Maria Tran “So, they called the social services” (SAMPLE)
Name: Maria Tran
Ethnicity: Vietnamese
Occupation: Editorial Assistant
DOB: September 16th 1993
“So, they called the social services”
Maria Tran recalls the first time she experienced different attitudes between her Vietnamese culture and British culture. At 10 years old, Maria Tran’s parents relocated to the southern coast of Bournemouth in hopes of starting their own business. They decided to leave their 3 children, of which Maria was the youngest, behind in Tottenham with a Vietnamese au pair.
“I’m fairly lazy, I’d like wait till the very last minute before I woke up for school”. Maria speaks candidly of her usual morning routine before primary school in 2002. “This one morning I woke up exceptionally late and didn’t have time to eat my breakfast, so I packed the toast in my bag to probably have during play time – which I did”
Maria’s toast was not toast in the conventional sense but instead a common Vietnamese snack. The buttered toast was sprinkled with sugar. “At the age of 24, I still snack on this when I get a bit hungry” Maria laughed as she couldn’t contain her excitement. Back on the playground however, the strange snack caught the attention of a supervisor who then questioned her parent’s whereabouts and their inability to feed her breakfast. As soon as Maria explained the situation, she instantly regretted it.
“They literally dragged me to the nursery where the counsellor was. I don’t even remember saying anything bad. Just that my parents were in a different city working and I woke up late, I didn’t even think it was that big of a deal. I still had an au pair”.
However, the school did not share this sentiment. In Britain the education service plays a large role in identifying pupils who are suffering or at risk, to make sure that pupils are safe at home. “So, they called the social services and I just remember crying and crying because I didn’t think it was necessary and though it was so unfair. I mean at 10 I already knew how to cook rice, noodles. I could wash the dishes. I wasn’t at any risk being without my parents. And plus, they were out there trying to make money for the family – not gallivanting around town. I just didn’t want my parents to get into trouble, and the family to split up for something I thought was so trivial”
In Asian culture, most notably the Chinese, ‘left-behind children’ is socially acceptable and commonly practiced. It is a way for parents to find better paid jobs and opportunities elsewhere. Nyima Pratten, from the Guardian argues that the judgement on ‘left-behind children’ was another way for the Western media to criticise and discredit Chinese society based on the West’s principals, understanding and social norms when they really have very little knowledge or comprehension of Chinese culture and practices.
“I was lucky in the end that I managed to persuade my Headteacher to cancel the social worker call. Since then on I never shared anything from my family with school again, because they wouldn’t understand. There just so many rules and regulations in Britain to raising a child, I was bound to get my parents into trouble again at some point. The Asian mentality just did not fit in with the British norm”
Ethnicity: Vietnamese
Occupation: Editorial Assistant
DOB: September 16th 1993
“So, they called the social services”
Maria Tran recalls the first time she experienced different attitudes between her Vietnamese culture and British culture. At 10 years old, Maria Tran’s parents relocated to the southern coast of Bournemouth in hopes of starting their own business. They decided to leave their 3 children, of which Maria was the youngest, behind in Tottenham with a Vietnamese au pair.
“I’m fairly lazy, I’d like wait till the very last minute before I woke up for school”. Maria speaks candidly of her usual morning routine before primary school in 2002. “This one morning I woke up exceptionally late and didn’t have time to eat my breakfast, so I packed the toast in my bag to probably have during play time – which I did”
Maria’s toast was not toast in the conventional sense but instead a common Vietnamese snack. The buttered toast was sprinkled with sugar. “At the age of 24, I still snack on this when I get a bit hungry” Maria laughed as she couldn’t contain her excitement. Back on the playground however, the strange snack caught the attention of a supervisor who then questioned her parent’s whereabouts and their inability to feed her breakfast. As soon as Maria explained the situation, she instantly regretted it.
“They literally dragged me to the nursery where the counsellor was. I don’t even remember saying anything bad. Just that my parents were in a different city working and I woke up late, I didn’t even think it was that big of a deal. I still had an au pair”.
However, the school did not share this sentiment. In Britain the education service plays a large role in identifying pupils who are suffering or at risk, to make sure that pupils are safe at home. “So, they called the social services and I just remember crying and crying because I didn’t think it was necessary and though it was so unfair. I mean at 10 I already knew how to cook rice, noodles. I could wash the dishes. I wasn’t at any risk being without my parents. And plus, they were out there trying to make money for the family – not gallivanting around town. I just didn’t want my parents to get into trouble, and the family to split up for something I thought was so trivial”
In Asian culture, most notably the Chinese, ‘left-behind children’ is socially acceptable and commonly practiced. It is a way for parents to find better paid jobs and opportunities elsewhere. Nyima Pratten, from the Guardian argues that the judgement on ‘left-behind children’ was another way for the Western media to criticise and discredit Chinese society based on the West’s principals, understanding and social norms when they really have very little knowledge or comprehension of Chinese culture and practices.
“I was lucky in the end that I managed to persuade my Headteacher to cancel the social worker call. Since then on I never shared anything from my family with school again, because they wouldn’t understand. There just so many rules and regulations in Britain to raising a child, I was bound to get my parents into trouble again at some point. The Asian mentality just did not fit in with the British norm”
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