English | Singaporean – BHF Digital Delivery Manager
I identify as a Cis female, British Asian. Sometimes I choose 'Other', I feel that there is an assumption about what 'British Asian' represents and I feel I don't fit that label.
My Mum is from Singapore, my Dad from Bradford, West Yorkshire. My Dad was a Merchant Navy Captain and travelled a lot. He’d visited Singapore a number of times. He and his shipmates became good friends with Mum and her friends and they all would go dancing together. They went on a date after one of Mum’s friends arranged it. They moved to the UK in 1974 and lived with Dad’s parents before getting a house of their own and marrying in the same year. Looking back at the photos of the big day, it’s quite a funny picture. A dreary day in West Yorkshire with my stern looking Grandparents smartly dressed, my Dad in a 70s style suit, and Mum in bright pink and silver sari with her Brown complexion. So she really stood out back then. My Mum is Muslim, and Dad is Church of England. Mum was lucky, her parents were quite open to her marrying a non-Muslim.
I learn the most about Mum’s religion when we visit Singapore. We used to visit often when I was younger and when more family lived there, but I’ve not been for a few years. More recently, having lost family members, there are a lot of Muslim ceremonies which highlight (to me) the different practices between Christianity and Islam. I wouldn’t want to compare the two cultures, but I do feel that they do reflect the respect each culture has for the older generations.
London is such a diverse mix of cultures and I’ve been lucky to have worked in companies where they’ve been conscious about diversity (with some exceptions around gender pay). There are always improvements to be made in encouraging more diversity in the workplace and with the new Kaleidoscope team, the British Heart Foundation are making further positive steps on this. I think as individuals we can work on calling out in work, social and family situations where casual racism is not OK. Often people don't realise they are making negative comments because it’s part of their everyday dialogue.
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