The Asian Diaspora

As the year comes to an end, we are taking a look back at some of our favorite songs by Asian diasporic artists from 2025.

Light, silky custard topped with rich caramel, this Vietnamese-style flan is made with simple ingredients and whole eggs for a soft, delicate texture. It’s baked in the oven using a bain-marie (water bath), but it can also be steamed if you prefer.

Four years after Shang-Chi, Simu Liu has his first lead role in The Copenhagen Test — and he thinks it would probably be a different story if he were white.

Archived Link: https://archive.ph/PoyjC

A father and his 6-year-old son who were separated by immigration officials in New York City have been deported to China, weeks after their case drew outrage.

The child, Yuanxin Zheng, is among the youngest migrants in New York to be taken from a parent by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during a routine check-in. He and his father, Fei Zheng, who lived in Queens, were detained on Nov. 26; President Trump’s deportation crackdown has swept up increasing numbers of migrant families and children.

“We are happy to report we were able to remove the family back to their home country,” Ms. McLaughlin wrote in an email.

(okay pause wtf. "happy" someone getting sent to a country they fled? the fuck?)

“It is quite sad,” Ms. Spector said on Friday. “He came here wanting to give his son a different and better life than he might have had in China. That’s what they were coming for. And they had a lot to offer.”

Mr. Zheng told federal agents that he had come to America because he was afraid of being tortured in his native China.

Mr. Zheng does not have a criminal history, according to government records.

What a depressing story...

Shih-Ching Tsou’s "Left-Handed Girl" tells the story of a Taiwanese girl confronting shame, family secrets, and societal expectations.

Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan voices Gary De'Snake, a reptile freedom fighter who wants his family to return home.

A quick and easy Vietnamese vegetable soup made with mustard greens and calamari. It is light, warm, and filling with rice. It's the perfect side dish for busy weeknights.

By "fit in" I mean... do you feel like you are actually part of the society there, or do they treat you like a foreigner. Do you feel comfortable there?

I know my experience as a 1st gen (or some call it "1.5 gen" since I arrived during childhood) is probably different from a 2nd gen or a 3rd gen, or maybe even different from those 1st gens that were born in their ancestral country but emigrated before they had formed any memories of their ancestral country; but personally, I can't help but wonder what my life would've been like had my family not emigrated. Like... I'm talking about alternate timelines sort of stuff, I get obsessed about the thought of it... well... I mean I do get obsessed about just the concept of time travel all the time... xD Just me?

My answer, as to fitting in: Meh... sort of yes but sort of no... I'm probably just introverted, and I had to juggle between family-related trauma (emotional abuse and fighting with my older brother) and the alienation in the US during my first few years since I didn't speak English at the time... having to deal with both at the same time probably fucked up my self-esteem and just made me more introverted.

As for my ancestral country, which is also my birth country: Meh... society is too conservative for my liking, particulary when it come to government and authoritarianism. From memory, I didn't like the 8 years of my life I spend there before leaving.

Now? I probably would not fit in as of now even if I tried, since... Language Barrier... I wouldn't really understand the colloquial sayings and like how to word things properly, I'd struggle to hold a conversation... I mean I struggle having a deep conversation with my parents right now lol, I'd probably do worse if its a Mandarin speaker from outside of Guangdong Province (Cantonese is spoken at home, not Mandarin). I mean I can understand most of it, but I'd struggle. A white dude would get judged less, but ethnic Chinese, even if foreign born, would still get judged as if they are a local that didn't go to school. It would be even more alienating compared to an immigrant being alienated in a immigration county.

As for, the alt-timeline where I never left in the first place: I think about all the great TV Shows and Movies that I might've missed out on, had I remained in China... because domestic media gets very boring.... well, unless you just just have poor tastes like some people do (ahem like my parents ahem).

Bakery-style Hong Kong egg tarts in about 30 minutes with store-bought tart shells. Flaky crust, smooth custard, lightly sweet, these are the perfect desserts to enjoy with coffee or tea.

ICE agents arrested a Chinese father and his 6-year-old son, separating the two and sending the father to Orange County Jail while the whereabouts of the son remain unknown as of Tuesday morning.

The father and son spent several weeks inside a family ICE detention center after they first entered the country and were released on parole in early summer. They were arrested again at an August ICE check-in and returned to Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a detention center for families with children, where the two had previously been held.

In September, at an immigration court hearing while they were detained, a judge administratively closed their asylum case, according to immigration court records. Under prior administrations, would have been seen as a positive step and indicated that DHS wasn’t actively seeking the person’s deportation.

And just over a month later, on Oct. 24, the father and son were released on a year-long parole, according to a copy of their DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement parole document reviewed by THE CITY. They were required to return for an ICE check-in in early December, according to the document.

“ICE may also terminate parole on notice prior to the automatic termination date,” the document warned. “Parole is entirely within the discretion of ICE and can be terminated at any time and for any reason.”

Despite the uncertainty, the two were settling into life in New York City, living at a family shelter in Queens, while Yuanxin had started first grade at P.S. 166Q in Astoria, according to Spector.

