Dear Editor,
"Jay CHO"-'Jay CHO'.
I have read with keen interest the in-depth coverage of the hardships faced by Chinese immigrants in New Zealand in your October 96 issue. This phenomenon is not limited to New Zealand only but has been experienced by Chinese people in most of the countries where they have settled.
So the question that we have to ask ourselves is whether the people in different countries who dislike Chinese are to be blamed for being intolerant and racist, or is it because we Chinese are despicable by nature? It is hard to imagine that people living in different countries with different backgrounds could be unanimous in their views towards Asians in general and Chinese in particular.
The problem must therefore be elsewhere. We are judged by the way we behave and by our attitude towards others. Chinese are ungenerous and introverted by nature and we cannot expect others to be generous and tolerant when we ourselves have these shortcomings. We cannot expect others to be democratic towards us when our own societies are undemocratic.
There is not a single country ruled by East Asian people, be it China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, or Taiwan, which is truly democratic in the real sense of the word. The death penalty, a barbaric relic, exists in all these countries where someone can be executed for a variety of reasons. We cannot expect leniency from others when we ourselves are not lenient.
Immigration implies assimilation and integration but wherever Chinese go, they tend to stick to themselves and set up China-towns. We only come out of our ghettos to study at schools and universities, where we aim at unlimited access to the best and most prestigious courses.
Countries like Singapore and Taiwan, where Chinese are the majority, severely limit access to their universities by foreign nationals, mostly ethnic Chinese from overseas, and there is widespread resentment in these countries against those lucky few who manage to gain admission.
It is therefore pointless to cry foul when countries like New Zealand and Australia try to do the same. If we are selfish and ungenerous towards fellow Chinese, how can we expect people of other races and cultures to be tolerant and generous towards us?
The time has come for us to stop being always on the taking side. It's time for us to start thinking about what we can give and contribute instead of always putting the whole wok to our mouth and then complaining that we are being unfairly treated.
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