la chronique d'edric

I don’t think my way of working would change if I was another nationality, my standpoint would still be the same. It’s simply that one can’t help but be influenced by the way one has grown up and the place where one happens to live. Nationality is just pure chance.

—Tao Kurihara

I grew up in a Chinese family. My great grandparents emigrated to the Philippines because of the immense hardship during the Warlord era. It may sound surprising but Manila used to have so much more opportunity compared to China in the early nineteen hundreds. Today, the tables have turned.

My Chinese heritage has certainly influenced me. For one, my family still celebrates Chinese New Year which happens to be today. When I visit Paris or Philadelphia, I still look for Chinese food. My choices always gravitate to what is practical. 

I understand how nationality can be pure chance. How can I not? I am a citizen of two nations. However, I refuse to let that fact influence who I truly am.

We are all products of circumstance. I know this dearly. Moreover, I choose to live in such a way that I may be able to make sense of all these circumstances. I don’t hate any one part of me except the part that makes me forsake what is upright.

I went to Manila’s Chinatown with Lissa a few days ago. We had to walk along riverbanks and canals littered with garbage. We had to walk among beggars and among suspicious eyes. We also had to endure the scorching heat, the unbearable humidity and the odd smell in the air.

If you knew how I grew up, you’d never think I would dare do those things.

But, alas, I am who I am and I choose to live it.

(Source: edricchen)