[Comic] We were all frogs in the well
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"Studying abroad for many years, for a long time I never came into contact with 'real' young Chinese, so I was shocked and stunned when I did. Education and the system can really change a person. We have gradually drifted apart. Recently, a friend who was originally from China and now has Singaporean citizenship confided in me that she was always bothered by the issue of national identity. To Singaporeans, it seemed she was still that good student from China, but to the Chinese, she was no longer a Chinese. My friend asked: 'So who are we?' I teased her: 'We might be products of a mixed culture.' A traditional Chinese upbringing, an elite Singaporean education, plus the influence of other cultures thrown in. We can no longer define ourselves by nationality. A Western education would tell us to be ourselves, but the contradiction is that we need national identity to give us a sense of belonging and identity. Sadly, we often identify with other cultures, and when I meet young Chinese of today, that sense of unfamiliarity proves that we are no longer the same type of people. I don't have to pity you, nor you me. And we come back to the question: what are we?" - Bai Yi
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