Asian Tapas

Sigh.

It's not like I call tapas 'Spanish yum cha'. Like seriously.

Racist Drugs!

By Edwin Tan (c) 2012

Don't judge me based on my genetic polymorphisms! Perhaps these pills could learn a thing or two from this 'racism reducing' beta-blocker. 

She so cultured!

By Edwin Tan (c) 2012

Yeah, so as most of you know, this tends to happen to me quite a bit. Highlights of this particular encounter include:

1. How she waved her hand in front of her face in a circular motion when she said "your background" (see Panel 3 above) in order to clarify her initial question was alluding to my ancestral heritage i.e. my chinky eyes and yellow skin
2. Her stressing of the point that she had attended a "travel expo" that afternoon (see Panel 4 above) and was now "like all cultural and stuff" (same panel). This may be interpreted as an attempt to convey her in-depth knowledge of other cultures i.e. 'Wow! Asians are totes exotic! I love sushi and pandas!' 

So, I've been criticised in the past for posting the "same old" types of cartoons. They're cartoons that apparently encapsulate the same old, stale ideas - you're Asian and people remark about that, everybody's racist, big whoop, haven't you posted about this before? Can't you post something new?

To them, I say, I'll stop posting these types of cartoons when I can walk into a Melbourne restaurant and not be asked where I'm from, where my parents are from, what I think about Australia, what's the exchange rate for the Korean won, what's my background, is it the year of the dragon this year, would I like chopsticks (in an Italian restaurant), so does that make me Malay, do I speak Malay, ching chong  ling long ting tong.

Until then, I'll continue to draw these boring cartoons. And I'll stop only when things like this cease to happen:    

By Edwin Tan (c) 2012

Chinese Fail

By Edwin Tan (c) 2012

Chinese lady at clinic: “Ni shi yi sheng ma?”

Translation: “Are you a doctor?”

Me: “Wo bu shi yi sheng. Wo shi…umm…gei ren chi yao… de ren”

Ed’s translation: “I’m not a doctor. I’m a…umm… gives people medicines eat…person.”

Chinese lady: …

Translation: “Given your poor command of the Chinese language, you have not only embarrassed yourself, but you have also dishonoured both me and my country.”

Yeah, I dunno the Chinese word for pharmacist. Sue me. Those years of Chinese school sure paid off.

Oh Brother...

By Edwin Tan 2012 (c)

So this tends to happen quite often when we first meet people. After they enquire about our names, they usually ask us where we come from. Australia is never a sufficient answer, so they need to know where we were born or what our "origin"/"background"/"nationality" are (which could all be answered with "Australia/n" anyway. But saying Australia isn't good enough. Coz I have chinky eyes and he has dark skin.

So we tell them where our parents were born: Malaysia. Coz you know, Malaysians are just one ethnic race of people and people seem to be happy with that answer.

Then they go on to say that we can't possibly be brothers coz we look totally different. Hence the cartoon above. However, the ethnicities we've been called have been known to vary. I usually get Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese. Winston gets called Indian, Peruvian, Latino, Nepalese and Torres Strait Islander.

We then usually get interrograted as to the true "background" of our parents.

Yep, nice to meet you too.

I wish I could say that I've gotten used to it, but yeah, it's still a tad annoying answering all those questions. It's sooo much easier pretending to be a fob and not know English.

But anyway, I dont' get why they could possibly think my brother's Indian...

Oh right. Nevermind.

Vaccination

By Edwin Tan (c) 2011

Hmm...so do we pharmacists really want to administer vaccines?

And I'm sure most of you have seen this on youtube already.

Restaurant

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

Mmm...short stack

Politically Correct Kitchenware

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

I'm still not sure what I'm meant to say instead of "black".

Asian Tim Tam Sham!!!

Spot the Asian Tim Tam Sham!

*Gasp!*

Underscored by a comical and demeaning orientalist riff, the ad for tomorrow night's lead story on A Current Affair appears on the screen. "Asian Tim Tam Sham!" announces the voiceover as the word "SHAM!" flashes on the screen. Oh no, what have the Asians done now? And to our Tim Tams!

