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The Chopstick Community in Dhaka

by Iftikhar Ahmed Chowdhury
Even today, the run of the mill people In our country take any man with Caucasian features to be an Englishman, or as they fondly use the terms 'bllatl shaheb and mem shaheb' Again someone with a Mongoloid trait is Invariably distinguished as a Chinese, even If he or she is a citizen of Mongolia. Tajikistan. Thailand or a member of our Khashia tribe. Any other foreigner would usually be stared at ahd command at least a second look even tn a busy Dhaka street. But no passerby would take an interest in looking twice at the too familiar face of a Chinese. This I* probably what happens when one Ilves for many years in a foreign land and becomes accustomed to the eyes of the natives.
It was during the 1930’s that the Chinese started to make their shy appearances Into this land. But the exodus occurred during and after the Second World War Probably It was the post world war de pression that led the Chinese people to try their fortune some place other than their homeland and seek a better living. They have been In Calcutta long before they came to Dhaka. Mostly those who found their lives difficult In a too competitive Calcutta, flocked into Dhaka. Today, it is the second and third genera tlons of these migrated people who arc living in this country.
The migrated Chinese usually Indulged in trade here Their first and popular occu pation was footwear business The cluster of footwear shops owned and operated by them at Mitford Road. once used to fulfil the need of shoes of the denizens. But gradually as the trade became less paying with time, they switched over to other lucrative business like dry -cleaning or laundry, beauty parlours and restaurants that provides exclusive Chinese
The footwear trade at Mitford is now extinct and a Kof the past heritage of ka. But the laundry and restaurant trade is very much In. There are dry-cleaning shops and restaurant* as old as forty to fifty years in Dhaka. But. perhaps, now a days ft la
the restaurant business through which the Chinese people have made themselves known to the Bangladeshis. This business is only on the increase. Of the few hundred Chinese restaurants in the country, perhaps, only forty to fifty are owned and managed by Chinese people. The rest arc left with local owners who have found this business lucre five too But they surety finds it difficult to outleaguc their Chinese counterparts in a business which they know too well to be defeated.
True, that in Dhaka the Chinese do not have their dis tinct habitat, as they have clustered Into one single area in Calcutta. Sanfrancisco. New York and Vancouver and formed small China towns, in Dhaka there arc about two hundred Chinese, including children who live in different areas of the city.
"1 feel more of a Bangladeshi than a Chinese." says Joseph Lee. a converted Christian In his late forties, who owns and operates a restaurant, a beauty parlour and a laundry at Gausla Market. Ixe s father came to Calcutta as early as 1936 and later, in 1942, migrated to Dhaka and started footwear business at Mitford. Lee was born and brought up tn this soil. He was educated at St. Gregory High School in Dhaka. His children are also being educated tn this country. When asked to define his culture Lee said that they followed a mixed culture. At home they practice their own and outalde they follow Bengalee culture mainly by responding and interacting with the local people, who according to him. are very friendly'. Lee denies that the current generation of Chinese expatriates In Bangladesh suffer from an identity crisis. On the contrary he believes that their s is a more refinely mixed Sino-Bangalcc culture. "I am a proud citizen of Bangladesh. I exercise my franchise rights and am a tax payer of this country." says Lee In pure Bangla. who originated from Canton and speaks Hakkan dialect at home.
When out of curiosity he was asked if the foods served In the Chinese restaurants were really Chinese, he smiled and said. "It Is Chinese, but we also have to suit the local tastes. What arc usually sold here are actually oriental food
of different variations. We^do not always eat such rich food at home, these are special delicacies."
Lee. as a citizen of Bangladesh never in hi* life felt neglected and denies hav Ing been subjected to any kind of discrimination for being a minority. He only wishes that the law and order situation in the country would improve Lee and his family visits China once in a few years. Yet he regrets for not having an asaocta-tlon of the Chinese expatriates in Bangladesh which could bring their community together. "Wc have to maintain liaison on our own accord, through different social and cultural interactions,' concludes Joseph Lee with a friendly smile again.
Another expatriate, a son to the real proprietor of a Chinese restaurant, however, vehemently objected to any kind of media publicity and refused to bring himself out of the cocoon, as typical minority members often do. when asked for an interview. Al last fully confident about anonlmtty he offered a brief dialogue. He refused to reveal his father * name for peculiar reason* and said that his parents came to Dhaka in the wake of the fifties, and established this restaurant business, at the same Bijoynagar area They too came from Canton and speak a Hakkan dialect at home This
•Chinese youth was born, brought up and educated in Bangladesh. When asked if Bengalee culture has in flu enccd him. he said. "Not that much We have more or fess managed to maintain our own culture and heritage. I do not see myself as a Slno Bangladeshi citizen." He con fessed having a regular connection with the birth place of hts forefathers. "We go there almost every year So wv have never lost our Chinese identity." says the youth who never let us know his name, for he feared or perhaps disliked a media coverage
Whether one finds himself In a Slno Bangladeshi cultural trait or not. the Chinese expa I triates In Bangladesh, specially I at Dhaka, feel more or less I comfortable with, mostly. thetr I exclusive restaurant trade