Category Archives: Family

You can buy your copy on Leslie’s site: www.leslieklau.com

Cancer survivor and good friend Leslie has published his first book, ‘Pulling Weeds, Folding Laundry’. I don’t read books, but excited to read this!

Beers at The Rosebery Hotel with Richie.

Had such an awesome week catching up with old friends. Got a call from my bestie Liz, Kristi came around to pick up a massive artwork of hers from Maroubra and beers at my local pub with an old school mate. Life’s so good!

Happy drunk.

Kristi Mclellan is one of my best friends and I love her whole family and so it was SO awesome catching up with Lucas (he’s Kristi’s big brother) and meeting his girlfriend Taylor yesterday.

It turns out that Lucas’ girlfriend Taylor is an official photographer for Suicide Girls and was in Sydney to shoot some models (both Lucas and Taylor live in Melbourne), so awesome they had a free day and the energy to come hang out as Lucas and I had so much to catch up on and reminisce about; everything from JDMST to ZEN Garage, friends that have come and gone, drug abuse, bad times and overcoming them.

Was a rad day, lotsa love. So wholesome!

Steak and Duck Fat Fries at The Morrison.

Asians Out! That’s what I’d see spray painted on the walls in large letters taller than myself all over Anzac Parade Kensington back in the late 80’s. 

In primary school I was one of the only Asian kids and I copped a lot of physical abuse. In early high school (Sydney Boys High) I was also one of a handful of Asian kids (many more Asian students came from overseas in the later years and these days Sydney Boys High seems to be at least 90% Asian), and there too I copped a lot of (mostly daily) verbal abuse. 

I was born in Sydney. My Dad was born in Hong Kong and my Mum was born in Indonesia (both of them came to Australia to work). In my teenage years I wanted so badly to fit in with the Aussie guys. I chased after girls with blonde hair and blue eyes. I smoked cigarettes, weed and drank with the cool kids. 

More and more I broke out of my strict upbringing and instead of being scared of my Dad I got used to rebelling against him which made life pretty hard for him, and I’ll always regret that (he passed away from cancer when I was 18). 

In University I dated my first love (we were together for 7 years). She was from up north, a hippy at heart and about as Aussie as they come. We’d often spend time up north at Sandon River, an old fishing village near Grafton where you had no shops, so fishing for your dinner was a thing. 

Even though I was born in Australia I never felt that I was a true Australian until I met her. She made me appreciate the beach, surfing and the environment like never before, and in turn I helped her to appreciate Asian culture. 

Culture is a fascinating thing. It’s quite stereotypical for Asian people to push non-Asian people into trying chickens feet or century eggs just for a reaction. My Dad loved to eat, and would always want to eat animals he hadn’t ever eaten before. He would always make me eat stuff too; snake soup, sharks fin soup etc. It wasn’t too long ago that I was in Hong Kong, and my ex-fiancee’s father thought it would be fun to check my reaction and treat me to lunch at a very old school restaurant where patrons were still spitting out bones right onto the wooden table top. 

In 2005 we had the Cronulla Riots. Australian Flags were burnt, shit hit the fan and I feel that this was a pivoting point where racism fell off Asians and well and truly set sights on anyone with a Middle Eastern appearance, but with COVID-19, racism against Asians is back.

The Chinese are proud. Tradition is valued above most everything else, but tradition is dying (let’s call this ‘change’). Where my family used to have grandma around to enforce and uphold Chinese traditions, I’ve seen my cousins miss out on these experiences, and without grandma around, these ceremonies and rituals we used to practise are now forever gone.

I’m now feeling some of those same feelings I felt all those years ago when I was bullied in school. I feel uneasy. I feel that the Chinese need to be held responsible. I feel that something has to ‘change’.

/rant.