Christine Choo

Eurasians: Celebrating Survival

The search for my Asian ancestors and my discoveries in archives, the crumbling pages, the eroding ink, the disappearance of the word, are a metaphor for the simultaneous emergence of the will to recover memories and the slow fading away of the material traces of memory. Eurasians of Malaysia and Singapore once epitomised the blurring of boundaries between cultures and societies in colonial and immediate post-colonial periods. In exploring their cultural and social heritage in the archives and by networking with the Eurasian diaspora on the internet, individuals shape and reaffirm their identities on new and old frontiers. This paper presents Eurasians and their experiences as transcultural or in the middle ground – the space where new ways of being are developed and lived in a cross-cultural environment. It explores how the definition of Eurasian is changing in the context of contemporary globalised society.

Inter-ethnic conflict in Broome, Western Australia: The riots of 1907, 1914 and 1920 between Japanese and other Asians

The story of the conflict that erupted into street-fighting and riots in Broome in the northwest of Western Australia between workers of Japanese and other Asian backgrounds engaged in the pearl-fishing industry during the lay-up seasons of 1907, 1914 and 1920 highlights the often overlooked reality of multiple ethnicities of Asians engaged in the pearling industry. Reflection on the causes of the riots, the underlying hegemony, and entrenched racism offer valuable lessons in inter-cultural relations in an environment imbued with the fear of difference and the rising importance of Asians in Australias economic and political environment.

The Impact of Asian - Aboriginal Australian Contacts in Northern Australia

The long history of Asian contact with Australian Aborigines began with the early links with seafarers, Makassan trepang gatherers and even Chinese contact, which occurred in northern Australia. Later contact through the pearling industry in the Northern Territory and Kimberley, Western Australia, involved Filipinos (Manilamen), Malays, Indonesians, Chinese and Japanese. Europeans on the coastal areas of northern Australia depended on the work of indentured Asians and local Aborigines for the development and success of these industries. The birth of the Australian Federation also marked the beginning of the “White Australia Policy” designed to keep non-Europeans from settling in Australia. The presence of Asians in the north had a significant impact on state legislation controlling Aborigines in Western Australia in the first half of the 20th century, with implications to the present. Oral and archival evidence bears testimony to the brutality with which this legislation was pursued and its impact on the lives of Aboriginal people.