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After a hard day studying international politics at Peking University, Valerie Ang Yi Lin kicks back in a cafe.
Ang Yi Lin, 23, a Singaporean of Chinese descent, attended a school for Singaporean Chinese from an early age, which explains her fluent Mandarin. Despite this, she admits hardly knowing anything about China before coming to Peking University. But as China’s economy booms, the 「motherland」 is catching the attention of ethnic Chinese such as Ang, who were raised elsewhere.
In the past, the West was the most popular destination for Singaporeans studying abroad. However, in 2005, when Ang was in her third year at junior high school, a 「Bicultural Studies Program」 was added to the Singapore curriculum, teaching Chinese culture, history, politics and economics. The Singapore government also began handing out scholarships to encourage young people to study in China. With China developing at a breakneck pace, the aim was to raise a generation of Chinese-literate citizens who could contribute to Singapore’s future. The same year saw 20 Singaporean Chinese heading off to study in Beijing. By 2006, this number had increased fivefold.
Singaporeans receive a Western–style education, so Ang says people of her generation tend to have the same outlook as young people in the West.
Ang used to think Chinese people often lacked manners.
「I couldn’t understand why they didn’t queue properly and tried to push others out of the way,」 she says.
After studying in Beijing for four years, though, her outlook has changed slightly. 「Once you live in China you understand; with so many people here, you wouldn’t get anywhere if you just queued up politely. I realized that if you want to survive in China, you just have to fight your way through.」
Ang says she is not a fan of everything modern-day China has to offer. 「To take one example, China clearly has a problem with air pollution. But Singapore says it needs workers who have lived in China, so if I keep heading down this path, it will position me well for the future. I will have an advantage over others. That’s the main thing for me.」 She plans to stay in China for a while after graduating.
The pull of China’s growing economy can also be felt in Indonesia, where ethnic Chinese are in the minority.
「I am so happy China is doing well. It makes me feel proud,」 says Herman Kasem, 39, a worker at the Indonesian branch of a major Chinese steel company.
A fourth-generation immigrant, Herman lived in Jakarta up until university and could speak no Chinese at all. At age 25, he accompanied a sick relative who was going to China to receive long-term treatment at a Beijing hospital. While there, he studied Chinese. On his return to Indonesia two years later, he got a job at a lumber company. When one of his Chinese clients realized Herman could speak Chinese, he was offered a job.
Anti-Chinese demonstrations were common in Indonesia under the regime of former President Suharto, who held office for more than 30 years. For a long time, it was forbidden to teach Chinese in schools. Shops owned by ethnic Chinese were also targeted in riots in the late 1990s. Herman recalls being bullied as a child because of his Chinese ancestry. In recent times, though, Indonesia’s rulers have worked hard to improve relations with China.
「Lots of cash is flowing into Indonesia from China and there are now more chances for Indonesian Chinese like me. People won’t look down on me anymore,」 he says.
Dandy Fantoan, 31, works for an IT company. When he was a child, he says he almost lost his sense of identity. 「I couldn’t speak Chinese and considered myself to be Indonesian, but others regarded people like me as Chinese.」
His father often told him to never forget his Chinese roots. Indeed, it was due to his father’s recommendation that Dandy went to Beijing to study at Tsinghua University. On his return to Indonesia, he found work at a company that was opening a string of department stores and businesses across China. He says the more China rose to global prominence, the more strongly he felt Chinese.
「I love Indonesia, but I also don’t want to lose my Chinese identity,」 says Dandy. 「As an Indonesian Chinese, I want to become a bridge connecting the two countries.」
HUI CHINESE: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN CHINA AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD
In a basic Arabic course for foreign students at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, the teacher writes simple Arabic sentences on the blackboard.
The students recite the words, 「The student studies Arabic. The student plays soccer.」
Al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious centers of Islamic learning, attracts 40,000 Muslim students from 140 countries. There has been a surge in the number of Chinese students over the last five or six years.
According to Sheikh Ali Abdul Baqi, head of the university’s Islamic Research Center, there are currently 1,534 Chinese students.
The Chinese diaspora stretches far and wide across the globe. This diaspora is often synonymous with Han Chinese, but with Chinese economic influence spreading across the Middle East and Africa, the Muslim 「Hui」 ethnic group is rising to prominence as a bridge between the China and the Islamic world.
