We've Come So Far

The Chinese is one of the oldest surviving civilisation today.

With thousands of years of history, we naturally have stories to tell. Stories of love. Stories of treachery. Stories of an ape going to Europe.

We've also been through more than most. Decades of suffering. Centuries of war. We've endured hundreds of years of racism. Some of our ancestors were treated so badly that mass immigration was initiated. At points in history, we were even mistreated by our own leaders. Lives were lost in the millions.

But we the rice-eaters also made great achievements despite the chaos of the past. We're credited with some of the most innovative inventions, such as the compass.

And more recently, our hacking skills. Even Google was stunned.

We've evolved from writing on tortoise shells to bamboo rolls to scrolls to rice paper. Every single one of the thousands of Chinese characters has a history to tell.

Our language stands in the centre stage of the world, along with English and Spanish. So strong is the Chinese language that Chinese words are often used as tattoos for non-speakers. This is a great achievement -- I personally wouldn't risk some stranger tattooing the words "I'm an idiot" on my biceps in some strange language I don't understand.

We've come so far. Yet we're still going on strong.

I know I have nothing to do with the history of Chinese, but I'm proud of my heritage nevertheless. After all, I may have a part of the story in the future.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone.