When people ask what is left of my accent, I’m not quite sure what to say. I am the product of the synthesis of five disparate cultures. Born an ethnic Chinese in Indonesia after escaping China’s communist regime, I spent only the first six years of my life there due to the peak of social unrest of our newly adopted country. My father had to drop our Chinese surname to avoid the violence. I was then sent to Singapore and emigrated to Australia years later. At the age of 16, I plucked up the courage to fly on my own to USA to pursue higher education. Some people call it the American Dream. I call it Hope.
