I'll admit it. My first reaction was annoyance. Oh great, she's Asian. Here we go again.
Yellow Fever. China Girl, Geisha Girl, Manchu Girl. Peking Duck. Asian Lolitas. These and other ugly terms have been flying around this week. They're casually dropped, often "as a joke". Often by people others might categorise as informed, intelligent, even culturally aware. So what's wrong with using them?
Try walking around in my skin for a week. I'm a born-and-bred Aucklander. Most of the time I feel pretty normal. But something like the Len Brown affair hits the media and I remember all the times I've had to fend off unwanted comments, "jokes" or advances.
Asian people are not stereotypes. We are not viper-like "dragon mistresses", nor are we little girl-women who can be innocent and slutty at the same time. We are not Tiger Mums. We are people. Individuals. And not all of us can do kung fu.
Chinese people have been living in New Zealand since 1842. But from the beginning, we've had image problems. First there was "Yellow Peril" - cue political cartoons depicting Chinese as deformed monsters. Then we became the "model minority" - quiet achievers, good at keeping our heads down and not making too much fuss. It's only recently we have become more confident, seeking office, making art and films, writing books. You need this background to understand the reaction to Bevan Chuang's actions. There's been a lot of anger, even shame. That's natural. Bevan is well known to many in our community. She represented us on the Ethnic People's Advisory Panel, she's been highly visible at public events, a natural networker. As a "1.5 generation" Kiwi Chinese and fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, she has been seen as able to bridge the gap.
