Mama Linh’s Family Business

Mama Linh’s Family Business

Short Story | Comic Sans Anthology | 2018 | Country of Publication: Australia

Details

3 pages | All Ages
Short Story | Story appeared in: Comic Sans Anthology, Issue 1

Genre: Non Fiction, Biography

Notes:

The story was told to me by chef Peter Wu in an interview with him and his mother, Xiao Linh Meng. It’s about the tensions of growing up as a second generation migrant of a refugee mother working tirelessly in a suburban noodle house, how Peter had developed an independent interest in entering the industry with his own trendy bar, and how his entrepreneurship and desire to share cuisine from his heritage led him to working closer than he’d expected with his mother, appreciating her work and innovating with her recipes for a new audience in their new home in Australia.

With this anecdote, I wanted to discuss how second generation migrant children negotiate tensions between their ethnic history and their experience in a new culture – how they balance authenticity and loyalty to traditions with a need to transform and innovate to connect with a new community in a new culture with different languages and tastes.

 

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Entry created: March 23, 2022 at 12:46 pm | Updated: March 23, 2023 at 4:42 am