Dear Editor:
As an Overseas Chinese, I have always had a strange feeling of pride about my Chinese culture and the China my grandfather told me about. But ironically, both in Malaysia, where I grew up, and in New Zealand, to which I immigrated two years ago, I have always felt a sense of rootlessness because of being Chinese. The source of this feeling is the fact that, although a Chinese, I have never stepped on Chinese soil, and know only a very little about China. But when I am with other people my age, and the topic turns to this rootless feeling, I find that the others don't feel the same way. I admit that I don't know much about China, so I often take the chance to read up on mainland Chinese and Taiwanese affairs in journals, books, magazines and newspapers, and am fairly sensitive to the nuances of cross-strait issues. But my friends don't seem to know anything about these things, and I have discovered that my "Chinese-ness" was stronger than theirs. Why?
I thought about this question for a long time. I think it has to do with my long-standing relationship with Sinorama. From the time I was little, my mother often borrowed copies from our local Chinese school, and I would always page through them, looking at the pictures. As my grasp of Chinese characters slowly grew, I began to read a few articles that interested me. Now, when I borrow Sinorama, I read it from cover to cover and hardly miss a word. I think this slow accumulation of knowledge over the years has shaped my strong sense of Chinese identity and my strong resistance to assimilation.
Thank you, Sinorama, for providing so much information about the big world and the Chinese people in it. Thanks for all the material about Chinese culture, which helps us Chinese living in foreign lands to be able to maintain our cultural heritage intact. For all you have done for us, thank you!
