The Open Door UK

S01E06: We are joined by Emma Yee - a British-born Chinese architectural studies student at UCL. She tells us about her childhood growing up above a takeaway, her experience moving to Hong Kong and her dissertation which discusses the difference between a domestic place and a business place - what factors separate the two and why are they needed?

Timestamps:

(2:08) Emma fitting in in Hong Kong

(5:21) Anthony fitting in in Korea

(9:01) Not having to pretend to be something we’re not

(11:52) Responsibility of passing down culture to future generations

(16:06) Emma’s architectural studies project

(23:13) Chinese takeaway/Fish & Chip Shop

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S01E05: This week, we speak to Johnny Luk - a British-Chinese political advisor. In 2019, he campaigned for the conservative seats at the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency. Currently, he’s the governor of the University for Creative Arts.

Johnny has given two TEDx Talks before which you can watch here:

He’s also a big rower, having competed in several, individual and team, rowing competitions. At one point he was even the captain of his own team! We discuss a bit more about that in the last part of the episode.

Timestamps:

(1:16) How did you get into Politics?

(8:05) Johnny's Definition of Politics

(13:23) Discussing Politics with Friends and Family

(17:13) Cultural Identity in a Political Narrative

(22:07) Childhood and Languages

(26:29) How did you get into rowing?

(30:51) Were there any race-related conflicts in the rowing team?

(32:46) Final Remarks

(33:40) Reflection

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Johnny’s Socials:

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Also available on YouTube

For other podcast platforms, check out our link for other services at:

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S01E04: Joining us is Tracy Yunting Truong - a British-born Chinese-Vietnamese English teacher in Japan. Her project, @abritishasianstory on Instagram, hosts a lot of very colourful and intricate artworks that illustrate stories and experiences of multicultural people growing up in the UK. She has created a platform where British Asians can connect with each other and strengthen our identities - something we are also trying to accomplish with this podcast.

If you want to read more about her, her medium page is at:

https://medium.com/@aBritishAsianStory

I highly recommend reading her post titled “I am always a foreigner”:

https://medium.com/@aBritishAsianStory/i-am-always-a-foreigner-d31cc1392287

We discuss the following topics:

(1:03) Moving to an Asian country as an Asian Diaspora

(12:49) Parent’s reaction to moving to Japan

(16:30) How did going to a public school contribute to the person you are today?

(22:49) Experiences with bullying

(27:43) Finally becoming the people we are

(29:04) Confiding in people

(30:21) Confiding in parents

(34:58) What changes would you like to see in society moving forward?

(35:51) Reflection

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Tracy’s Socials:

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Medium

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S01E03: This week, our guest is the co-founder and managing director of Resonate, Jun Kit Man. Since studying Media at University, he is now a broadcast journalist with almost 10 years of experience in the journalism and media industry.

In this episode, we open up about his media career and mental health. Jun Kit also introduces us to the term “Immigrant Guilt”. If you also haven’t heard of it before, tune in to find out more about it. If this is something you have experienced before, please feel free to share it with us. We’d love to hear YOUR story!

Timestamps:

The origins of Resonate (00:44)

What happened before Resonate? (5:22)

How did parents react to a career in the media? (7:28)

Asian parents attitude towards depression (18:33)

Opening up to parents about mental health (21:51)

Heritage (24:49)

Is identity built or found? (31:51)

Foreign journalism (38:14)

How are stories for Resonate found? (40:38)

Recent criticism towards Resonate (44:15)

Reflection (53:41)

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Jun Kit's Socials:

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Resonate

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Resonate’s Instagram

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S01E02: Joining us for the second episode of the Open Door podcast is Sophia Luu - a British-Vietnamese Experience Designer. She is also the co-founder of “on the mend” which is aims to tackle healthcare inequalities and bring more awareness to underrepresented people in the healthcare system using workshops and artworks:

She also attended University of Cambridge, where she won the Frances Willmoth Prize for the highest marked thesis! Tune into this episode to find out how she achieved it!

We discuss the following topics:

What languages do you speak? (1:00)

Active ways to prevent the future generation from becoming too detached from heritage culture (10:11)

Relationship with Vietnam compared to Britain. (18:05)

When you are abroad, where do you say you’re from, Vietnam or the UK? (25:48)

A relative becoming a Saint in Vietnam (32:43)

Experience studying History of Art at Cambridge (41:42)

The thesis that won the Frances Willmoth Dissertation Prize (44:49)

Graphic Design as a medium of expression (48:43)

What are you trying to achieve with your work in health care? (50:58)

Anything to promote? (54:52)

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Sophia’s Instagram

Sophia’s Website

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This episode is also available on YouTube.

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S01E01: Joining us for the first ever episode of the Open Door podcast is Reverend Mark Nam - one of the first British-born Chinese priests in the Church of England. Originally a lawyer, he was recently ordained at Bristol cathedral in late 2020.

We discuss the following topics:

00:01:10 - Being one of the first British Born Chinese priests in the Church of England

00:13:02 - Theology Degree

00:19:30 - Experience in a Religious Role

00:23:37 - Transition from Law to Religion

00:34:05 - On Bible Interpretation

00:40:33 - Dealing with cultural identity throughout life

00:49:18 - What did your calling feel like?

00:53:25 - CARG (COVID-19 Anti-Racism Group)

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Mark’s Twitter

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This episode is also available on Spotify.

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Behind closed doors we're working hard on season 1 for you to be released VERY soon!