Who am I?

In one of the thread of discussion, there was a lot of discussion about who we are? Are we Chinese? Are we Filipino? When asked "Who are you?", what would you answer?

That morning I was standing in the kitchen. I saw a picture of our trip to Grand Cayman island. The beach was beautiful. The ocean was gorgeous. An image came to mind and I wrote the following poem in English.

Chinoy

I stood in the sand
and wet my feet
I spotted a shell and froze in time
until it moved by itself
with legs on its sides

I picked it up
and asked
Who are you?

It answered back
WE ARE
CHILDREN
OF THE MOTHER SEA

I later translate it into Chinese and Tagalog

 

Many years ago, when I had a Filipino passport, I thought: by citizenship, I am Filipino; by ethnicity, I am Chinese; by culture, I am a mestizo.