‘Ireland is our home now and we care for it’
When I came over, my parents’ friends would ask whether it was safe here
I GREW up in a city called Hangzhou, on the campus village of Zhejiang University there.
Back then it wasn’t very central. When I was small, behind the apartment block I grew up in was a rice paddy field. That was my playground, running around with my friends. I grew up in the university environment, but decided to go abroad to explore another country and learn some English. In this I was supported by my parents.
Ireland wanted to explore the international student market and had an exhibition in my city. At that point, the only thing I had heard about Ireland was the bombing in Northern Ireland, and that they spoke English. When I came over, my parents’ friends would ask whether it was safe over here.
It was on June 15, 2002, when I arrived. I was in a language school for a year in Dublin and lived with a lovely host family.
Through conversation with them and in school, my English improved a lot. After eight or nine months, I did my English exam and got enough points for DIT.
I started a business management course. At that point, in 2003, I think I was the only international student in my faculty, but computer science and accountancy would have had many Chinese students. Very quickly I had a group of classmates who I hung around with all the time. They were all Irish; from Sligo, Kells, Dublin and other places.
One day in 2003, I was on College Green and I looked around and half the people I saw walking around were Asian or Chinese. I was at the beginning of the first wave of international students, at a time when Ireland was going through a severe labour shortage. I remember friends telling me they were approached on the street asking were they looking for work.
While in college, for a while I worked in Neary’s bar off Grafton Street and later in a nightclub as well. You’d see cultural people and celebrities, I really enjoyed it.
I know other Chinese people had difficulties and would have got abusive words, but it never happened to me. One Irish friend said they would hear people on the bus shouting “Look, a ni**er”. It’s rare I hear it now, but racism still happens.
Yesterday I was getting off the Luas and talking to my parents on the phone in Chinese, and across the road a young guy shouted what language was I speaking, and told me to go home. But I recognised that person was vulnerable himself. He didn’t look like he was in a normal state of mind.
I met my Irish husband while in college. A few months ago, I was at traffic lights in the car with my seven-year old daughter, and she suddenly started crying hysterically. It turns out the passenger in the car parked next to us made slit eyes and a pig nose at her. She said it was because she was Chinese. That has impacted on her a lot. It is still very upsetting for her.
I tried accountancy as a career for a short while, then realised it wasn’t for me. I
decided to stay at home with our children. After a while, I got upset about being at home all the time. I knew I was privileged because I didn’t have to worry about finance and I had a stable home, but I realised through social media that quite a lot of Chinese people in Ireland were in various difficult situations.
The Chinese community in general isn’t great at reaching out to local migrant supports.
I decided I wanted to explore what channels could we go through to make changes. I work with Places of Sanctuary Ireland and run a network of support groups for migrants to feel welcome in society.
It’s about bringing communities together. I’ve also joined the Social Democrats and am involved with advocacy in migrant political participation.
A lot has changed. When I first came over, Ireland was very mono-cultural.
People I know from other countries would say Dublin was the whitest European capital city they had ever seen. Now there’s diversity from all over the world. Immigrants mostly are very fond of Irish people, and talk about how inspiring civil societies are.
During the Repeal the Eighth campaign, many immigrants, including myself, got involved on both sides. I think it is because Ireland is our home now and we care for it.
I try to visit my parents in China once a year, but these days I find myself thinking differently from folks at home.