ASIAN Geographic - Issue 7 2009

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Would you like to read a short tale of a girl who could trace a big part of Asia’s history just by looking at her family line? Growing up, she saw old photos of her Arab grandfather who came to Singapore with his father and then stayed behind to create a new life. Her beautiful mother is half Indonesian with Chinese mix. Her father came from a more Eurasian upbringing – a mix of a mistizo blood from the Philippines way back when, with more recent Spanish colours. His mother hails from Ipoh. Family members look at each other with a beautiful mix of eye colours – from beautiful jet black to grey to blue. With light brown eyes, she sees her nieces and nephew today, with added racial mixtures of Chinese, Peranakan and Eurasian of Portuguese descent. Her adopted Chinese cousin has a Pakistani husband, while half-British relatives visit for the holidays. The list is endless but includes the likes of a Vietnamese relative and an Indian cousin (once removed). Imagine a proper family gathering… and we haven’t even covered the religious diversity that abounds this example of a truly global family. Within this group also lies a massive vault of memories that can literally chart out the history of Asia. Much of these memories now lie in the pages of this edition. Talk about a walk down memory lane! This edition celebrates the collisions...