Eurasians: The New Face of Asia
Fusion is in, not only as an abstract fashion concept, but in that most grounded of realities: mixed-blood people who walk, talk, and produce even more multiracial progeny. Most strange of all, these hybrids are finding themselves hailed as role models for vast masses in Asia with no mixed blood at all. "When I think of Asia, I don’t necessarily think of people who look like me," says Declan Wong, a Chinese-Dutch-American actor and producer, "But somehow we’ve become the face that sells the new Asia."
So maybe Asia’s Eurasian craze is driven by the theories of that whitest of white men, economist Adam Smith. As the world gets smaller, we look for a global marketing mien, a one-size-fits-all face that helps us sell Nokia cell phones and Palmolive shampoo across the world.
"For any business, you can’t think locally anymore," says Paul Lau, general manager at Elite Model Management in Hong Kong, who has built up a stable of Eurasians for his internationally minded clients. "At the very least, you need to think regionally. Ideally, you should think globally." A global image helps sell products, even if no one but Filipinos would ever want to buy duck-fetus eggs or Thais the most pungent variety of shrimp paste. Yanto Zainal, president of Macsg09, a boutique ad agency in Jakarta, used all indos for a campaign for the local Matahari department store chain. "The store wanted to promote a more cosmopolitan image," he says. "Indos have an international look can still be accepted as Indonesian."
Channel V, the Asia-wide music television channel, was one of the first to broadcast the message of homogenized hybridism. "We needed a messenger that would fit in from Tokyo to the Middle East." Says Jonnifer Seeto, regional sales marketing manager for the channel, which began beaming its border-busting images in 1994. Star Veejay Asha Gill personifies the global look. When asked what her ethnic heritage is, Gill, a Malaysian citizen, simply shrugs. "Oh, who knows," she says. "I’m half Punjabi, mixed with some English, a little French and dribs and drabs of God knows what else." The 29-year-old speaks crisp British English, fluent Malay, and a smidgen of Punjabi. She grew up in a Kuala Lumpur neighborhood that was mostly Chinese, attended an English-speaking school and was pals with Malay and Indian kids. Gill’s Channel V show, broadcast in English, has a p following in Malaysia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. "I’m Hitler’s worst nightmare," she says. "My ethnicity and profession make me a global person who can’t be defined in just one category."