist thing to say for your friend. but in general, people outside the US, and especially those in non-Western nations, don't really support US foreign policy of active involvement in just about everybody's business. i was in HK when 9-11 happened. people were just as shocked as everywhere else and the only thing that was on all the TV channels for an entire day were the replay of the plane crashes. people felt that it was tragic, but the general concensus was that the US indirectly contributed to it with their foreign policy in the middle east. there was almost no support for the US attacking Afghanistan because at the time, the US did not want to present evidence to international groups any findings in its investigation. to the international community, the US basically pointed the finger and said that it was attacking, regardless of any objections. it's not just HK, most people outside the US has a distaste of the kind of propaganda that comes out of the US government which seems to claim a higher moral ground on everything to justify its actions.

if china and the US went to war, i seriously don't know which side i would support. it will have to depend on the situation. i support china-taiwan reunification, but not by force. i would definitely not support china if it attacked taiwan. but regardless of which side i support, i will find a way to help advocate peace.



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