What the POC?

Right outside the backways of Footscray market, a group of Vietnamese men are seated outside a café. 

One group chain-smoking whilst playing cờ tướng, another enjoying their cups of cà phê Đen Đá. But the most ear-grabbing part? A mini karaoke concert, performed by a local on the street.

It’s a typical Wednesday afternoon in Footscray – famously an immigrant rich-suburb reflecting waves of immigration through its foray of markets, restaurants, and cultural stores scattered around the neighbourhood.  

When you think of Footscray, your mind might be immediately cast to a lower socio-economic area, riddled with waves of crime, small suburbia, and a frontier of the immigrant diaspora. 

For us, Footscray prompts fond thoughts of the rich tapestry of majorly Asian and African communities amalgamating as the small businesses that occupy the humble market stalls.

Or maybe chances are you jumped to Footscray being the home of the AFL’s Western Bulldogs. Either way, both quintessentially Australian insignias, in their own right.

But, it feels as though a new wave is permeating through the western suburbs.

Read the online story here.

Producers/Presenters: Elisha Andres and Vi Truong
Instagram: @whatthepoc 

Creators & Guests

Host
Elisha Andres
RMIT Journalism Student | Melbourne, Aus.
Host
Vi Truong
@RMIT Student Journalist (she/her), 20 💌

What is What the POC??

Best friends, Vi and Elisha, navigate through the joys and challenges of being second-generation Asian-Australians. Follow along for the journey, filled with laughter and moments that will make you say, “what the POC?!”

Life as a second-generation Asian-Australian can feel a bit like Limbo – it’s that space in-between two worlds. An odd feeling of unworthiness to claim either identity. It’s something Vietnamese and Filipino best friends, Vi and Elisha, continue to grapple with in their early twenties.

Having grown up in immigrant households who sought out diasporic communities, all the while assimilating into the Aussie cultural landscape, Vi and Elisha are continuously faced with decisions about who they want to be, and what they want to represent.

It’s these unspoken lessons and stories that we want to bring to the forefront. Join hosts and producers, Vi Truong and Elisha Andres, as they delve into the ins and outs of being a POC in Australia.