"The grandparents will sacrifice themselves by eating the fish head"
British Asians have celebrated their grandparents on a new BBC Stories episode
BBC Stories has released an episode featuring British Asians sharing their fondest memories of their grandparents.
Titled The strongest women we know, the episode features members of the British East Asian community who had tweeted about #RealAsianGranny. The hashtag surfaced as a response to CBBC’s Living With The Lams, which was deemed as racist by the community.
In the BBC episode, seven British East Asians share their own stories about their grandparents.
One member of the panel shared how he associates food with his grandmother. “My grandma always used to make fish and sausages,” he says. “I think i associate those with my grandma.”
Another said how her grandparents would always save the better parts of the meal for them. “The grandparents will sacrifice themselves by eating the fish head,” she said.
Others explained how there was a culture clash with their grandparents.
“In Vietnamese culture it’s very unusual to have affection like in the western way of actually communicating with your elders,” one person said.
“Taiwanese Chinese culture is quite distant,” another said. “We wouldn’t hug each other. Grandma said that only us me and my brothers would hug her and she’d actually enjoy that.”
Earlier this year, the BBC released Takeaway Kids – documentary about growing up in a British Chinese takeaway that featured Resonate’s MD Jun Kit Man.