TINA

Student

My name is Lakyn San, but please call me Tina. I'm a teen fashion student in LASALLE. I'm Vietnamese, so I'm not a local Singaporean.

What’s your family’s cultural background?

So I'm Vietnamese, both of my parents are Vietnamese. And I'm just in Singapore for study.

"I feel like, for me, the Singapore identity is about the diversity of culture. Its an identity formed by many people that come together from various countries, live here and built the Singapore into a better country."

What’s your relationship with the Singaporean identity?

Because I went to international school, I have interacted with like diversity of races, and people come from different countries. When I'm here in Singapore, it was very fun. Actually, it's quite fun to see more than just one race. Like, there's Chinese, Indians, and Malay. And I do see a part of Vietnamese are here. So, I feel I do feel included in the Singapore society.I feel like, for me, the Singapore identity is about the diversity of culture. Its an identity formed by many people that come together from various countries, live here and built the Singapore into a better country.

Tell us about your chosen objects

I choose our Áo dài, which is the Vietnamese traditional outfit. It's represent my Vietnamese identity. And I made it quite simple as close as the original Áo dài are. It was invented around after World War Two. I modernise it a little bit, so it's more comfortable for me, like losing the waist or make the bell sleeves. I played with the tonality of the colour of pink. Áo dài is like a signature of Vietnam. It's represent the woman's beauty and the woman's curve, like the S shape of our Vietnam on a map.

Because Áo dài is Vietnamese traditional clothes, I want to put my own identity into my culture identity. So you can feel, I'm a Vietnamese. And this is me. This is how I look like as a Vietnamese.

Are there any external influences that have shaped your cultural identity?

I will say definitely social media and from schools, because I went to an international school. There's a lot of foreigners and Western students. So I feel that my accent, it's from there. It's not a Vietglish accent. I guess that is also why I feel strong association with Singapore.

What are your thoughts on labels placed on one's racial or ethnic identity?

I will say each identity have like their own way to represent themselves and that is something that I appreciate a lot. But nowadays, people modernised it too much. I just hope that they can bring back the traditional way. And make the traditional even better without modernising it too much.