Nicole Jillian Salvador
All That Matters
Wayson Choy
People migrate to other countries for different reasons and purpose and every migrant
have their unique experiences to tell about their host country. In the novel All That Matters, like
all the other migrants who went before them, the Chen family migrated to Canada to escape the
famine in China and be able to earn in order to send help to their relatives left behind. Arriving
and settling at their destination they were immediately greeted with scenes and practices they are
not familiar with. Not to mention the indifferent attitude of other races towards them. People
who came from a homeland with rich cultural rituals and old beliefs will likely experience
numerous challenges adjusting to their host country. The most common experience of culture
shock, disheartening instances of racial discrimination and the pressure to stick to old beliefs in
order to please the older ones and appease the ghosts of departed loved ones are clearly
interwoven in the novel.
When three-year-old Kiam-Kim found himself in a completely different crowded
cluttered dusty environment with all the unfamiliar adult faces before him he asked for his
playmates and all the familiar happy faces, he was accustomed to back in China. His
grandmother answered, “All gone now… All left behind.” (Chong, ch.1, p10). All of a sudden,
he was in this strange noisy environment where two small cotton balls needed to be inserted in
his ears at nighttime in order for him not to hear the banging sounds of ‘playing dragons’. This is
too much for a little boy to bear. (Chong, ch.1, p.15). This was Kiam’s first exposure to “culture
shock” syndrome... One day a group of white boys at school laughed at Kiam when he told them
about their Kitchen God Tsao Chung. The Italian boy’s sensible statement that it is “just a piece
of paper” (Chong, ch.2, p.33) stuck in his head. But still, he must stick to China’s ancient beliefs
so as not to offend the ancient spirits. The food that they are eating also became a point of
comparison. Jack and his parents find it disgusting and the smell is always unpleasant to them.
Although Kiam got to taste other food at Jack’s house he will always appreciate what his Old
One always prepare in their table. All of these encounters of seeing the big difference of Chinese
ways and the ways of the host country enabled Kiam to walk circumspectly as he come of age so
as not to offend either side.
The Chinese people experienced inhumane treatments from white people in Canada.
Third Uncle told Kiam that they are being labelled as ‘chinks’ as a form of ridicule (Chong, ch.1,
p.90) Stories of white people kicking Chinese people and bashing their heads as well as
destroying businesses in Chinatown were recounted to Kiam’s grandmother by the wives of
Tong leaders (Chong, ch.1, p.52). When the railroad construction closed many Chinese migrants
lost their jobs and ended up living in crowded houses hardly surviving on their day to day living.
Kiam witnessed how his grandmother would go around and knock on those doors to share what
ever little food they have left in order to fill some empty stomachs. Their miserable living
condition was engraved in Kiam’s young mind. To top it all, they don’t have their family by their
side as they experience such hard times. This is largely due to the passing of a law that openly
discriminated the Chinese people. “The Tong elders were not unsympathetic to the bachelor men
in Chinatown who, more than fifteen and twenty- five years before, had left behind their families
in China, and were now unable to bring over those same wives and families because of the 1923
Chinese Exclusion Act” (Chong, ch.1, p18). Because of this, those who can afford to bring in
relatives must use “ghost papers” and pay huge sums of money. This is such a great emotional
and mental ordeal to the migrant and to their families that they were unable to see for a long
time. Kiam-Kim was very much aware of this since childhood and feels sorry for his own people.
Kiam himself had his own experiences of discrimination which no doubt affected him greatly
emotionally and mentally as he grew up. “At those times, I thought of all the wrinkle-faced
people, white haired people with furrowed brows from eastern European countries and from
Italy, who sat on their porches and on the steps along Keefer Street, and how sadly they
sometimes looked upon the lot of us white and yellow kids romping together on the streets. Their
disapproving glances and shouts for their grandchildren to rejoin them on the porch made me
think they all longed for us to be among our own kind, just as they once were: children of a
single language and a single community” (Chong, ch.2, p.22).
Since boyhood, the urgings and pressure to stick to Chinese practices and old beliefs in
order to please the Old One and appease the ghosts of departed loved ones has been part of
Kiam’s daily existence. “‘The cries of a dragon’, said Poh-Poh. Father said, ‘Just the train
coming to a stop Kiam-Kim,’ But the Old One’s voice was so certain that I held my breath”
(Chong, Beginnings). His belief about dragons became so tangible despite sensible and factual
explanations from his father. When he bragged about the coming of his new mother to his friend
Jack, he was heavily reprimanded. His grandmother struck him with chopsticks in the head while
shouting, “Tell white ears nothing!” To reinforce it his father explained that white people did not
understand Chinese ways (Chong, ch.1, p.55). As he grew older, he begun to imbibe the art of
being silent about important family matters as he was always told to keep family secrets within
their circles. He also begun to realize that his connection to ancient China and its ways are
eternal in nature. And that he can never turn his back on it. “Ghosts and old China haunted us,
just as they had hunted Third Uncle. Only the still born can leave the past behind” (Chong, ch.1,
pp.8-9). Even though a great part of him have been wanting to resist some beliefs and rituals
from old China in order adjust well to his host country he personally obliged himself in respect
and reverence of the old ones. When his stepmother poured out the sentiments, she has been
holding in her heart one day, Kiam realized he was not alone. “‘I chose? I was bought! Even my
own two children call me stepmother!’ Both Liang and Sekky averted their eyes. They must have
sensed that their mother was battling against invisible and entangled ways. Against their ancient
powers, she was as helpless and defenseless as I was” (Chong, ch.9, p.78).
As a whole, most immigrants go through numerous challenges as they adjust to their host
country most specially in the process of assimilating their old beliefs to their whole new
environment. Culture shock is almost always experienced to varying degrees. Some are able to
cope instantly and adjust smoothly while others linger long in their process of integration and
assimilation. Moreover, racial discrimination has been around since the dawn of time and has
caused so many people to suffer physically, emotionally and mentally. It has imputed so much
harm to humanity more than anything. In addition, people go through a mental “tug of war”
when the desire to keep traditions is more on pleasing others rather than doing what is really in
their hearts. In this modern times however, it is much easier to overcome and adjust in the
aforementioned concerns with the use of modern technology and worldwide social media.
Cultures and traditions around the world can be easily studied to be prepared before stepping in
the country that people would want to visit or migrate to. Although the actual experience will
serve as the gauge, but the awareness of what will be expected and encountered is already a big
edge for smooth assimilation and integration.