Two members of Macau’s ethnic minority community discuss their lives, Cantonese culture on ‘Outcasts the Podcast’
- Content creators Iasmin and Paji talk about life as third-culture kids, the inspiration behind their content, and how their videos keep them connected to home
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Iasmin and Paji, creators of Outcasts the Podcast, are both third-culture kids who grew up in Macau and moved to the US. Photo: HandoutIasmin and Paji, the 28-year-old creators behind Outcasts the Podcast, think of themselves as aliens.
“Everywhere I go, I’m an alien,” said Paji, who is from Macau with parents from Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Iasmin, who also grew up in Macau and is of Filipino and Brazilian heritage, added: “Anywhere we go, we’re outcasts ... because, one, we’re mixed; and two, we were not born in either of our parents’ countries.”
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Although they speak Cantonese fluently, people in Macau always pointed out how different they looked. Even though the two have moved to the US, they still feel out of place and often have to explain more about the city they’re from – “the one next to Hong Kong’’ is Iasmin’s go-to response.
They put all these experiences into a podcast and on social media, discussing everything from Cantonese slang to the ethnic minority experience in Macau and their appreciation for all the cultures they come from.
“It’s just hard for us to imagine being who we are without Cantonese culture because that’s what we learned, and that’s everything about us,” Iasmin explained. “You can say we’re expanding the definition of Cantonese culture.”
Outsiders at home
On their Instagram account, @outcastsfromthe853, their content has attracted more than 67,800 followers. The pair have an easy rapport that likely comes from growing up together and feeling a bit out of place.
Paji recalled: “We met in kindergarten because we were the only ... mixed [kids], so I felt drawn to her.”
Despite what they did to fit in, they still felt like outsiders in Macau.
“In my mind, I’m like: ‘Oh, I speak Cantonese. I understand what everyone says. I am a local.’ But when other people see me, I’m not a local because I look different,” Iasmin said.
They channel these shared experiences into their content, but their differences add another dimension to their dynamic. While Paji spent her school years playing volleyball and often in detention, Iasmin was a “good girl” who was told by teachers not to hang out with Paji.
Paji recalled once bantering with the teacher overseeing her punishment, who asked: “Why do you have to be so bad? You’re actually a good student.”
Ultimately, she was bored in school and did just enough to pass, but for fun, she made YouTube videos inspired by comedians like Key and Peele.
“When I was 13 years old, I made my friends join me to make a news [show] called Teen Core News,” she revealed, jokingly adding that “it was so embarrassing – don’t [look for it]”.
She taught herself to use Windows Movie Maker as a teen and continued making silly skits through university. But once she started working, she didn’t have the time or inspiration to keep making videos.
Eventually, both Paji and Iasmin ended up on the east coast of the US, finally reconnecting in 2020.
Paji had just started a podcast and persuaded Iasmin to join her – it was the start of the pandemic when they couldn’t visit their families, and the podcast was a way to feel in touch with home.
“I couldn’t do it alone. I can’t just bounce ideas off myself,” Paji added. “I bounce it off her, and we create amazing fireworks.”
Finding their niche
For over a year, their content was “a mess” as they struggled to find a niche, but eventually, their videos on Cantonese culture were what drew audiences in.
Their videos started gaining traction last year when they posted videos of their funny Cantonese lessons to a Facebook page called Subtle Cantonese Traits.
“It’s just bilingual humour ... bad translations [of] Cantonese,” Paji explained. “The first one we did had 700,000 [views] on TikTok. And it was just me saying ‘dragon shrimp’ – like long ha ... lobster!”
Since then, they’ve honed in on their Cantonese audience – some are from Macau and Hong Kong, while others grew up in the diaspora and appreciate having content that speaks to their mother tongue.
“We get so many comments from people who grew up there [in Macau] but are not Chinese, and people who grew up in America but are connected to their Cantonese roots,” Iasmin noted.
Their top-performing reels on Instagram include silly renditions of old Chinese poems and an explanation of the Hokkien origins of ketchup. They’ve even collaborated with the popular Chinese-Canadian account, CantoMando, to poke fun at how confusing Cantonese can be.
On their podcast, they invite guests to discuss topics such as Cantonese terms for mental health, the Toisanese dialect, and more.
It can be challenging to juggle content creation with full-time jobs, and they hope to one day be successful enough to focus only on social media. But until then, they’ll stick to what they do best: helping outsiders feel at home.
“We started this because we wanted to feel [comfort while] being away from home. But the beauty is that now, it’s a comfort for other people, too,” Iasmin shared.
*Full names withheld at interviewees’ request
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