LIKE she mixes it up on the bowling lanes, Jasmine Yeong-Nathan likes to keep people guessing about her racial background. The recently-crowned world bowling champion says "nobody gets it right".
"People think I am either of Malay origin or Eurasian. And when they hear that I am of Indian and Chinese origin, they get quite excited," she adds with a twinkle in her eyes, which she claims are her most Indian physical feature.
With Deepavali cards adorning the walls in the background, along with pictures of cousins, nieces and nephews who are spread across the globe, the 20-year-old Jasmine took me on an "Indian" journey inside her world.
Born to Singapore softball national and club players R.V. Nathan and Veronica Yeong, this self-proclaimed "Chindian", rattled of some of her Indian favourites - her Aunty Ruku's vegetarian dishes that the family enjoys while celebrating Ponggal, Rajnikanth in the movie Thalapathi, the must-see annual Deepavali show on Vasantham and regular meals at Samy's Curry in Dempsey Road.
She giggled over the Hindi film she watched on video recently, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum, and says she loves her mother's fish curry. By the way, mum learnt the recipe from the same Aunty Ruku, her father's elder sister.
Looking pretty in a lovely salwar-kameez that she donned for the photo shoot, Jasmine showed me her favourite Swatch watch and ring which she "always, always wears". When she is not training or studying, she chills out with her old school mates, current and ex-bowler friends and hangs out a lot at the Singapore Recreation Club at the Padang.
Currently apprenticing at PR firm IMSG, as part of her final year in Media and Communication at Singapore Polytechnic, Jasmine's future has to involve working with people in a media-related field. As she says, when asked whether she was the arty and creative type or more analytical and logical, she is a "bit of everything".
While her language of choice is English, what struck me was how comfortable she was in her own skin. As the coverage of the horrific Mumbai blasts continued on the television in the background, I realised, sitting in her paternal grandmother's home in Toa Payoh where the Yeong-Nathan family had got together for lunch, that there are very few places in the world where people can actually embrace their different cultures without being defensive about their origins. And I was watching one such family in action.
Both Jasmine and her national bowling champion brother Jason said that being of mixed parentage has never been a problem for them. They have never felt different from other Singaporeans. The story of the Yeong-Nathans is definitely a tale of sporting achievement and international glory. But it is also a coming-of-age story about Singapore itself.
Jasmine's mother Veronica, a business systems and processes manager, says that 30 years ago such social acceptance for mixed marriages was rare.
She recalls: "People would stare at us. One needed to be very strong to ignore them.
The only way was to believe in yourself and the choice you had made."
The Yeong-Nathan name itself was Jasmine's father idea. The retired army officer said he was inspired by a speech given by Singapore's first prime minister and currently Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew.
Apparently the leader had suggested that children of mixed parentage take on the names of both parents.
