I never met my mother. All I know is that she was from China, because it’s on my…
I never met my mother. All I know is that she was from China, because it’s on my birth certificate. And I’ve seen what she looks like from a few photos. Dad was a migrant from Hong Kong who had his own restaurants. Apparently she went off with his second chef when I...
(2/2) At first, Mum joined Dad selling stuff outside the temple, but finally aft…
(2/2) At first, Mum joined Dad selling stuff outside the temple, but finally after six years, they decided to immigrate to Australia for a better life. Just before they left, Dad had this crazy idea of approaching a Japanese rice cooker company and saying “I’m going...
(1/2) My mum always says that she and my dad were fated to be together. His fa…
(1/2) My mum always says that she and my dad were fated to be together. His family weren’t rich. They sold noodle soup from a trolley cart at a train station. But Dad was the brightest of the kids, so when he got into university in Japan, his family invested all their...
When we first came to Australia, I went to a school where they thought I would b…
When we first came to Australia, I went to a school where they thought I would be ok without doing any special English lessons. At first I thought, ‘Yeah it’s going to be fine’ but then I realised that I just didn’t understand a thing anyone was saying. I came home...
My mum was the first person to buy an airplane ticket out of her village in Sici…
My mum was the first person to buy an airplane ticket out of her village in Sicily. She came to Brisbane to visit family and never went back - she said that she smelt freedom here. At the time, she was engaged to my father, and apparently she said to him, ‘If you want...
I was basically brought up in my parents’ Chinese Malaysian restaurant in Mooroo…
I was basically brought up in my parents’ Chinese Malaysian restaurant in Mooroopna near Shepparton. All my sisters and I worked there. We joke about it, but it was a bit like child labour – like I was a baby bringing out the lemon chicken from the kitchen! The...
Both my parents are Italians. Mum came out first with her parents when she was 9…
Both my parents are Italians. Mum came out first with her parents when she was 9. Unfortunately, her mother died, and Mum had to leave school to look after her younger brother and sister. Later, she got married to my Dad, who she had met in Italy. He came to Australia...
My parents were part of the wave of boat people who left Vietnam towards the lat…
My parents were part of the wave of boat people who left Vietnam towards the late 1970s, and they both ended up in Australia, where they met in a migrant hostel in East Hills. In the beginning, they mostly relied on charities whilst they learnt English and then later...
My parents don’t like to talk about what happened during the Pol Pot regime but …
My parents don’t like to talk about what happened during the Pol Pot regime but in the last few years, they’ve started to share their story. I never thought about it much growing up but as I’m getting older, I am learning to appreciate the sacrifices they made, how...
*This is the first in a sequence of stories where I am speaking for the first ti…
*This is the first in a sequence of stories where I am speaking for the first time to children of migrants. My parents both migrated to Australia from Iran in the 70s. Dad worked for the Iranian embassy at first, and later as a public servant, and Mum was a biochemist...
