In an ideal society, each human being should be free to seek, aim for and achieve his or her full potential and endeavors to pursue life, liberty and happiness to the fullest, without barriers and obstructions placed upon this very basic quest.
Those among us who are ethnic Chinese born and raised overseas outside of the homeland from China, some 35 million to 50 million of us, resettled in over 135 countries around the world, have one thing in common, i.e.:
We all have had to grapple with and struggle against ethnic and racial discrimination, cultural and political exclusion, marginalization as minorities within majority societies
These socities, often claim to be open societies, diverse, and tolerant, embued with democratic values with protections for those who are powerless, disenfranchised, or simply look different. In truth, what is being promoted a open is in reality close if not bigoted.
We also have to cope with issues of identity and the dilemna of ethnic disidentification and self-denigration from within our own.
What is our sense of "Chineseness" or "of being a Huaren" wherever we have resettled and replanted our roots in the Global Chinese Diaspora ?
As a minority all my living life, a Chinese living overseas away from China, I have come to realize that my life is a perpetual quest to achieve the goal set forth above. Yet I also realize that we have to be bold, tenacious, and creative in overcoming the racism, exclusion, and disempowerment inflicted upon me and all other ethnic and racial minorities in this global transmigration of peoples scattered all over this earth.
Racism is a fact of life for all diasporic peoples living as minorities in majority societies. And our vigilance to resist and fight back must be relentless and steadfast.With the emergence of China, the homeland, as the "economic engine and factory of the world," and the shifts accompanying globalization and new technology, the issues confronting the Chinese living overseas have become much more complex and pose more challenges in this quest.
I call upon all ethnic Chinese around the world, living outside in Diasporic communities scattered in over 135 countries, whether Anglophone or Sinophone, or otherwise, to explore a "Third Space" in creative, intellectual, innovative thinking, to build upon our rich experiences straddling and transcending multi-and-varied cultural-social-political cultures. and to come up with ideas and visions of what our "promised land" should be in these ever-rapid changes and shifting sands of globalization we are experiencing around us, wherever the ethnic Chinese overseas have resettled in search of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Together, with our collective "brain power," I know we can share and build upon this synergy and come up with creative solutions for human society, far more responsive, creative, and innovative than the ones we have seen happening in Western and Asian societies today, with the "tigers" of governments which are often placing barriers, obstructions, and roadblocks in our quest to achieve our full potential in the world of men.Think and live "outside of the box."Join my vision.
E-mail: edwardmliu@gmail.com
