Hi, Henry is definitely not Malay-English. As Malays are another race found in Malaysia, such as Chinese, Indians or Ibans (which Henry’s mother is). The correct term would be Malaysian-English or Iban-English because he is NOT Malay at all. BTW, he was born in Sarawak, and later lived in Terengganu (which are two completely different states in Malaysia).
Henry Golding is in fact incredibly English. More importantly, he clearly comes from a pretty well-off background. He speaks impeccable upper-class English – I’d be interested to know where he was educated and what sort of house he was brought up in. He was a hairdresser in Sloane Street and then got a job with the BBC. With this background and with these connections, he got into films. To say that he is ‘Asian’ is absurd. In fact, the very word ‘Asian’ is as meaningless as ‘white’ or ‘people of colour.’ More important is ‘class’ and ‘background’ rather than which label you stick on yourself.
In an ideal world, yes. When it comes to race (or labels), we are far from living in an ideal world. The fact that Golding speaks impeccable English doesn’t change visceral reactions to him — whether they recognize him or not, he’s seen as not-fully either side of his identities. In fact, his dark hair and features will place him in the Asian bucket much more often than not. The aim is to see past the surface and look deeper, but that’s just where we are as a human species / society.
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Hi, Henry is definitely not Malay-English. As Malays are another race found in Malaysia, such as Chinese, Indians or Ibans (which Henry’s mother is). The correct term would be Malaysian-English or Iban-English because he is NOT Malay at all. BTW, he was born in Sarawak, and later lived in Terengganu (which are two completely different states in Malaysia).
Hi Karen — thanks for letting us know. We’ve updated the post to reflect your insights! We really appreciate it.
Henry Golding is in fact incredibly English. More importantly, he clearly comes from a pretty well-off background. He speaks impeccable upper-class English – I’d be interested to know where he was educated and what sort of house he was brought up in. He was a hairdresser in Sloane Street and then got a job with the BBC. With this background and with these connections, he got into films. To say that he is ‘Asian’ is absurd. In fact, the very word ‘Asian’ is as meaningless as ‘white’ or ‘people of colour.’ More important is ‘class’ and ‘background’ rather than which label you stick on yourself.
In an ideal world, yes. When it comes to race (or labels), we are far from living in an ideal world. The fact that Golding speaks impeccable English doesn’t change visceral reactions to him — whether they recognize him or not, he’s seen as not-fully either side of his identities. In fact, his dark hair and features will place him in the Asian bucket much more often than not. The aim is to see past the surface and look deeper, but that’s just where we are as a human species / society.