Preserving our culture Eva Zhou TEDxYouth GrandviewHeights

the songwriters song is verse from who oprah and it is in the shanghainese language it is beautiful song and this is what it meant spring breathed through my face children are happier than never they're wearing brand new clothes heard in beautiful gifts and singing faster songs come on and dance with my invitation come on and dance with my invitation this verse describes happy kids in the new year and is sat in scene where people are celebrating the festive season and living to the fullest our culture is our way of life it is the essence of our existence hua oprah is part of my culture it originated from shanghai and so did opera is traditional opera which is one of the members of 350 chinese local operas who are for started from the reign of empire chiang lang around 250 years ago then became popular during the qing dynasty in huapra play is performed by several hundreds of people and it is just like the live plays of the lion king or the nutcracker we see today the oprah narrates local stories that happened in shanghai it is an integral part of shanghainese culture it unites us and reminds us of our culture and of our heritage it carries lot of meanings the joy of sharing beautiful moments details of our heroes and the wisdom of the wise passed down through many generations but today very few people know or even perform or sing the opera it is far cry from my grandma's time when there are so many beautiful fans and so many stars of who oprah and so as stronghouse my question is what happens to our culture well here's the answer an astonishing ninety percent of the local young people in shanghai does not know how to speak chinese the language itself stands at risk of becoming extinct start to ask myself if all young kids born in shanghai cannot speak shanghainese who is speaking it if don't do something to prevent the language from going extinct now then when and if the language itself is sentenced what about the opera who will understand it or even perform it in the future the burden is on me on us shanghainese to do something the importance of preserving our culture cannot be overemphasized language is connected with the culture person who doesn't know their local language rarely knows their own culture it's just like tree without roots and sea without origin our culture shapes who we are it keeps us together as community as society it gives the shade values and explains the many traditions that we have was lucky started learning huawei from kindergarten thinking back am really thankful that my parents can send me to learn this beautiful art initially they just wanted to provide me with shanghai language environment which didn't have at school but as grew older noticed that the main audience for who opera are all seniors there are no youth or middle-aged people to be seen why because they barely understand when talk about my hobby of singapore opera my friends who only watch youtube and our k-pop fans they come and ask me come on iva what year is it now how could you still possibly sing this old stuff but didn't care about what they thought since loved it so much well then started to take action started performing at school where mixed popular music with traditional language of the opera as result it turned the table my friends now they become interested into these songs together we perform for larger assemblies in school more and more people became familiar with who opera from our friends to our school and soon in our community everyone loved it and some of my friends even performed with me on stage now here comes the best part which is that we got invited to perform on reality tv shows didn't realize that it made me somewhat famous people recognized me from the street and strangers even said saw you on tv love that performance now all of that positive feedback encouraged me and urged me to do something more and let more people know about this art soon after my corporate teacher and performed in community centers and other public spaces once we performed pool opera in metro station downtown which is like the most crowded place of shanghai wholly we have to rent state and audio system we didn't have large budget so the changing room or wouldn't even call changing room since it is just wooden frame covered with piece of fabric it was all done in very frugal manner but since we're just kids it's great start and not an easy job for us but we knew all of these hardships was worth it we knew when saw little kids dancing and singing with us downstage we knew when saw two people coming very far just for the show and we knew it when saw tears of joy running down to seniors faces because they finally heard the familiar tune once again from young generation after 30 years or so we knew we did it our culture is in which we express our unique identity as society this may be through the way we dress the language we speak and other forms of expressions for example dancing or singing like cooper now i'm in canada where we mostly speak english my language becomes vital connection between my past and my present my hometown and my new home it serves as reminder of where came from preserving our culture is not just necessity it is critical culture needs to be kept alive and relevant it must be learned and regularly practiced and it must be communicated through generations thus that is why involving us young people is essential to his survival you may then ask how can you as youth help to preserve your whole language and your whole culture now allow me to share with you three simple ways first and foremost the most important thing is to embrace where you came from be proud and keep your language alive speak it with those who understand it your parents your grandparents or your friends if they are able being able to speak shanghainese from such young age is truly blessing for me am fortunate that my parents enrolled me in language class when was in kindergarten and because of that am able to speak it fluently now secondly it is important to open your mind and learn about your culture the traditions the ceremonies to different forms of art and if you're lucky they could be events that you can attend to learn from if not ask your elders to read about it learning about your culture is rewarding way to get in touch with your ancestral roots for me that would mean to keep practicing my traditions and taking part in cultural festivities at the same time i'm constantly asking my parents or researching the things that don't understand or am not familiar with finally last but not least share with others tell your friends about the stories about your culture show them the traditional clothing you wear like the ones i'm wearing right now sure do you think the food you make at home these are bounds to spark that interest in that conversation by repeating it we ingrained it into our minds forever honestly felt so much joy in sharing my knowledge by performing who oprah for others and with others it has truly been rewarding each time sing this is my story about my culture i'm sure you have yours too our culture is our identity it help us to feel safe feel proud and to belong so let us preserve our culture embrace our traditions and keep our language alive would like to sing one more verse from cooper before end it describes the scene where guests are welcomed and the host is happy to help everyone who needs it in english the meaning is as follows set feast to welcome everyone from everywhere start fire in my fairy place to welcome my guests anyone who comes in is my guest and am happy to help because just like in the verse we should open our arms and our hearts to help everyone in need in every traditions that is indentured you