Category: Culture
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Fusion foods: a Bite Out of History
Asian Australian relationships with our cultural foods are varied and complex. While many recipes and practices can be traced back generations – true products of a unique culture, tradition, and history – others have arisen out of a long and complicated relationship with the West. Just like the plethora of modern Asian-fusion restaurants in the…
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How Korean Aussies in K-pop made me love being Asian-Australian
By Charlene Behal For me, the identity of being Asian-Australian is still relatively new to me. I already had a script prepared for when people I met asked me ‘Where are you from?’ The expectation for us, Asian-Australians, was never simply ‘Australia’. I knew that the world’s perception of Australians was simple and a bit…
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From West to East: Reading with an Asian lens
By Charlene Behal When I was younger, I was an avid reader. Literacy was my favourite subject in primary school, and English my favourite in high school. Writing and reading quickly became my passions, even before I was conscious of it. As a sheltered Asian kid, my experiences were limited but I always sought stories…
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AAP Editors’ Picks: May-July
*DISCLAIMER: This post was originally supposed to be published in May 2022. However, due to scheduling delays, AAP had to push back the publishing date to July 2022. The month of May was an exciting and eventful one for Asians in Australia, and also around the globe. I was lucky enough to spend this May…
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Racism has a colour, and it’s white.
Something is festering in Australia. Its roots are deep and pervasive. The trail of destruction and harm it brings to our society and communities. It consumes people, even driving people to death.
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‘Tan and Lovely?’ – the intersection of colourism as an Asian-Australian
When people I meet find out that I’m half Indian, they often say, ‘Oh but you don’t look Indian!’, as if it’s a compliment, and that I deserve to be congratulated for having light skin. The one thing that I have had to face growing up at the intersection of having mixed Asian heritage is…
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Rama-Done Well
As the first week of Ramadan finishes, I am filled with joy and gratitude that I am blessed to see another holy month, inshallah (God-willing). This past week, I gave a speech at an interfaith event where Muslim students broke their fasts with non-Muslim students. That night, a successful and supportive open dialogue was born.…
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From Mikamo to Tyra Banks: A History of the Double Eyelid Surgery 
For many East Asians with monolid eyes, the prospect of double eyelid surgery looms over us. We are bombarded with images of doe-eyed girls, confronted with shelves stocked full of double-eyelid tape and glue, and, occasionally, presented with the surgery as the ultimate birthday or graduation gift. Regardless of whether we choose to undergo the…
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We Are Not the Same: Growing Up Without Asian Australian Role Models
Not all heroes wear capes or yellow full body tracksuits. These heroes aren’t necessarily martial artists or warriors of folk tales from bygone eras. Although Western societal stereotypes of Asian minorities are becoming more and more associated with contemporary ones, not all role models are doctors (or playing one), dancers or high earning data crunchers.…
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一月十蛋 | One Month, Ten Eggs
“Have you eaten yet?”. Words of comfort from our family, friends, and peers. Those words we hear replace questions of “how are you?”. Food is unquestionably, inextricably linked with the way we interact with our cultures and how it has shaped our identity. Deborah Prospero shares a short story exploring how food is just another…
asianaustralianproject.com 