Thursday, October 12, 2006

chinese restaurants


No, this is not another gastronomic post. The gastronomic theme here serves only as a background for a greater story, that of the Chinese diaspora. This is a wonderful documentary series directed by Hong Kong born Canadian director Cheuk Kwan. I watched only a couple of episodes on Singapore's Channel News Asia and was deeply moved by the stories, portraits of Chinese families who left their country, fleeing from either Communism or poverty (or both), moving to far away places such as Cuba, Argentina, Israel, Brazil, Norway and Trinidad & Tobago. They are stories of hardship and suffering, but also of survival and adaptation. And although it's predominantly a look at the past, it feels more actual than ever. For human migration, culture clash, and quest for identity seems very much relevant these days. As Mr Kwan asks: “How do you survive in a place where you do not belong?”.

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