Identity

I thought I would like to talk about Chineseness, but then I realized I could never talk about Chineseness in the singular, as if there was one single thing (or a set of things) unifying those who identitied themselves as Chinese.

Chinesenesses are something complex, confusing and involve power, power about who have the right to say what, to define what being a Chinese mean. "Chineseness" in English has less historical or political burdens. Try to say that in Chinese, do you want to say 中國人, 華人 or what? And how about the Chinese languages? 華語? And what's in and what's out? Who's in and who's out? Does Chinese only include Han Chinese? Too many questions.

An "Other" is needed to construct the "Us". I wrote this sentence in the passive voice on purpose. If I say "We need the Other to construct the Us", a "we" is already assumed. It is through differences, through knowing who we are not that we come to understand who we are. The visit to the mosque last week was a good example. I was aware how different I looked, dressed, and behaved, first as opposed to our Muslim hosts, then as opposed to those who who were not from Hong Kong among the interfaith group. The distinctiveness of how the group of local Hong Kong people behaved and reacted and responded became more prominent there than in a group with local Hong Kongers only. But of course, the issues of gender, social status, religion all further complicate the matter. What about a local born Muslim of non-Chinese heritage but who can speak fluent Cantonese? If language is the carrier of culture, who does that mean to that local born Muslim whom I am quite sure would be regarded as the Other by most local Hong Kongers? And what does this "local" mean?

It is through interacting with others that I know who I am. I hope my understanding of the Self and the Us would remain fluid enough to be more inclusive than exclusive.

And my Chineseness? I still haven't a clue.