Images appear on the screen: concerned looking folk, crumbling biscuits on plates, packets of Tim Tams that are not quite equal in length. Why, the Asians have stolen an Aussie icon and reproduced inferior replicas! The narrator's voice swells, the chinky-chong music continues full speed ahead.

The voiceover reminds us that it's just like the rip-off Chupa Chups from Vietnam. Now the Indonesians have followed suit with poorly made knockoffs of the iconic biscuit. Labels are peeled off packets of lollypops revealing foreign words. Asian words.

So if you feel like getting frustrated over a poor excuse for investigative journalism, then tune in to tomorrow night's ACA.

Heck, why don't they investigate something useful? Like why the heck people think Ben Price aka Tim Tam from Vietnam (pictured above) is amusing and not blatantly racist? Oh that's right, they wouldn't. Because ACA are a bunch of xenophobic idiots.

Which makes you think: which is the real Asian Tim Tam sham?

Overheard

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

In the style of Oslo Davis' Overheard cartoons.

The WoW Factor

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

MMORPG. meerrrr...

An Odd Exchange

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

The ironic thing being I actually knew because I'd just been to South Korea a few weeks before. But still. C'mon. I'm not even Korean. And who the heck just goes up to a random person on the tram and asks for the exchange rate for a foreign currency?

By answering his question, I think I just helped perpetuate some misguided stereotype. Oh well.

What's in a Name?

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

Yes, this still happens.

PSA Gets a Black Belt in LAME!

O.M.G.

So I, like my fellow pharmacy friends, received an email today from the PSA informing me of a "Pandemic Flu Infection Control Workshop" that is coming up (you know, just in time for the next outbreak of [insert animal] flu. So we've had bird flu, swine flu...how about something more exotic. Like llama flu. Yes, that sounds both innocuous and menacing at the same time).

Anyway, as I read the email a certain phrase caught my eye. The phrase was: "Kung Flu Fighting techniques". Oh my, I thought to myself. Surely the PSA have outdone themselves this time with such clever word play. Or perhaps it was just a typo (the editor must have had slippery fingers and typed out "kung" by mistake). Intrigued, I clicked on the link and thus arrived at this flyer and the above image.

A *facepalm* and *headshake* soon followed.

After I had recovered, I tried to ascertain what exactly about the image made me want to laugh and cry and get frustrated all at the same time. Sure, there was the stereotypical orientalist font. And a ninja wearing a facemask on a background of a red circle reminiscent of the Japanese flag. And the fact that kung fu is Chinese and not Japanese. And ninjas are Japanese and don't practice Chinese martial arts. And kung fu is an ancient artform that teaches self-defense, discipline and morality whereas ninjas were mercenaries, spies, arsonists, terrorists and assassins. And the fact that none of this had been taken into consideration but instead a bunch of Asian stereotypes were chucked haphazardly together in an attempt to get a cheap laugh and promote good sneeze etiquette.

Ok. So apart from those minor hiccups, everything else about the logo seemed fine. "Become a black-belt in infection control"? I'd rather be a black-belt in racial sensitivity!

And that's why I'm a member of the SHPA instead.

Dinner Party

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

Bloody coeliacs with their villous atrophy.

Interesting fact: Hardcore buddhists refrain from eating root vegetables (such as potatoes, carrots and onions) as this will result in the death of vegetables. Huh.

I'll never look at a parsnip in quite the same way again.

Trickkk or Treat?

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

Long time no see!

So I never really did a Halloween themed comic last year..so..uh..here you go! And like all good cartoonists, I did some research into the topic of my cartoon ie. I had a read through the KKK website. It was entertaining - kind of funny and scary at the same time. Like the clown from 'It". Though he was probably more scary than funny. I don't like clowns. *shudder*

Anyways, I have no idea what candied tofu is nor do I think I wanna try some. I was going to put "haw flakes" instead, but I wasn't sure if many people would know what they are. Oh, happy childhood memories!