Muslims only account for around 1.5 percent of China’s population, but this still adds up to an impressive 20 million people. Many Muslims came to China in the 13th century, when the Mongol Empire ruled from China down to west Asia. Apart from certain minorities such as the Uighurs, Chinese-speaking Muslims are known as 「Hui.」 Islamic communities can be found throughout the whole country.
According to Sheikh Ali Abdul Baqi, head of the Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Center, there are currently 1,534 Chinese students. 「This is proof that China and Egypt are forging closer bonds,」 he says.
Near the dormitory for overseas students, there is a Chinese restaurant. It was opened two years ago by Amina Nashwan and her mother. Amina, 21, is an international student who hails from Liaoning province. The chef, 31-year-old Marsis, is another international student from China. The restaurant provides authentic Chinese food at inexpensive prices and is always busy.
Chinese goods such as clothes, sundries and electrical products are now flooding into stores throughout Cairo and the wider Arabian world. Xinhua, China’s official news agency, built a new building for its Middle East Regional Bureau in Cairo in 2005. Most of its articles are translated into Arabic before dispatch.
Lin Ma, 26, hails from Yunnan province and is a fourth-year Arabic student at Al-Azhar University. 「In the future I want to teach Islamic education back home, but I might also work as an Arabic interpreter for a company in Guangzhou for a while to earn money,」 he said.
Another international student is Chao Wang, 28, a Hui Chinese who also comes from Yunnan. He teaches at an Islamic school back home under the Islamic name of 「Abdel Wahab Ben Adam.」 He enthusiastically spoke about his desire to 「study in Arabic at the most prestigious Islamic education institution.」
As a Muslim, Wang is well-aware of his dual responsibility as a bearer both of Chinese culture and of a wider, borderless Islamic civilization.
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在北京大學上了一整天的國際政治課之後，瓦萊麗·昂依林找了一個咖啡館坐下來休息。
23歲的昂依林是一位華裔新加坡人，自幼就讀於中文學校 ，因此說一口流利的普通話。儘管如此，她仍然承認自己在來北大之前，對中國知之甚少。但隨著中國經濟的發展，「祖國」正吸引著他們這些在外長大的華裔人士的目光。
