The inevitable question: “Who am I?”
“You are the roads you’ve traveled, the books you’ve read, and the people you’ve loved.” We often go through life’s ups and downs, constantly asking ourselves this question: “Who am I?”
Image credit@banai.shunz
As Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary and reinforces the Canadian values such as diversity, multiculturalism, inclusion, and compassion, the increasing uncertainty and hostility towards worldwide refugee crisis, no doubt, has forced many Canadians to examine and redefine our value systems.
Unlike the “strong and free” Canada, Taiwan is “the orphan of Asia”. The Japanese colonization and the Han culture dominance brought by KMT from China has made the identity issue very real, often a constant struggle and a cause of generational rifts. It is also a hotly debated topic among new Canadian immigrants with Chinese heritage.
Taiwanfest’s theme “Kanpai, Japan!” recognizes Japanese culture is a very important part of Taiwan’s cultural heritage. By having a dialogue with the Japanese community, Taiwanfest hopes to encourage more dialogue among different communities in Canada. Together, by examining and reflecting the roads we have traveled, we may inspire the future generations to cultivate a more diverse but still harmonious society.
No doubt, Taiwanfest will provide me an opportunity to examine the state of my mental cultural mosaic, and to ponder the percentage of my Japanese/Taiwanese/Chinese heritage under my Canadian identity. More importantly, how does this heritage shape my proud Canadian identity? And how does my value system impact my kids? Who am I, really?
Here are a few programs that I am going to check out:
“Kanpai, Japan!” Symphony Concert /Maestro Ken Hsieh & Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra
Hope Talk – Forgotten Legends: Bunya Ko/Mei-Lian Liu
Hope Talk – Shadows of the Crimson Sun/Dr. Yang & Julia Lin
The Hakka Under Japan/Bo-Lin Chung
Please click the link to reserve your seat on online.
Special thanks to @banai.shunz for permission to use the image.