A community in limbo

The overseas Chinese community from Myanmar lives in a sort of limbo between two cultures, and the annual water festival, the only significant cultural event put on by the community, seems to point up this ambivalence. "In Myanmar, many Chinese people are proud of their Chinese heritage, but when they come here, they still feel a longing for what they have left behind," Leu said.

It is the exoticism of Burmese culture that brings locals to Huahsin Street (華新街), where signs of the community's existence are most pronounced. Food, by Taipei standards, is very cheap, and a decent curry meal can be had for under NT$200. Then there are the provisions stores, with all kinds of unusual condiments and unfamiliar packaging that are a delight for the visitor, but serve a more fundamental need in the immigrant community. There is an air of jejune decrepitude that is quite different from the hectic jumble of most Taiwanese streets, and the elderly men nursing cups of cheap coffee in shops that have no sign see little need to change.

"This is the kind of life we are used to," said one gent, but for Leu, occasional visits back are enough to get a taste of home.

While currently employment at Mackay Memorial Hospital, Lee does not feel any particular discrimination, he said that while serving in the army, he found that many people had little idea about his "overseas Chinese" status, regarding him as a foreigner. "This applies to many uneducated peoples' attitudes to Chinese from Myanmar," Lee said. Lee and Yang find this attitude hurtful, and Lee suggested that with the emergence of a stronger Taiwanese identity, this alienation from the Taiwanese mainstream had become more pronounced.

As with many Southeast Asian Chinese, the overseas Chinese from Myanmar feel a tie to the greater Chinese culture. The situation is made more complex by historical links with the KMT, one of the reasons for the early influx from Myanmar to Taiwan. "In the early days, the KMT really looked after the overseas Chinese," Lee said. "Now the government is torn between helping the overseas Chinese and protecting the jobs of local people."

"So they just try and make life difficult for us [people seeking to immigrate]," Lee said. "It is necessary for applicants to get a Certificate of Chinese Ethnicity (華裔證明). "In the early days, this wasn't so difficult, but now, because there is no diplomatic contact between Taiwan and Myanmar, it is necessary to travel to Thailand to do the paperwork."

Yang agreed that regulations regarding Chinese ethnicity are a thorn in the side of overseas Chinese seeking to immigrate. "We are not a big community, and legislators want to look after their local constituents." He hopes that regulations can be relaxed in the near future.

In the meantime, a couple of restaurants and the Water Festival are really all that this beleaguered community has going for it. "People used to go [to Huahsin Street] to find a sense of belonging," Leu said, for this little patch of Chungho offers a way of balancing the conflicting demands of Chinese and Burmese heritage -- or possibly a way of ignoring them.