It’s almost 90 degrees on the streets of Penang, Malaysia. I am a three-hour plane ride away from Hong Kong. Every night, the city’s streets hum with the sound of mosques calling people to prayer around sundown. Malay is written on every street with names like Chalah Chulia or Jalan Perak. Yet somehow this city miles away from China has a bustling Chinese population. There are not only signs in Malay but also in Chinese. Teochew and Hokkien, dialects or variations of Chinese, can be heard loudly on the street. With a majority Chinese population, Penang is probably not what you think of when you think of immigration from China.
Back in the States, when you are thinking of Chinese immigrants, you’re probably thinking of the numerous Chinatowns that exist in large cities. New York’s and San Francisco’s are probably some of the most famous examples of large Chinese immigrant communities. Yet throughout history, thousands of Chinese immigrants moved to various parts of the world.
The reasons for this movement are very similar to the ones that motivate other immigrant groups. In Dragonwings it was a search for opportunity and finding better jobs.
