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Translated by Doubao (with minor editing)
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/forum/views/story20260228-8650298?utm_source=android-share&utm_medium=app
2026-02-28
By Huang Weiman
If young Singaporeans, while embracing Chinese brands and culture, can also express their Singaporean identity with greater confidence—such as using Mandarin more comfortably and telling stories of the local Chinese community—they may come to a clearer realization that being "Chinese" is not an extension of any country's capital or narrative, and in doing so, carve out a new narrative space for Chinese identity.
During this Chinese New Year, social media was filled with Chinese New Year-related content such as reunion dinners and what to wear during New Year Visiting on one hand, while more intense discussions emerged on the other—many ethnic Chinese internet celebrities and celebrities I follow have fiercely criticized an online phenomenon: the recently popular phrase "very Chinese".
Since the end of last year, a series of trendy expressions have appeared on the English internet. Among them, the most widely used one is "You met me at a very Chinese time in my life"; some also joke that they "woke up feeling suddenly very Chinese" or quip that they "just got diagnosed as Chinese".
These English captions are often paired with content related to Eastern culture or China, including Chinese-style makeup, fashion, health preservation, or travel information about China, to showcase the Eastern pace of life or create an atmosphere of being familiar with Chinese culture. Participants include both young ethnic Chinese and many non-Chinese people.
A short video of stand-up comedian Jimmy O. Yang wearing a Chinese-style jacket launched by Adidas, looking back and singing A Spray of Plum Blossoms on the grassland, is the most representative example of this trend. During the New Year, more netizens drew inspiration from this and created videos declaring themselves "very Chinese".
However, this online phenomenon has also stirred up feelings of discomfort and unease in the overseas Chinese community. Maggie Zhou, an Australian Chinese fashion and culture writer, pointed out in a recent podcast that this trend turns Chinese culture into a joke, reduces identity to a consumable life experience, and compresses it into wearable, Instagrammable elements. Yet for many overseas Chinese, the real-life experience interwoven with their names, accents, family expectations and social labels is not a phased choice, but a long-term cultural reality.
The internet allows identity to be performed, yet it may also overshadow the real people behind it.
Simu Liu, the Canadian Chinese actor who rose to fame for playing the lead superhero role in the Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, has pushed back against this trend in a more positive way. Last Thursday, he posted a video on his social media platforms teaching people how to pronounce his name correctly when addressing him.
Half-jokingly, he said: If people claim to be in a "very Chinese" phase of their lives, they should at least pronounce his surname (Liu) correctly. Though his tone was light, it carried an unignorable reminder: when being "very Chinese" becomes a gesture, the most basic understanding and respect should follow suit.
The popularity of this identity expression of being "very Chinese" is interesting on many levels. It is both the commercialization of cultural symbols and a sign that Chinese culture can now be displayed proactively and confidently. Following the "K-wave" and "Japanese style", being "very Chinese" has also begun to become a label for global aesthetic tastes and lifestyles.
Especially as Chinese brands expand overseas and many foreigners choose to travel to China driven by the country's visa-free entry policy, the "very Chinese" lifestyle has become more widely accessible. Globalization is no longer a one-way street of Western output and Eastern absorption as it once was.
International media have also quickly attached a more grand significance to it. The South China Morning Post noted that these memes reflect that the technological platforms built by China have become deeply embedded in the global internet; Wired magazine in the US believes that it symbolizes the disillusionment of some young Americans with the current state of their country and is an emotional response to the global landscape.
As a Singaporean Chinese, I couldn't help but feel a subtle sense of dissonance when I came across the playful "very Chinese" tags during Chinese New Year. Chinese form the majority in Singapore, and the society is highly diverse and open, so this Western-originated meme does not cause resentment. But the complex feeling lies in the fact that China today is not just a cultural symbol, but a rising economic and technological power. Will this create a cumulative effect—when China becomes a symbol of a great power, will being "Chinese" also be more easily simply equated with and bound to China?
Against this backdrop, on the one hand, we hope that the younger generation will cherish their Chinese identity and cultural traditions more, and we are heartened to see them enthusiastically show their "very Chinese" side; on the other hand, if the identity of Singaporean Chinese is not built on a solid and diverse cultural and linguistic foundation, their display of being "very Chinese" will be more of an aesthetic choice of liking China, leading to a greater disconnect from the understanding of Chinese identity held by their ancestors shaped by memories of survival.
A feature article published by Lianhe Zaobao on February 20 mentioned that the usage rate of Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform, is on the rise in Southeast Asia, with the region recording 25 million monthly active users last year, a trend that is particularly prominent in Singapore, opening a window for the local public to understand China. A global survey released by the renowned polling firm Pew Research Center last July also showed that global public favorability toward China has risen to a six-year high.
The popularity of "very Chinese" reminds us that identity is being rewritten. For Singaporean Chinese, this is both an opportunity and a test. We must pay attention to how the recognition of being "Chinese" will be guided by external narratives as China's weight in the global context grows.
But optimistically, this trend may also become an opportunity at the same time, prompting the younger generation to think more actively about their cultural position instead of avoiding or downplaying it. If young Singaporeans, while embracing Chinese brands and culture, can also express their Singaporean identity with greater confidence—such as using Mandarin more comfortably and telling stories of the local Chinese community—they may come to a clearer realization that being "Chinese" is not an extension of any country's capital or narrative, and in doing so, carve out a new narrative space for Chinese identity.
The author is a media professional.
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