'Being Chindian' by a Chindian himself! - Daryl Luke Terry

How do you view being different? We are not always with those of our own kind; there are times where one would feel like a duck among swans.As for me, I am different. I have always been so, all my life.
Ever since I was born, I realized that I was different from the people around me – starting with my own parents (what a way to start isn’t it?) I knew I wasn’t as dark as my dad, or a white beauty like my mom (It took me a while to use this word. I’ll explain why later.) Being a firstborn, there was no one like me yet in our little family. Yet that fact didn’t bother me then; my parents loved me nevertheless.I’d always admired them for their differences, especially my mum– who chose to love and marry someone of a darker skin color, which to me is just purely counter-cultural and amazing . Most people I have met who are mixed-race have Dad as the fairer one among their parents, and my mum was just…Wow, only God could have put them together.Growing up in various environments, there were quite a number of people I meet that couldn’t care less about colour. My next-door neighbours in my childhood home, meaningful friends that I have met all my life and left footprints, caring folks from our church, and some other kind souls out there accepted me as I am – being human, perhaps not totally, but accepting nevertheless. When I am with them, the thought that I am different doesn’t cross my mind at all. I am happy that I know many folks like that in my life right now, and I thank God for them in my life.
However, I feel my difference acutely when being among certain crowds, as I am treated differently on first impression simply based on the color of my skin. There have been some people, mostly strangers but also some people I knew who started off being slightly rude to me due to assumptions that I was of a certain ethnicity, then upon knowing my real ethnicity, apologized and immediately treated me better, and also vice versa (being not treated politely after people find out that I am not of a certain ethnicity). Even until now, some people still call me rather annoying racist names, and even though I’m used to it, that still annoys me at times.

The first question most people (by most people, I mean like over 90 percent of people I meet) inevitably ask me upon meeting me for the first time is “What race are you?” Well, I don’t blame them; I’m obviously different. Just how many Chindians do you know? I’m aware that there are more mixed Malaysians now than 30 years ago, but basically I’m still a weird and a very unique species. I’ve been guessed as Indian, Malay, Malay-Siamese, Thai, Nyonya and Punjabi before. There was this one person who guessed so close,calling me 3/4 Chinese and 1/4 Indian. (So close.) The correct answer is: 62.5% Chinese (50% Nyonya), 12.5% Indian, 25% Eurasian (Portuguese).