A lot of people have said that 2020 is the most awful year that has ever come. However, I came across a very well-meaning quote the other day on social media, ‘What if 2020 isn’t cancelled? What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for? A year so uncomfortable, so scary, so raw that it finally forces us to grow. A year we finally accept the need for change. Declare change. Work for change. Become the change.’
With the sad death of George Floyd and movement of Black Lives Matter, it does make me reflect on a lot of things in the past weeks. I was very fortunate to come from a privileged Asian family and educated in a very prestigious school where majority of students are white. Looking back, I don’t think it fully hits me in my early days how systematic racism is such a fundamental flaw in our society. In my day to day life, I certainly came across many different forms of racism that can be seen as microaggression, including the commonly asked question, ‘Where are you actually from?’ and hearing comments regarding my ‘thick, Chinese accent’. There were worse, and it saddens me about the number of times I didn’t speak up when the issue comes up. I guess fear certainly played a part, and I am glad more people are now starting to speak up about the issue and talk more openly about it. It’s important that we continue to educate ourselves and others about racism and keep our foot in the gas. ‘A revolution has many lanes – be kind to yourself and to others who are traveling in the same direction. ❤️’

We all have dreams regardless of skin colours. We all have our stories to be told and there are things we can learn from each other’s experiences. We should take time to know someone’s story to understand what they need, which is the first step to empathy. 💃🏿💃🏾💃🏽💃🏼💃
