Wow. You are trying to put me in a fix by making stereotypical comments. Hahaha.

Let me be a nuisance by sharing what I know and what I have seen. Heh heh.

I think context is everything and circumstances drive everything.

My mum grew up equating pork with meat. Her dad is a pig farmer and my mum’s world revolved around abattoirs, pig farms, and butcher houses.

They did not have money to eat a variety of food (and meat for that matter). So my granddad would head to his pig farm to grab one to feed his family. They have means to survive, but not rich by any measure (those were the 1950s).

Needless to say, they treasured every inch of the pig.

And then, we have to go beyond the Chinese community too.

I visited Mongolia in 2013. It is a land-locked country with farming activities predominantly focusing on gregarious undulates. Chickens and ducks are scarce.

When I visited a lake-town off Ulan Baatar, I was forced to go on a plant-based diet (there isn’t such a term then!) for weeks! Then I exploded. I wanted comfort food! So I requested the lake resort for one.

They went out to the town market to buy one (120km away, thereabouts) and served me different portions of the chicken for my remaining stay. Yes, I ate one entire bird during my stay!

It was then I found out that chickens are really rare in Mongolia and because of that, they were expensive. There is why the resort kitchen ensured that there were no wastage in terms of bird consumption.

You see … it is hard to really pin-point at something.

It is not just about the Chinese, or poverty.

Circumstances are important too.

Apologies for being a total nuisance. Haha!