Made in South Africa

If i got 20cents everytime somebody asked me what race i am i would be a millionaire by now. My whole life i have been confronted with this question and only until i reached matric did i come to terms with my heritage and truly embrace it.

I am proudly made in South Africa...

Quite literally i am the product of different raced parents brought together in joburg. my parents met many years ago in Johannesburg when they both moved from their respective towns seeking to fulfill their dreams and goals.

I usually call myself 'Chinese' to avoid any further questions from people because my roots are quite an entangled web.

not that i mind telling people where i come from, but because it becomes quite a long conversation or more a Q & A session than anything.

Do you speak Chinese? ----> NO!

Have you been to China? ----YES!

Do you eat noodles every night? ----> NO!

well you get my drift..

To be technical my father is half Chinese and half Afrikaans but more Afrikaans than he looks. He grew up on a farm in Port Elizabeth, his grandfather was the headmaster of the Chinese school in the town but he grew up speaking fluent Afrikaans and working in his dad's shop.

Since he works in construction his skin is quite tanned so during the apartheid era my aunt nicknamed him "Mario" so he could pass as a continental something and get work.

On my mother's side her father was adopted and then had an arranged marriage to her mom back in China. They eventually moved to Cape Town where they started up a string of family shops in Retreat. If you speak to the older generation of folk there they fondly refer to my grandad as the "mayor of Retreat" because of his influence and well known presence in the community.

Well put them in a pot and mix them around and you get my siblings and i.

We don't speak or write or understand Chinese but we love our Chinese roots nonetheless.

I love the new generation of proudly made South Africans.. you can see how we love our country and don't see race but embrace all no matter where they come from or how they were made.