Family in an Asian Household

In Asian cultures, family is more than just kinship. It is spiritual – you practice it, embrace it, and make it a central part of your life. It is priceless – no materials can replace the deep-rooted feelings that family members share with each other.

It is tough love in some cases – it takes some a lifetime to realize what family actually means to them. Whether or not you define family in these ways, we can all agree that family is one of the most essential values in an Asian household.

When I was in 1st grade, my primary school organized an outing trip for all students to a local zoo. It was my first time traveling without my parents’ company. My parents were worried as much as I was excited about the trip.

They made me learn their names, phone numbers, and our home address by heart and even printed this information on a little name card attached to my chest.

Even though I was fortunate enough to not have to use the card, I realized how my little family and my younger brother, later on, has become a part of my identity, something I do not necessarily have to carry on my chest everywhere I go but is still there by my side. 

As I grew up (and am still growing up), this identity turns into an onion full of layers of fond memories, shared moments, and inside jokes. It is three different summers we spent in the hospital as I contracted malaria three times (How crazy is that?).

It is also the time when my dad decided to make spring rolls himself and the whole family ended up taking Berberine the whole week. And I am sure you all have that onion for your family. Still, let not forget that peeling onions can sometimes make you cry like a baby. But don’t worry! After all, don’t we all have a soft spot for our family? 

As much as Asian moms and dads tend to be protective of their children, family still provides a strong network of support. It can mean financial leverage, our college tuition fees for example.

It can be physical with the house we are residing in or the food we are devouring at the moment. It also entails moral support, an often grey area that invites nuanced interpretations from different people.

But there is one common ground that we can unanimously agree on: our family all want us to live a happy life.

That means whenever we fall, they are willing to take us into their open arms, consoling us, cheering us up, and of course, treating us with our all-time favorite food (so typical of Asian moms and grandmas). Imagine it as if it is “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”, but instead of meatballs, you have got your favorite food and tons of love. 

Family, as familiar as it is to us, is hard to break down into discrete meanings, even if we Asians arguably have a great aptitude for dissecting numbers and statistics.

Rather, family is more like a rainbow palette with so many random colors and shades from our adventurous childhood, rebellious teenage years, and shaky transition to adulthood. Whatever happens, just bear in mind that after the rain comes the rainbow.