Being Eurasian

Submitted by aagg on Sat, 02/01/2025 - 10:01

Thank you, jrollins, for posting your interesting chapter  p.427-440 Being Eurasian in Hong Kong | Gwulo

I wish my father could read it because for some people, the topic is sensitive.

 

Every generation that comes along, over time, has their new label / description / name, which results in the old label becoming politically incorrect for that era.  The current politically correct term is "individuals of multiracial descent".  But that is too long a name, so "Eurasian" is short and to the point.

 

Hong Kong, once being under British rule, was inevitably going to produce Eurasians.  And it is nothing new, races have been interbreeding since time immemorial.

 

My Eurasian father (Chinese father, German mother) attended Diocesan Boys' School Primary in the 1940s where there were some Eurasians, half Chinese and half English.  He then attended King George V School in the 1950s during his teenage years.  At KGV there were other Eurasian students who were of varying mixtures such as Chinese/Austrian, and Chinese/English/Japanese/Swedish.

 

Despite attending school with other Eurasians, my father had a complex about being Eurasian.  He spoke fluent Cantonese which he learnt from his amah, and he played with the local Chinese boys when he was young.  But he would sometimes refer to Chinese as "chinks" and occasionally use words like "chinky chong".  He argued that the Chinese word "gweilo" is no different.

 

One of my Chinese great-uncles, who grew up in Hong Kong in the 1900s and 1910s which was at the height of British colonialism, said that some Eurasians at that time, "were ashamed of being Eurasian".

 

Some multiracial people wrestle with the fact that they come from different ethnic backgrounds and they live their lives in a quandary: "I don't know what I am; I don't know where I belong".  Whereas others think that it is an interesting way to live, growing up experiencing both cultures.

 

I learnt about mixed race in Biology in high school in the 1980s, it is all about dominant genes as opposed to recessive genes, and some people say that is why designer babies can not be guaranteed because there is always the chance of a throwback where a recessive gene comes to the fore.  The biology teacher added that mixed race people have a positive side with their genetic make up in that it helps counter bad genes arising through in-breeding.  The biology teacher gave the example of a mixed race person, the author Han Suyin.

 

To all  Eurasians out there:

Never think that you are inferior.  You are unique, something that is different from the rest.  God the Father made you Eurasian, so be proud of who you are.

 

 

Many thanks aagg for your post.  I can personally relate to many of your comments.  My grandfather was an Englishman serving in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, my grandmother a Chinese (possibly Eurasian) woman likely his mistress or domestic.  My father never met his father, was placed in the Diocesan Orphanage, becoming a boarder in DBS, graduating in 1934 then like many Eurasians going on to serve in 3 Coy HKVDC before being wounded at Wongneichong Gap, taken prisoner then sent to Japan to perform hard labour.   My mother was Chinese from Fatshan (now Foshan).

The chapter "Being Eurasian in Hong Kong" posted by jrollins captures the attitudes of the day.  For those interested in further reading see research article "Eurasians in British Asia during the Second World War" by Felicia Yap, University of Cambridge.

Growing up in HK was confusing for me - even though I looked oriental, Chinese referred to me as "gweilo" while at the same time whites would call me Chinese (or something derogatory).  To make matters more confusing while being comfortable in spoken "street" Cantonese, my written/reading Chinese was marginal at best.  I can relate to how your father had a complex being Eurasian.  The converse was that as Eurasians we grew up knowing and experiencing both cultures - their richer sides as well as their darker sides.

Best wishes,  Mike

 

Thanks, Mike, for your reply, it's good to have an ally!

 

On the point about "confusing", my father was confused as to what his face looked like.  When he was a young man, he had movie star good looks, yet felt the need to ask his blonde German cousin, "Do you think I look Chinese?"  Whereas Chinese would ask him, "Are you from Macau?" because they thought he looked Macanese.

 

He was trilingual - English, German and Cantonese.  Chinese were surprised that he spoke fluent Cantonese (and he would listen in on strangers' Cantonese conversations). 

 

Prejudice can come from the parents:

When I was a toddler, my German mother complained to her Chinese father-in-law, my grandfather, that my eyes looked "very Chinese".  My grandfather allayed her concerns with the reply, "Don't worry, she'll grow out of it".

 

 

Funny you mentioned about your father having movie star good looks.  My dad was also reputed to have striking resemblance to Clark Gable.  Unfortunately he didn't pass those qualities down to me.....:-)