You look Chinese, but ...: 00

Looking "like one of them" can be an advantage, as set out in 

https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2023/10/cultural-chameleon-singapore-peru.html 

and 

https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2025/12/ni-shi-zijiren-youre-one-of-us.html.

    It's also a double-edged sword, I found as a fresh arrival in Taiwan from Singapore in December 1974.  (The significance of the time frame:  Taiwan had not been exposed to that much contact with the rest of the world at the time.)

(From googling)  

Quote 

A "double-edged sword" is a metaphor for something with both positive and negative consequences, where benefits come with inherent risks or drawbacks, like fame offering opportunities but also scrutiny, or a powerful tool that could harm its user if mishandled. The idiom comes from the literal weapon's versatility in combat but also its danger of cutting the wielder, representing a situation that cuts both ways, offering advantages but also potential harm.

Unquote

    Even though I'd done Mandarin as a second language (compulsory in my days) from age 6 to 16, and got good test results, I didn't speak it much outside the classroom, because Singapore is a mixed-culture, multi-racial and poly-language-usage country.  People just spoke (still do) whatever they were/are most comfortable with, so that it's often a bit of a mongrel language with bits of English, Chinese (Mandarin and/or dialect) and Malay thrown in.  (Tamil is much less represented in this hybrid language, maybe because they're the smallest in number.)

(Singapore, 1950s–1975)