Archived: https://archive.ph/jZjDm

How 2nd-Gen Vietnamese Are Settling Into Czech Republic With New Careers | The New Locals - Part 5/8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY0Y6FzsRHU CNA Insider - 10-1-2025 The 83,000-strong Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic represents the third largest ethnic-minority in the country. The first generation of Vietnamese were sent here as indentured workers, as a form of payment…

Prof. Nguyễn discusses her research on intergenerational trauma among Vietnamese Americans, how her framework can help to grasp other experiences of marginalization, and the importance of grounding academic research in community connections.

Feel free to rant about your own struggles.

As for me:

I'm currently dealing with depression and I'm still, unfortunately, dependent on my parents, and I can't ever get them to understand me.

"Finding professional help" is also difficult here in the US...

I don't think being here really helped my parent's understand, they still distrust the concept ofnpsychaitry and claims that "the family has no historu of these issues. And brushes off my of my problems. So...

Ugh...

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Many in the region practice ancestor veneration and say it is important to follow traditional funeral practices.

This is a song by a Nigerian/Vietnamese rapper and talks about life in America and topics like Black Lives Matter.

These kinds of topics are always so difficult to bridge with my elders since there can be a cultural and language divide. But my father listened to this and was just straight vibin' to it and he was like, I think I understand Black Lives Matter now.

I thought that was hilarious and amazing all at once.

The 3rd verse is my favorite.

"Hiện tại tui suy nghĩ quá nhiều, vừa là con lai và việt kiều
Hai bên không chấp nhận hoàn toàn, cuộc đời như thế mình phải chịu."

It means something like

"Right now, I'm overthinking it. But being both mixed-race and overseas Vietnamese, I'm not fully accepted by either side. I guess that's just the life I have to endure."

I feel like a lot of us in the Asian diaspora can relate to this sentiment in some way or another. Just wanted to share that.

For those unfamiliar with this genre of music, it is basically euro disco or euro pop. It is full of synthesized sounds and a very distinct euro beat. And during the 80s and 90s, the Vietnamese diaspora latched onto it so much that it basically became our anthem and our way of dealing with life.

I had the pleasure of seeing a screening of this documentary last week and I thought it was really good. It tells the story of our parents moving to where we are in the diaspora and us kids trying to find a way to adapt and live in a foreign country (even those of us born here).

It features Lynda Trang Đài and a few other notable Vietnamese celebrities.

Really really cool for those of us who grew up with New Wave. And even if you didn't or aren't Vietnamese, it tells a story that everyone in any asian diaspora can relate to.

Random thought that I had the other day: I meant an Asian guy at a random event, he presented himself with a very local name (imagine Jan in Germany), and we discuss a bit (turns out his parents are from Guangzhou) , but later on when I checked his LinkedIn he actually has a very Chinese-sounding name (he doesn't speak Mandarin, he told me his parents spoke another language).

I then remembered that I have a couple of cousins in their mid 20s which are now switching to European names on their social media profiles.

Not sure how to feel about it, I've always been proud of my Vietnamese first name, it never really crossed my mind to change to a European one.

However I'm lucky that my parents picked one that is simple to pronounce and read (and Vietnamese names can be though on that regard), so I guess if indeed my name was always butchered I might want to change it to something easier to get for the majority of the people I would encounter in my daily life.

What do you think? Have you seen similar situations around you?

Asian American high schoolers in Denver gathered with storyteller Huệ Helen Nguyễn to explore community care, mutual aid, and belonging through storytelling and hands-on action.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

So um... idk... wasn't my idea to start this community lol.

But um @saigon@quokk.au talked about starting a community and... I'm like... sure...

Even thought I doubt there are many Asians here on the fediverse. This place is kinda for mostly Westerners lol.

But anyways, Hi. My other account is @deathbybigsad@sh.itjust.works (display name: Hououin Kyouma) but I wanted a different username for this since that username felt a bit depressing/edgy and too anime-y lol, so I picked Wong Ka Kui （黃家駒） for this account, who is the name of a Cantopop (Cantonese Popular Music) Singer (he's now dead btw, died from some tragic accident, RIP) from Hong Kong... and I don't listen to a lot of music btw, but I kinda like his music and the band Beyond. Like... idk... I just feel like the Cantonese language has a special place in my heart... it is my first language, my native language, the language I speak at home, so it feels very... like the part of my brain storing the language is closely linked to my emotional part of my brain... so it feels more emotional to me compared to English, for example, even though English is my now primary language and my strongest language...

Anyways... brief introductions:

I was born in Guangzhou （廣州) , China. I was the 2nd son born in my family, despite the One Child Policy being in effect at the time. (Basically, the PRC government refused to issue my legal documents, and my parents had to pay huge fines in order to get my legal documents) My family immigrated to the US when I was around 8 years old. I lived in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Then about 4 years later, we moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. I have US Citizenship now.

So um... fellow Asians around the world... feel free to introduce yourselves. Talk about stuff...

(again, I don't really expect much activities here lol)

And if you are a non-Asian, feel free to post a thread and like ask questions about... life and stuff...

Very cool to see such a space, hopefully it can become a good place to share experiences.