Zing Tsjeng can apply for a British passport. But she’s already got one from Singapore, and she can’t have both. It's got her thinking, what does it mean to be British? She's off on a trip around the UK to find out.
“There are as many identities in Northern Ireland as people”
Zing’s reached the end of her adventure around the UK and it’s time for her to make a decision: does she want to give up her Singaporean passport for a British one? Has touring the country and having frank and difficult conversations about national identity helped her decide whether she’s ready to trade in citizenship of the country she was raised in for the one she calls home now? Before she answers these questions, she’s got one final stop to make on her tour - Belfast. Unfortunately, with the country still locked down due to coronavirus, Zing can’t travel there in person. However, journalists Jordan Dunbar and Ciarán Logue are ready to give her a virtual tour of the city, an introduction to its nightlife and slang, and some fascinating insights into British, Irish and Northern Irish identity. Ciarán teaches journalism at Queen’s University Belfast and he’s asked some students there to share their thoughts on what national identity means to them.
4 May 2020
“Geordies - we’re a tenacious bunch of people!”
Something that still occasionally baffles Zing about life in the UK is the British sense of humour. Why does it often involve taking the piss out of the people you love most, or jokes about the bleakest things imaginable? This week Zing puts her questions to a professional: Geordie stand-up comedian, Louise Young. Louise tells Zing about the comedy scene in her home city of Newcastle, what Geordie identity means to her, and Title: “Geordies - we’re a tenacious bunch of people!” Short: Zing chats to Geordie comedian Louise Young Long: Something that still occasionally baffles Zing about life in the UK is the British sense of humour. Why does it often involve taking the piss out of the people you love most, or jokes about the bleakest things imaginable? This week Zing puts her questions to a professional: Geordie stand-up comedian, Louise Young. Louise tells Zing about the comedy scene in her home city of Newcastle, what Geordie identity means to her, and how she plays with regional stereotypes in her shows. how she plays with regional stereotypes in her shows.
27 Apr 2020
“Glasgow’s creative, contradictory and rough around the edges”
Zing’s first trip to Glasgow has to wait because of the coronavirus lockdown. Luckily, Glaswegian poet and performer Kevin Gilday has the perfect antidote to Zing's cabin fever: a virtual tour around the places, culture and history of his home city. Kevin shares what he learnt about Scottish identity by writing his one-man show, Suffering From Scottishness, and explains why his accent produces different reactions around the world.
20 Apr 2020
“Our patriotism is quiet and subtle”
Zing is in York chatting to student and political activist, Dominique Samuels. Dominique is the president of Orthodox Conservatives, a new conservative pressure group. Zing hasn’t met too many young Brits with conservative views and she’s keen to hear Dominique’s perspective. Dominique has Jamaican heritage and she and Zing discuss whether Britain’s imperial history affects people today. Plus Zing hears Dominique’s take on nationalism, patriotism and Englishness.
13 Apr 2020
“Elbow deep in cow muck – and I love this!”
Zing heads to Lytham in rural Lancashire for a trip to Tom Pemberton’s farm. Tom’s the fifth generation of farmers in his family and he’s one of very few young people in the UK working in this tough industry. He’s also something of a farming influencer – his videos about the highs and lows of farming life get thousands of views. He tells Zing about nursing new born calves, chasing escaped cows and why Britain should be proud of its grass.
6 Apr 2020
“This is British now. What are you gonna do about it?”
Zing speaks to poet and photographer Nabeelah Hafeez about what being from Bradford means to her and why the city’s arts scene is thriving now. Nabeelah feels that negative news stories about Bradford being a segregated city are exaggerated, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t sometimes experienced racism and Islamophobia. Recently she was shocked to discover it very close to home.
30 Mar 2020
“Speaking Welsh is vibrant and cool”
“People have had to really fight to keep the language alive, which is why it’s vibrant now”. Zing heads to Cardiff to meet Lisa Angharad, host of possibly the first ever sex podcast in Welsh – Siarad Secs. Lisa wants to provide young Welsh speakers with frank, open discussions “in the language they have sex in and have those chats with their mates in”. Lisa is also a singer and says that a love of music, singing and harmonising is at the heart of Welsh identity: “If you’re happy, joyous, grieving, whatever – music is something we gravitate towards”. She's proudly Welsh, and doesn't feel "an ounce British" - she tells Zing why.
23 Mar 2020
“British drag is slapdash and hodgepodge”
When RuPaul’s Drag Race launched in the UK last year Zing noticed lots of fans saying the show made them feel strangely patriotic. The contestants were bawdy, slapdash, raucous and not as earnest or polished as the queens of the original American series. This week Zing’s heading to Birmingham - home town of Drag Race star, Sum Ting Wong. They discuss what makes British drag unique, compare stories of coming out to their Asian parents, and take a tour of Sum’s Brum.
16 Mar 2020
"Essex has given me my ballsiness"
Zing heads to Witham to meet self-described proud Essex girl, councillor Chelsey Jay. Chelsey was elected last year to the local town council at the age of 28. For Chelsey, being from Essex is all about being "ballsy" and ignoring snobbish stereotypes: "you're gonna be ripped apart for being from Essex so you might as well give it a try, with a smile on your face."
16 Mar 2020
"Maybe Liverpool isn't real, maybe we just dreamed it"
Zing Tsjeng, Executive Editor at VICE UK, is on a journey around the UK trying to figure out what being British is all about. After living in the UK half her life, she wants to decide whether to trade her Singaporean passport for a British one. It's a tough dilemma as Singapore doesn't allow dual nationality and swapping the citizenship of the country she was raised in, for the one she calls home now, feels like a big deal. Can talking to people from all over the country about their national and local identity help her decide whether to take the plunge and become British?
Zing starts her great British adventure in Liverpool where she meets arts writer Laura Brown. Zing's heard that some Liverpudlians feel so strongly tied to the city that they say they're 'Scouse not English', and she's hoping Laura - who lives and breathes Liverpool - can help her get her head around this. Laura explains how Liverpool's rich and sometimes painful history, its underground arts scene - even its geography and weather - have shaped the city's sense of itself as defiantly different from the rest of the UK.
9 Mar 2020
Welcome to United Zingdom
Zing Tsjeng, executive editor at VICE UK, can apply for a British passport. But there’s a catch. She’s already got one from Singapore, the country where she was born and raised, and she’s not allowed to have both – it’s either a British passport, or a Singaporean one. Before she makes a decision she wants to know: what does it mean to be British? So she’s going on a trip around the UK to find out.
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