Since six Asian women were killed in the Atlanta Spa shooting last month, “Stop Asian Hate Movement” have been held across the United States for several weeks. In this movement, some Asian-American celebrities, such as basketball player Jeremy Lin and musician Leehom Wang, encourage Asian-Americans through social media to break their previous silence. More and more Asian Americans are willing to unite and speak up.
Many Asians in the United States face a lot of discrimination. What about the situation in Ireland?
In the past few years of living and studying in Ireland, the friendliness of Irish people is one of the deepest impressions I have of this country. For example, I find that most Irish people will help out when others are in trouble and ask for help. When I walk on the street, the Irish people I meet can always smile, and some even greet me in a friendly manner.
In the past few years, I have travelled to some countries, such as Spain, the Netherlands, the US and the UK. Among the countries I have visited (if my homeland China is included as well), the friendship of Irish people is leading in my mind.
In addition to this, I am also impressed by the level of safety in Ireland. For instance, travelling at night in the city is always a thing to make friends or families worry about your personal safety, but walking at night in Dublin does not need to worry about this issue. Another example is that I think there is no need to worry about safety when travelling in Ireland, because even if the travellergets lost, kind taxi drivers will find ways to send you to a safe place.
However, not all memories are good. In the past few years living in Ireland, the thing I felt most offended was that I was sometimes discriminated against by some elementary school students. I remember that my friend and myself were discriminated against by some elementary school students who had just finished school with bad words when we were taking a bus. And my friends once told me that they were provoked or discriminated against by children of similar age on the road during the Covid-19 pandemic. In my opinion, school teachers and parents should find ways to educate these children with correct views.
Bradley Su
