Alittle Bit About Me....関于自己....自己紹介...

I know I haven't really said much about myself in my blog in all the years I've been blogging cos i am not the kind of person to reveal too much personal stuff about myself on the blog to strangers on the wide net out there. However, I think I should let my readers know alittle bit more about myself, at least some basic background about me.

About Me:

Name: hcpen

Age: 23 this yr

Nationality: Malaysian/Taiwanese

Ethnicity: Chinese

Ancestral origin: Hunan Province, China/Biological Ancestry: 3/4 Hokkien 1/4 Hunan

Hometown: Penang, Malaysia

Family members: father, mother, younger brother

Languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Malay, Japanese, Korean

Education: International School of Penang (Penang), Taylors College (Melbourne), University of Melbourne (Melbourne), East China University of Politics and Law {Chinese Law Winter Program/1 month}(Shanghai), Keio University{Student Language Exchange 1 sem} (Tokyo), College of Law (Sydney)

Interests: Asian studies, Modern Chinese History and Culture, 50-60s Hong Kong society and films, the Chinese Dress (Cheongsam), WW2 and Asia issues, Women's Rights and Interests, Gay Rights and Interests, Thai and Filipino popular culture, Korean history and society, Korean movies and dramas, Law and human rights, swimming, reading, Visiting Museums and Galleries, Eating at streetside stalls as well as high-end classy restaurants, etc

I think it would take many people by surprise that I have no educational background in Chinese given the impression i give people of being highly oriental and Chinese-oriented in my interests, language, and thinking. I have never had a single year of Chinese education since entering primary school and my fluency in Chinese is purely through my perseverance and sheer determination in picking up the language. I was always immensely proud of my Chinese heritage since young (for reasons unknown even to this day!) and i really worked hard on learning how to write Chinese. Many overseas Chinese either cannot speak Chinese at all or fluently or even if they can speak it, are unable to read or write Chinese. I was determined to learn Chinese and it has paid off. My Chinese level is up to standard as proven by my passing the difficult national translation exam in Australia and becoming a qualified translator and also now that China is bent on becoming the next world superpower and with its economy booming, Chinese has become an asset. When i was growing up, China and the Chinese language was not thought of as that important and people in Malaysia generally didn't think of making their children learn it, resulting in many Malaysian Chinese nowadays being unable to speak Chinese or even dialects or being able to speak but not read nor write. You see so many Koreans, Japanese, Westerners learning Mandarin nowadays and I feel truly blessed that I don't need to 'learn' it now as learning a language once you reach your late teens or in adulthood can be extremely difficult.
My brother on the other hand being more westernised, can only speak Mandarin and not Cantonese nor Hokkien and he can't write or read Chinese. Its sad, he also went to International School and is now in the UK and never bothered to really learn Chinese despite going to Chinese weekend tuition like me during our primary and secondary days. Sigh.....

I still try to maintain my Chinese level nowadays through making sure I read Chinese gossip magazines (learning a language can be fun too!), Taiwanese entertainment shows, HK dramas, and I purposely buy the chinese versions of many things just so i need to read it in Chinese even if i am most comfortable with English.

As for Japanese, i started in Form 1/Yr 7 but i should be making more progress than i have. Granted i can now read Japanese novels, newspapers, magazines and understand most of it but i really can't speak well at all....Korean i understand very basic korean which surprises even me given that i have never studied any korean before nor lived in South Korea but given that 80% of all movies and dramas i watch are korean (the other 20% being American, Chinese, Japanese, etc) and i've watched them since 16, I have managed to pick up enough korean to get by with daily usual conversations. Its been fun listening in on korean student's conversations sometimes when i happen to be beside them!!

As for personality wise, I think I am quite a traditional person although I would classify myself as a conservative liberal. This means I am still a liberal by category though on the conservative end of the spectrum. For example, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being radically liberal and 10 being radically conservative i would say i am a 4.
I am liberal on most moral issues but conservative when it comes to values and politics:
Eg.: I am pro-choice meaning abortion is a woman's choice, pro-euthanasia, pro-gay, believe that sex before marriage is fine although my conservative streak shines through in that i believe you should only have sex with someone whom you not only love but also believe you will spend the rest of your life with (even if u eventually don't, the intention is more important) meaning no one nighters, sex with strangers, flings,etc.
My conservatism in politics is that i am quite supportive of the invasion of Iraq and hope America topples the evil North Korean regime as well, more Liberal Party than Labour Party cos i think Liberals have managed the economy very well which should take top priority (altho the fact that Kevin Rudd vis-vis John Howard is better looking, lived in Beijing and Taipei before, and knowledgeable of China as well as is a fluent Mandarin speaker does make me swing in favour of him as well:))

However, my liberalism has its limits as i hear of more wild things happening in society today like gay sauna group orgies, heterosexual wife-swapping parties, prostitution and all the 'acrobatic stunts' they do in brothels which makes me more and more conservative as i shudder at 'too much' liberalism. On the other hand, i am extremely tolerant of other people's behaviour and lives. Basically as i put it, i am 'conservative towards myself but liberal towards others'. Although i would never even dream of having sex with strangers, having sex with someone i only know for like 1 month or even shorter, etc i wouldn't discriminate against those whom do. I still like being friends with people who do sleep with strangers, sleep with boyfriends and girlfriends within the first couple of months of dating cos i think its their personal right and everyone is interesting and nice irrespective of their values. I don't think less of a person just because they don't adhere to my moral standards. In fact, the personality and character of a person is almost wholly separate from their sexual practices, meaning a person whom believes in abstinence may well be a lousy friend whilst a person whom visits saunas and has sex with strangers regularly may well turn out to be the most caring friend you could meet!!

Anyways, i hope readers have gained a better understanding of me:)