17. The Date (Part One)

By Edwin Tan (c) 2010

Hmm...looks like Richard is really living up to his name (ie. a Dick). How will this date end? Stay tuned.

As you can tell, I'm experimenting with colouring. And I really need to work out these darn speech bubbles.

PS - If I ever own a Chinese restaurant, I would name it this.

Miss Yellow in the Kitchen with the Wok

My two favourite things! Food and murder mysteries...but made even better!

Food cooked by the one and only POH!:



And murder mysteries with a comedy improv (a la TGYH) twist!:



Can't wait! More info here.

Thanks, Winston.

PS - In your face Julie!

Why I Love Outpatients

"Where are you from?"

I had just finished counselling him on how to use Asacol rectal foam when he popped the question. He was Asian, around my age, and fashioned a bad haircut and thick glasses. He had asked the question so seriously, so randomly, I hesitated ever so slightly to answer. I placed the box of rectal foam gently on the counter, and looked him squarely in the eye through the sheet of glass that separated us. “I’m from Australia,” I said. I announced it clearly, deliberately, with patriotic pride.

Snapping up my reply with eagerness, he then goes on to tell me his entire life story about how he was born in China but then moved to Hong Kong then to London all before the age of seven. Oh, how incredibly fascinating, Mr Random Patient, please go on. Actually, no don’t go on. I have about a billion other prescriptions to hand out, so please go away. However, being the respectful and caring health professional I am, I mumble, “Wow, sounds like you’ve been around the world.” Even though he’d technically only been to three different places. He takes these words as encouragement to divulge yet more information about his life history – about his life in London and how he has cousins in Sydney.

But what really annoyed me the whole time was this really fake, English accent he put on. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t actually know if it was fake or whether that was just the way he talked, but it was just really irritating. To put it bluntly, it was a fob putting on a British accent. You know what I mean.

I got nothing against fobs, some of my best friends are fobs (you know who you are!), but it just annoys me when they try and put on these fake accents. Or maybe they aren’t. I dunno, but please just don’t do. It’s not cool.

And besides, you came over to England when you were a kid and have been living in London for like twenty years. Shouldn’t you like have lost your fobby accent and acquired a British one? I’m just saying.

And what’s with the random “Where are you from?” question? Like seriously, dude, I just counselled you on how to administer rectal foam. And now you wanna get to know one another? You want to bond over Asacol rectal foam? Gee whiz, kid. Act at least a little bit awkward.

I’m not sure what the guy wanted from me. Did he want me to say I was from China or something? So that we could bond over that instead of the Asacol rectal foam? Maybe, just maybe.

Ok, so I’m going to stop now before I start offending people. But yeah, I just thought I’d share that random moment from today. Oh, and I counselled this other patient in French. Thankfully the script was for Augmentin tablets and not Asacol rectal foam – my French vocabulary isn’t that broad.

Ching Chong Beautiful. WTF?

So there's this new internet flash game called Ching Chong Beautiful. Yes, that's right. That's the actual title. At this day and age, where people are meant to be slightly more sensitive and culturally aware, some idiots decide to make a game with an incredibly racist name. Go figure. Oh, but it gets better. Here's a short introduction from the game's website:

"The game features the new High Scores system and Newgrounds medals! So go grab some green tea, get drunk on sake, and maybe poach some whales if there's time...the Bang Wong Fishhead Corporation challenges you to defeat Mr.Beautiful's ancient obstacle course: Ching Chong Beautiful!"

O.M.G. *groan*

*face palm*

Despite this, if you somehow manage to overlook the overtly offensive stereotypes, caricatures and racial slurs, the game play is apparently good. I can't be arsed playing it, but go ahead.

To play the game go here.
To read an interesting article from Racialicious about it go here.
And to read another interesting aricle about the "Orientalist riff" (which they make a reference to) go here.

And I thought "Ching Chong" was Chinese. Not Japanese. Oh well, all Asians look the same, eh?