I spent a week in Belize during Thanksgiving week and really enjoyed our very first Caribbean vacation with friends, it was a fantastic getaway. When we landed Belize, I was surprised to see how the Chinese community is thriving in this small country. Apparently the Chinese and Taiwanese governments have special agricultural trade relationship with Belize and I was told that one third of Belize population is Chinese. More specifically, the Cantonese. Why? I have no idea but most of them seems to be operating either restaurants, or grocery store for living. The store business looks very similar to the kind that my father (who is a first generation immigrant in Malaysia) is operating now and it brings back a lot of memories of growing up in a small rural town and in the shop.
For examples, I learned to calculate changes quickly when customer passed me the monies. I learned to say "what do you want?", "how many", "how much do you want?" in Malay before I started elementary school. After school, I spent my afternoon doing homework in front of the shop while keeping an eye on shoplifter. During our nap time, mom would lay down a few pieces of newspaper on the concrete floor at a corner where customers don't usually come during the nap hours. I don't recall if we had pillow to sleep on but I remember staring at the boxes of fabrics and tailor's accessories while trying to go to sleep...and many more fond and not so fond childhood memories.
At Caye Caulker, I looked at the young Chinese girl who was guarding the cashier and doing homework at the sametime and thought perhaps someday she would grow up just as lucky as me. To have a career, decent paid job, a safe shelter and a comfortable life. I was humbled by what I saw and filled with a great sense of pride of my root. Throughout the trip, I kept telling Matt how my childhood was like in a rural town and how I learned to play games with anything we could find in the nature.
All through my teenage, I felt like I was always trying to be somebody else to fit in at a private school where upper middle class kids attend. Luckily, my school friends accepted me as I was and we continue to stay friends for almost 20 years now (boy, do I feel old!). Accomplishments in life helped to bring more confidence in me, but when I was young and accomplished little -- I was lost and wished someone could have told me that I should be proud of who I am, no matter what. I think all parents should reinforce the confidence in their children so that they are not lost in the big world of egoism and stereotypes.
