Richard Chu
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520223400
- eISBN:
- 9780520924918
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520223400.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Richard Chu was the only son of the seven children of ethnic Chinese parents living in the Philippines. He details why his grandparents relocated in the Philippines in 1938, and discusses the various ...
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Richard Chu was the only son of the seven children of ethnic Chinese parents living in the Philippines. He details why his grandparents relocated in the Philippines in 1938, and discusses the various reasons for, and the constraints experienced by, Chinese in obtaining Filipino citizenship. Richard was raised by a Filipino nanny, so he was more fluent in Tagalog. However, his parents wanted all of their children to speak Hokkien. Richard details how his mother perceives Filipinos. He studied in an exclusive Catholic boys' school with a great reputation for academic excellence among the Chinese. Although Richard got increasingly assimilated into Filipino culture, he did not completely forget or abandon his Chinese heritage. He visited his relatives and ancestral home in China, and then shared his discoveries and feelings. Richard explains that one's identity is capable of being constructed, invented, or manipulated.Less
Richard Chu was the only son of the seven children of ethnic Chinese parents living in the Philippines. He details why his grandparents relocated in the Philippines in 1938, and discusses the various reasons for, and the constraints experienced by, Chinese in obtaining Filipino citizenship. Richard was raised by a Filipino nanny, so he was more fluent in Tagalog. However, his parents wanted all of their children to speak Hokkien. Richard details how his mother perceives Filipinos. He studied in an exclusive Catholic boys' school with a great reputation for academic excellence among the Chinese. Although Richard got increasingly assimilated into Filipino culture, he did not completely forget or abandon his Chinese heritage. He visited his relatives and ancestral home in China, and then shared his discoveries and feelings. Richard explains that one's identity is capable of being constructed, invented, or manipulated.
