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'Ken, a middle-aged Chinese engineer arrives in Australia with a fake identity on a holiday working visa. He has big dreams of wealth to be made for the benefit of his family. But his arrogance makes him a target at work. Racial tension emerges as xenophobic Red and Ken try to reconcile their differences. His imminent visa expiry forces him to enrol in a communication course at TAFE, an alternative plan to gain employment with a multinational company on returning to China.
'Meeting Julia, his communication teacher shifts his quest to embracing life. The Red-Ken friendship chips off the fossils in Ken’s heart – Julia’s love penetrates it. Ken’s Quest gives insight into migrants’ frustrations over work place dynamics, under employment, discrimination and alienation. It exposes Australians’ fear of displacement. ' (Publication summary)
Adaptations
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Ken's Quest
2022
single work
drama
'“Six months and then my temporary working visa expires. Half a year to achieve my quest to have my engineering degree recognised by the Australian government, to become wealthy, to be able to bring my abandoned family here to this bloody country – I Am No Closer To Achieving My Goal Than The Day I Arrived Six Months Ago…”
'Cultures clash, friendships are formed, lovers meet, ambitions are foiled, abalones are eaten, in this hugely entertaining adaptation of Cher Chidzey’s novel by award winning theatre maker Adam Cass.'
Source: La Mama Theatre.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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From ‘Unreliable Man’ to ‘True Lover’ : Shifting Images of Chinese Men in Writing by Chinese Australian Women Writers
2020
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , vol. 65 no. 2 2020; (p. 167-182) 'In 1994, Chinese writer Shi Guoying made the following assertion in a Sydney Chinese-language magazine: ‘Western men who are excellent love-makers are everywhere. Out of every ten Western men, at least eight are terrific and only two are average. Out of every ten Chinese men, two are average and eight are pathetic’ (‘Women’ 146–147). Employing a combined racial and sexual discourse, she denounces her male compatriots as physically inferior as well as temperamentally unsuited to fulfil a woman’s needs. Not surprisingly, her article sparked a fierce debate in the Chinese-language press, many accusing her of perpetuating Orientalist stereotypes of Chinese inferiority (see Zhong ‘Masks’). However, Shi persisted in her attack. In her novella ‘Mistaken Love’ (错爱), first published in 1999, she illustrates her assertion through the portrayal of a Frenchman who is sexually more competent and more caring than his Chinese counterparts.' (Introduction) -
Interview with Cher Chidzey
Daniel Young
(interviewer),
2017
single work
interview
— Appears in: Tincture Journal , Winter no. 18 2017; (p. 47-54)
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Interview with Cher Chidzey
Daniel Young
(interviewer),
2017
single work
interview
— Appears in: Tincture Journal , Winter no. 18 2017; (p. 47-54) -
From ‘Unreliable Man’ to ‘True Lover’ : Shifting Images of Chinese Men in Writing by Chinese Australian Women Writers
2020
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , vol. 65 no. 2 2020; (p. 167-182) 'In 1994, Chinese writer Shi Guoying made the following assertion in a Sydney Chinese-language magazine: ‘Western men who are excellent love-makers are everywhere. Out of every ten Western men, at least eight are terrific and only two are average. Out of every ten Chinese men, two are average and eight are pathetic’ (‘Women’ 146–147). Employing a combined racial and sexual discourse, she denounces her male compatriots as physically inferior as well as temperamentally unsuited to fulfil a woman’s needs. Not surprisingly, her article sparked a fierce debate in the Chinese-language press, many accusing her of perpetuating Orientalist stereotypes of Chinese inferiority (see Zhong ‘Masks’). However, Shi persisted in her attack. In her novella ‘Mistaken Love’ (错爱), first published in 1999, she illustrates her assertion through the portrayal of a Frenchman who is sexually more competent and more caring than his Chinese counterparts.' (Introduction)
