I was born in the US to Cantonese immigrants from Hong Kong. One of my earliest memories was sitting in my elementary class, looking around at my classmates, and recognizing that I was the only Asian. And up until high school, that was often the case. I got made fun a lot for being different, which led me to resent my Cantonese heritage and skin color when young.

In high school, that all changed. There was more diversity and Cantonese students somehow found each other to build a community. It wasn’t until then that I started to publicly embrace what I had celebrated only at home (and sometimes even suppressed). We talked about the movie scene in Hong Kong, shared Cantopop CDs, and even went to Mandarin Sunday school together to improve our written Chinese skills.

My love for my Cantonese culture continued to grow, which perfectly aligned with finding an even larger community when I went to college at Rutgers. After attending a few events thrown by the Rutgers Cantonese Club, I joined the executive board. For the remainder of my undergraduate years, I spent planning Cantonese food festivals, celebrating mid-autumn festival under the moonlit sky, and having the loudest game nights on the campus with tables upon tables of mahjong.

That was over a decade ago. Now, the opportunity to connect with other Cantonese-speakers is more scarce. There are several Chinese communities within New Jersey, but most are Mandarin-speaking, while others that are Cantonese-speaking are far from Central NJ and offer more traditional vibes.

That is what led me to create the Cantonese American Association – for everyone to embrace Cantonese culture whether you’re a Cantonese-speaking native, an ABC, or someone who’s just curious. As a mom to a multi-racial child, I want to cultivate a community of openness and inclusivity for her to learn about her heritage, get more language exposure beyond just family, and explore at her own pace.

I hope that you and your loved ones will find the same through CAA. Welcome to the community!

~Kristine Wong, Founder