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I do not profess to having a monopoly of knowledge as an insider over the non-Chinese outsider, but the clear advantage in researching the familiar is that I had the benefit of possessing an understanding of Chinese culture and its nuances which would have taken time for the non-Chinese researcher to become acquainted with. And time is often of the essence in research projects.
Having covered some of the aspects in which I influenced the research, I would like to now consider the ways in which I have developed a greater self-awareness and understanding of the issue of cultural identity by having done this sociological research.
My background is like this. I was born in Fanling in the New Territories of Hong Kong, the youngest of six children. At the age of five, accompanied by my mother, one sister and one brother, we flew to England to join the rest of the family there (which included my father and my three other brothers).
During my upbringing in England there appeared to be no question of my cultural identity. I considered myself first and last, Chinese. Physically I stood out amongst the Caucasians in the ethnically homogenous small town where I grew up. At home we spoke our Cantonese dialect and ate Chinese food. We were quite isolated geographically, and I rarely came into contact with other Chinese except when we made infrequent trips to London's Chinatown. Because I rarely saw our relatives, the only Chinese people I associated with were my nuclear family,
With regard to racism and discrimination I think I have been fairly fortunate, for I am not aware of having suffered anything more than verbal abuse in the playground from white students. However, discrimination is so insidious that one is not usually conscious of the fact that one is a target. And it was not until this research that I consciously and deliberately contemplated this issue. In the study, I posed the question about racism and discrimination in the British labour market and, strangely, almost without exception the respondents could recall anecdotal evidence of people they knew who had experienced discrimination, yet claimed that they themselves had not been victims.
I believe as do the majority of the Chinese respondents that the Chinese have a fairly positive image in the eyes of the British. The Chinese are
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I do not profess to having a monopoly of knowledge as an insider over the non-Chinese outsider, but the clear advantage in researching the familiar is that I had the benefit of possessing an understanding of Chinese culture and its nuances which would have taken time for the non-Chinese researcher to become acquainted with. And time is often of the essence in research projects.
Having covered some of the aspects in which 1 influenced the research, I would like to now consider the ways in which I have developed a greater self-awareness and understanding of the issue of cultural identity by having done this sociological research.
My background is like this. I was born in Fanling in the New Territones of Hong Kong, the youngest of six children. At the age of five, accompanied by my mother, one sister and one brother, we flew to England to join the rest of the family there (which included my father and my three other brothers).
During my upbringing in England there appeared to be no question of my cultural identity. I considered myself first and last, Chinese. Physically I stood out amongst the Caucasians in the ethnically homogenous small town where I grew up. At home we spoke our Cantonese dialect and ate Chinese food. We were quite isolated geographically, and I rarely came into contact with other Chinese except when we made infrequent trips to London's Chinatown. Because I rarely saw our relatives, the only Chinese people I associated with were my nuclear family,
With regard to racism and discrimmation I think I have been fauly fortunate, for I am not aware of having suffered anything more than verbal abuse in the playground from white students. However, discrimination is so insidious that one is not usually conscious of the fact that one is a target. And it was not until this research that I consciously and deliberately contemplated this issue. In the study, I posed the question about racism and discrimination in the British labour market and, strangely, almost without exception the respondents could recall anecdotal evidence of people they knew who had experienced discrimination, yet claimed that they themselves had not been victim.
I believe as do the majority of the Chinese respondents that the Chinese have a fairly positive image in the eyes of the British. The Chinese are
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