Podcast highlights from May - defying Chinese sterotypes and going back to WW2 in Malta

After a few months of inaction on the podcast to focus more on the photo exhibition, it's back with a couple of very interesting new episodes. Interestingly both were outside of Hobart. I interviewed Lili in the Huon Valley, an area increasingly popular with those looking for a lifestyle change, and I talked with Rose on her balcony overlooking Launceston, not far from Cataract Gorge. Both came to Tasmania for a change in lifestyle, and as far as I can tell, neither has regretted their choice.

LILI - CHINA

I'd held off including doing an episode with a Chinese migrant. Firstly, I was at one time doing a project with the National Library of Australia, specifically interviewing people of Chinese heritage. Secondly, there are so many Chinese-born migrants living in Tasmania that there seemed no point to just interview someone just because they came from China. It was about finding a story with a bit of an angle.

In Lili's case, I thought her story had many elements that didn't fit the traditional Chinese migrant stereotypes. For example, her parents never pressured her about getting top grades at school, in fact they encouraged her to beat her own path. And, perhaps related to that, she came to Tasmania with her husband seeking to lead a more "green" or sustainable lifestyle growing vegetables and so on. So, please have a listen for a different kind of story through the eyes of Chinese migrant.

ROSE - MALTA

I'd been interested in interviewing someone from Malta for some time and although Rose left her country of birth at a young age, she had some strong memories of her childhood there, but has also strongly maintained some aspects of Maltese cultural identity. Malta and Australia also have an interesting connection for countries so distant, and a remarkable number of Maltese migrated in the years after World War 2. Remarkable, mostly because Malta is so small both in size and in population, yet even today there are around 40,000 Maltese-born living in Australia and over 200,000 Australians who have Maltese heritage. But as well as this, Rose had stories of her life in Tasmania, her home of over 35 years, including running a kind of arts and crafts gallery in Campbell Town for 11 years after she bought the old bank building.

As always, these stories have made me reflect on how this project has brought me in touch with so many interesting and diverse people all with their own personal stories to tell of coming to and living in Tasmania.