Leaving Home: Migrant Stories
Year 6 History Studies by Olivia Monte 20914825
Illustrated Oral History
As you may already know, there are many migrants living in our community. Your task for this unit is to interview a migrant living in the community and find out about their migrant story. From your interview, you will create an illustrated oral history and a short class presentation about your interviewee. You will need to start by generating questions to ask your interviewee in order to gain knowledge of the person's life.
Below is an example of an illustrated oral history based on an interview with James Cheng (who you will have met as our in-class guest speaker). When you read through the example, start thinking about the questions you would like to ask your chosen interviewee, remembering to be respectful of their life and experience.
Your illustrated oral history can be presented in digital or print form. On the side panel of the example are some tips about what to ask your interviewee and elements to include in written illustrated oral history.
Illustrated Oral History - James Cheng
Written by Olivia Monte. Based on a recorded interview with James Cheng on 28/09/2015.
Where did your family originate from?
James was born in Yangon, Burma in 1993 and his parents were also born in Burma. James’ grandparents are originally from China and they moved to Burma - his mum’s family came from the Fujian region and his dad’s family came from the Guangdong region. James and his family are all ethnically Chinese. James' maternal grandfather has migrated from China, to Burma to Australia in his lifetime.
When did you arrive in Australia?
James and his immediate family left Burma when he was about one and a half years old. He arrived in Perth, Australia in mid/late 1994.
Why did you and your family leave your homeland?
James’ parents felt that Burma was a place in which it was difficult to have a prosperous and stable life, especially considering that they were an ethnic Chinese minority amongst the rest of Burmese society. James' grandfathers were successful business men and were unfairly imprisoned for their wealth. One of the grandfathers was well known for his sesame seed oil brand. James’ mum remembers seeing racist attacks and riots against Chinese people. At the time that the Cheng family left Burma, much of James’ mum’s family were already in Australia. During this time, immigration to Australia became easier and so James’ immediate family successfully qualified for a humanitarian visa to come to Australia.
The Cheng family sesame oil factory in Burma.
Map of the Cheng family's migration over the generations from China to Burma and then to Australia.
James' birth certificate.
This document was originally written in Burmese script. For recognition in Australia, James' parents took the document an officical Burmese-English translator.
Why did other people leave Burma?
James knows other Burmese immigrants in Australia, but he feels that like many other migrants,people may not want to talk about their reasons for leaving their home. He says “everyone has a different story” and often people have many different reasons for leaving their home. James feels that many people, including his own parents, may want to forget the traumatic and difficult experience of leaving their lives behind. He says that they still might feel lucky to have escaped a desolate life and sad that they have left their old lives behind.
What are your early experiences and memories of coming to Australia?
James does not remember the journey from Yangon to Perth itself, but his aunties have told him that as a little baby, he cried loudly on the plane trip over! James remembers some later experiences of seeing his dad move all of the family’s belongings and setting up furniture. He also remembers moving houses several times and vividly remembers seeing his parents frequently studying in the home for their Australian Medical Certificate examinations.
What are some of the challenges and difficulties that you faced both during immigration and as an immigrant?
Unlike most of his Australian classmates, James knew from a very young age that his parents did not know everything about where he lived, how to behave and what was ‘normal’ in Australian society. In this sense, James knew that he had to teach not only himself, but also his parents about how to live in Australian society whenever he could. James also remembers his family having only a small amount of money to survive on because upon leaving Burma, they were required to sell all of their possessions and they were not guaranteed jobs in Australia. James also remembers seeing some of his family members lose the status that they once had in Burma- his grandfathers were well known there and his father was a doctor, but in Australia these dispositions changed. Although James remembers himself as a happy child with many friends at school, he also remembers knowing that he was different to everyone else because none of his friends faced the new immigrant challenges that his family did.
James (middle back) with his brother and cousins as young children.
Women preparing food in a Burmese street.
What was your life in your homeland like?
James was only a baby when he lived in Burma, and doesn’t remember any of his life from this time, but he knows that his family lived in his mum’s old home – an inner city apartment in China Town, Yangon. His parents were both working as doctors at a private practice at the local hospital while nannies looked after little James and his siblings. At the time, everyone spoke to James in Burmese and so as a little baby, this was the only language he knew.
Have you been back to your old homeland? When did you go and how did you feel about the experience?
James first went back to Burma for a holiday when he was 10 years old, which is roughly 8 years after the family left. He also went back to visit family when he was 19 and again when he was 20. During these visits, James felt that he was “coming back home”. He really loved visiting the country and remembers meeting all of his uncles and relatives who still live there. One of James’ favourite things about visiting Burma was that the food was incredible! He felt like he ate optimal versions of the traditional Burmese foods that he knew from Australia, including tasty, fresh noodles and spicy fish soup. Unfortunately during his second visit back, he got food poisoning from a local restaurant, but he still thinks fondly of the cuisine that he experienced! Overall, James felt very relaxed and happy to visit Burma and he felt that it matched the stories and descriptions that his parents had told him, although they said it felt different from when the family left in 1994. He also said that the country changed a lot even between his three visits.
What do you like about living in Australia?
James feels that Australia is a great country because it is a prosperous nation with a lot of educational, lifestyle and economic benefits as well as many good social services and support. He appreciates that Australia does not repress the rights of individual speech and freedom to learn and work. James feels that life in Australia is very good for those that live here, but he always remembers that our high quality of living in Australian society comes at the cost of helping other, less fortunate people in the world.
Do you feel Australian?
James definitely identifies himself first and foremost as an Australian. He feels that he is not a traditional “Crocodile Dundee” Australian, but more so a good representation of a 21st century Australian Citizen. James definitely feels that his Burmese and Chinese background are also large parts of his identity and he likes the idea that he is a mix of different cultures.
James dressing up at the Chinese Museum of Victoria.
James visiting Burma when he was 20.
James relaxing in the CBD.
James and his sister (right) eating a Burmese meal in his old home in Yangon.
A typical urban Burmese streetscape.
What have you personally done to contribute to Australian society?
During James' school years, he was very good at school and he was often very happy to help his peers with their work. James also painted, drew and played in a band with his friends and so he feels that he helped make Australian culture richer by bringing art into the world.
James is now studying to become a doctor and hopes to work as a psychiatrist. He enjoyes helping people when they are upset or lonely and feels that he might be able to help people when they go through traumatic life experiences.
In your opinion, what are some positive effects of immigration within the community?
James feels that immigrants bring diversity to communities. He says that they 'bring new ideas and fresh ways of doing things'. Based on James' experience of his own migrant family, he feels that immigrants bring new culture and food to Australian communities, as well as more labour.
Including a map helps readers to visualise the migration of the interviewee.
Inclusion of an important primary source document.
Photos from a long time ago help to illustrate the idea that time goes on and that people get older. This photo is great when compared with the current photos of James further down.
Important to note that the country is chnaging over time, and that it is not always the same with each visit.
Current photos of the interviewee help to show that time has passed since his/her migration.
Please be aware that interviewing younger migrants may mean that some questions may be hard for them to answer , such as asking them to comment about the significant changes they have witnessed over their lifetime. This does not mean that you only need to interview older migrants, but remember that every interviewee's experience and life knowledge is going to vary.
A Word of Advice
For this question, the interviewee did not have a straight answer. The response shows that the interviewer kept the response and thus truthfully represented the interviewee's feelings and did not change the information.