ENGLISH PODCAST ATTEMPT 2

In this episode of Ink and Identity, the host explores the values and ideas surrounding Asian-Australian culture and how it shapes an individual's identity. Two poets, Melinda Burbess and Ten Shin Yu, share their poems and discuss the connection between culture and identity. Melinda's poem focuses on childhood memories and the impact of storytelling on her identity. She incorporates both intellectual and physical elements, emphasizing the importance of culture and heritage. Ten Shin Yu's poem centers around accepting her Chinese-Malaysian heritage and the struggles she faced with her name. She discusses the significance of her name as a gift and how it shaped her identity. Both poets highlight the influence of culture and heritage on their sense of self. Hey, everyone. Welcome back or if you're new here, welcome to Ink and Identity. Today we are going to go on a deep dive and discover the values and ideas surrounding Asian-Australian culture and how an individual connects with their past and present, shaping their identity. To unravel this question, we are going to explore two poems written by incredible poets, Melinda Burbess, who is a Filipino-Australian, who wrote This Is Where I Begin and Ten Shin Yu, who is Chinese-Malaysian and migrated to Australia in 1989, who wrote Translucent Jade. And joining us today, we have a very special guest, Melinda Burbess, who was the author of This Is Where I Begin and Stick Around as later our second special guest. That's so exciting. I'm a great fan of her work. I'm excited to be here today and give your audience a deeper understanding of my poem and how my experiences of youth have shaped me to be who I am today. That was the goal of my poem. Wonderful, and I can't wait to hear it, so let's get straight into it. Now, I know this poem is all about how you connect and feel about your culture, but how does it relate to your identity? Well, my poem is about my childhood and the memories I hold from this period. I begin the poem in two different languages, Bicol and Filipino. Each stands as stating the same message, to connect with my audience and provide a sense of comfort. As many individuals probably would have felt the same way as I did, confused or indecisive about their name and experience the same thing while reconnecting or connecting with their culture, which evidently does impact on how we view ourselves and how we feel as a person. But that's only the start of the poem, getting deeper into it where I start talking about my grandmother and the stories she would share with me. I repeat the word under on multiple occasions to symbolise how these stories she was sharing with me about my heritage would become metaphorically part of me, giving me a deeper connection to my culture and origin, and this had a great impact on my identity. Even the first three stands out of nine, I already feel moved by the sophisticated word choices you used, including shiver and crackle, which I take it as how the stories made you feel and how I'm feeling reading this. Yeah, that's right. Those verbs were how I felt listening to my grandmother share her stories. During the poem, I mentioned how the stories would intellectually affect me and bring me closer to my culture and heritage, impacting who I was and my identity, but I also incorporated a physical factor to the poem as well. I used the motive of the body multiple times. One example includes this quote from the last stanza, concluding the poem. Eyes, lips, hands conjoined, the umbilical cord restored. This strange syntax and body motive shows how there is such a strong physical factor to storytelling and how it literally becomes part of you and your identity, as well as the umbilical cord representing new life and connection to family. Such deep and meaningful analysis delivered by the persona herself, Melinda Burgess. Now, Melinda, you shared with us so many interesting and wonderful points from your poem that the average viewer might have skipped past, so thank you so much for deep diving into your poem and sharing your experiences with your culture and how you and your surroundings have shaped your identity. No worries, and thanks so much for having me. It was a pleasure to be here today and analyze my poem, which honestly, I haven't read in years. I might just go home and share with my kids the stories my grandmother used to tell me. Oh, well, I do hope they enjoy them just as much as you did. And now, if you have stuck around this long to find out who our next awesome guest star is, you are in luck because we are here today with the incredible Tensheng Yu. Yes, that's right. I'm thrilled to be here today. I've been listening to your podcast for a while now, and to be on an episode is insane. Well, I'm glad to hear you are such a fan, but let's get right into it, shall we? Firstly, before we start with Melinda Burgess, who was here before you, she focused on relating her poem to how her identity was shaped due to her cultural experiences, and I found that really interesting. Do you reckon you could do the same thing? Yes, of course. This poem is mainly focused on how the persona, which is from my perspective, accepted my Chinese-Malaysian heritage and culture, and how all of these emotions and experiences made me into who I am today. Stunning. I do have one question about this poem. Try and listen, Jade. What was the gift your grandmother gave you? Was it a physical thing or metaphorically speaking? Yeah, good question. As I stated, my grandmother made me a gift when I was born. I was metaphorically speaking, as the gift she gave me was my name. I related my name to a gift as it represented the importance and value it holds, linking me to my culture on a deeper level, shaping my morals, essentially. Having meaning behind everything throughout this poem makes it all that more special and unique. No wonder HSC students study it every year. But of course, as I got older and I realised my name wasn't fitting in with the other children at my school, it made me feel like an outsider. I'm sure many others have had the same experience as me. So when my mother gave me a second name, it was essentially another gift. In the poem, I gave it the illusion that my new name sparkled and sang, using sibilance here with a joyful tone to elaborate on how the new name was significant and attractive to me. Being almost ashamed of my original name when I was young had a big impact on my identity. I didn't like standing out. I actually really struggled with accepting my original name over the years and found it difficult to accept myself for who I am. The strange syntax in this quote, does this begin to become me? Do I to it belong? Explains perfectly how my emotions were so mixed up at the time of deciding to use my grandmother's original gift. My identity was heavily influenced by my family and culture, but most importantly myself. But I now see the value and importance of using my original Chinese name in comparison to my second name, which my mother essentially gave to me so that I would fit in. All of these experiences and emotions I felt over a gift my grandmother gave me as a young child. They have heavily impacted my identity. I hope that covers your question about my identity and how my culture and heritage impact my identity. The meaning behind this poem is beautiful. Thank you so much for coming onto Incan Identity today and I hope maybe we will see you again soon if you write another poem. But that's all for today folks. Make sure you tune in for next week's episode where viewers can call in and we'll answer all your questions on 0434 765 456. See you next time!