在過去，西方國家是新加坡人海外留學的首選目標。但2005年，當昂依林讀初三時，新加坡課程中增加了「雙元文化項目」，教授中國文化、歷史、政治和經濟。新加坡政府還通過將獎學金項目來鼓勵年輕人去中國留學。隨著中國的迅猛發展，新加坡政府的目的是培養一代熟悉中國的國民，為新加坡的未來做貢獻。同年，有20名華裔新加坡人來北京留學。截至2006年，這一數字增加了五倍。
新加坡人接受的是西式教育，因此昂依林說她們這一代人與西方的年輕人擁有同樣的觀念。
她還一度認為中國人通常不講禮貌。
她說：「我不明白為什麼她們不愛排隊，還試著把別人推出隊伍。」
然而，在北京學習了四年，她的世界觀發生了細微的變化。「一旦你生活在中國，你就會明白。中國人實在太多了，如果你僅僅是有序地排隊，你永遠也輪不到。我開始意識到，如果想要生活在中國，你就必須突出重圍。」
昂說她並不盲目追求現代中國提供的任何東西。「舉例說明，中國存在明顯的空氣汙染問題。但新加坡政府說需要曾在中國生活過的員工，所以如果我一直朝著這個方向努力，未來職業發展就很看好。我會比別人有優勢。對我來說，這是主要的事情。」她計劃畢業後在中國待上一段時間。
印尼也感受到了中國強勁的發展勢頭，印尼華裔僅佔人口的少數。
今年39歲的赫爾曼·卡薩姆是中國一家大型鋼鐵廠印度尼西亞分廠的工人，他說：「看到中國越走越好，我十分高興，也倍加自豪。」
赫爾曼是第四代的移民，從出生到上大學一直居住在雅加達，他不會講任何漢語。25歲那年，他陪同一位生病的親戚準備前往中國北京的一家醫院接受長期治療。就是在那，他學習了漢語。兩年後，他回到印度尼西亞，在一家木材廠找到了工作。赫爾曼的一個中國客戶知道他會講中文，因為這個原因，他得到了這份工作。
在印度尼西亞前總統蘇哈託執政的30多年間，印尼的反華遊行十分普遍。在相當長的一段時間裡，學校是禁止教習漢語的。在20世紀90年代後期，華裔商人開的店也經常遭到攻擊。赫爾曼回想起來，在他孩童時代，還曾因為自己的中國血統被別人欺凌。然而近幾年，印度尼西亞的領導者都在竭力改善同中方的關係。
赫爾曼說道：「當前，大量現金正從中國流入印度尼西亞，這就給像我這樣的華裔印度尼西亞人提供了更多的機會。人們不會再輕視我了。」
丹迪·范特安現年31歲，在一家IT公司工作。他說在他小的時候，自己幾乎沒有什麼身份的概念。「我不會說漢語，所以一直認為自己是印度尼西亞人，可別人總把像我這樣的人看作是中國人。」
他的爸爸經常告訴他不能忘記自己的中國根。的確，也正是因為爸爸的建議，丹迪去了清華大學學習。回到印尼，他在一家公司找到了工作，該公司名下的一系列的百貨商場和企業遍布中國。他說，中國在世界上越出名，他就越能感覺到自己的那種民族根。
丹迪說：「我喜歡印度尼西亞，但是我也不想丟掉我的中國身份。作為一個華裔印度尼西亞人，我想要成為溝通兩國的橋梁。」
華裔回族人：縮小中國和伊斯蘭世界差距的橋梁。
在埃及愛資哈爾大學專為外國留學生開設的基本阿拉伯課上，老師在黑板上寫下了幾個簡單的阿拉伯語句子。
學生進行背誦，「學生學阿拉伯語。學生踢足球。」
作為最富盛名的伊斯蘭教學習中心之一，愛資哈爾大學吸引了全球140個國家的4000名穆斯林學生。在過去的五、六年間，中國學生的數量激增。
愛資哈爾大學穆斯林研究中心的主席謝赫·阿里·阿卜杜勒·巴齊稱，當前該校共有1534名中國留學生。
中國僑民綿延甚廣，遍布全球。他們通常是漢族的代名詞。但隨著中國經濟影響力在中東和非洲日益增強，穆斯林回族群體也逐漸成為溝通中國和穆斯林世界的橋梁，並因此廣為人知。
中國人口中，穆斯林人雖然僅約佔1.5%，但這足足增加了2000萬人。13世紀，許多穆斯林人來到中國，那時蒙古帝國的統治範圍從中國一直延伸到西亞。除了一些少數民族，如維吾爾族，其餘說漢語的穆斯林都被稱作「回族」。全國各地都有伊斯蘭群體的足跡。
愛資哈爾大學穆斯林研究中心的主席謝赫·阿里·阿卜杜勒·巴齊稱，當前該校共有1534名中國留學生。他說：「這足以證明中國和埃及正建立起更緊密的聯繫。」
在留學生宿舍附近有一家中國餐館。它是兩年前由阿米娜納什旺和她的媽媽開的。阿米娜今年21歲，是來自遼寧省的國際學生。31歲的馬西是餐館的廚師，同樣，他也是一名中國留學生。餐館以低廉的價格向客人提供正宗的中國菜餚，生意總是很火爆。
中國的商品，如衣服、小飾品、電器產品，正逐漸湧入埃及和廣大阿拉伯世界的市場。2005年，中國的官方新聞機構新華社在開羅為它的中東地區分局建了一座新的建築。發稿之前，大部分稿件都要被翻譯成阿拉伯語。
馬林，26歲，來自中國雲南省，現在是愛資哈爾大學阿拉伯語專業的四年級學生。他說：「未來，我想要回到家鄉從事伊斯蘭語的教學，但我也可能會在廣州的某個公司待上一段時間做阿拉伯語翻譯，掙些錢。」
還有一個國際留學生名叫王超，今年28歲，也是來自雲南的回族人。回到家鄉後，他在一所伊斯蘭學校教課，他的伊斯蘭名字是「阿卜杜勒·瓦哈卜本·亞當」。他滿懷熱情地說他希望能在最著名的阿拉伯教育機構研習阿拉伯語。
作為穆斯林人，王很清楚自己作為中國文化和廣闊、無國界的伊斯蘭文明的承載者的雙重責任。
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（翻譯：糖糖愛 編輯：Julie）