Sarih Leng (林彥彤)
What does it mean to be Asian American?
As an immigrant to America, I carry the values and experiences from my childhood growing up in different places--Papua New Guinea, Macau (a former Portuguese colony in Southern China), and Singapore--and have to adapt to the level of understanding Americans have about Asian and Pacific Island culture. Oftentimes the topic of my race and heritage is avoided by people not wanting to broach the subject of race and sound ignorant about the many forms of Asian identity. Asia is a vast continent, with thousands of diverse ethnic groups. To have lived in an East Asian and a Southeast Asian country, but still regarded as (mixed) Chinese is difficult for people to understand; that my Chinese-ness is not solely from China, but through the migration of my ancestors. I am so blessed to have been nurtured in the Bahá'í Faith which teaches all people to be true to their cultural identity, but look outwardly to embrace the beauty of diversity evident in all God's children. I hold this principle very dearly in my heart, while I endeavor to uphold the complexities, richness, and nobility of representing the Chinese race in this country.
Ethnic background: Chinese
Current city & state: Muskego, Wisconsin
What motivates you to do what you do everyday? Gratitude for God's bounties, love for Bahá'u'lláh, my husband, and my family which includes our fur babies.
What do you worry about? My parents who live on the other side of the world, especially my mother who has been living with Alzheimer's Disease the past couple of years. My husband and I are about to be new parents, and we are nervous about how we will raise a spiritual child and lay the foundations of a loving and strong family unit. I am also trying to be thoughtful about how to have confidence in myself and my identity, as well as using wisdom and being prayerful in my actions and speech.
What can’t you live without? My husband Sam, my dog Nacho, and cookies.
What brings you joy? Sam, Nacho, and cookies.
What is your wish for the United States? To become a materially and spiritually elevated civilization. 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that "[m]aterial civilization is like unto the lamp, while spiritual civilization is the light in that lamp. If the material and spiritual civilization become united, then we will have the light and the lamp together, and the outcome will be perfect."
What role do you play, or want to play in making that wish come true? Strengthen my efforts in the spiritual education of children, while caring for a young one of my own. Become a true protagonist for spiritual change in society through informal discourse to elevate minds and uplift hearts.
Anything else you wish to say about being Asian American? What's not to love about Bruce Lee, Pokémon, and dim sum?
“As an immigrant to America, I carry the values and experiences from my childhood growing up in different places--Papua New Guinea, Macau (a former Portuguese colony in Southern China), and Singapore--and have to adapt to the level of understanding Americans have about Asian and Pacific Island culture.”
— Sarih Leng (林彥彤), 2022
Sarih Leng (林彥彤) with jade pendant given
by her parents, 2022
This is a small jade pendant given to me by my parents when I was a kid. Each of my siblings had one too. It's not a very valuable piece of jade, it's tiny and has a faded green color. On each side is engraved the Taoist symbol for yin and yang--opposite energies that maintain balance in the universe. Our family is not Taoist, but I think my parents believed in the power of positive energy and wanted us to wear it for protection. I remember losing it when I was about ten years old, having hidden it in such a secret spot in my sister and my shared bedroom that even I couldn't find it.
“…I think my parents believed in the power of positive energy and wanted us to wear it for protection.”
— Sarih Leng (林彥彤)