I met Tsomo at a Japanese restaurant. Technically saying, it's a Japanese restaurant run by Chinese immigrants. Tsomo was serving food and drinks there. She speaks Mandarin, Tibetan and a local dialect from a China's Tibetan area. She looks no different than other eastern Asains, except that she's got high cheekbones with darker skin stone."It's pretty cool when you sit among so many Chinese people and realise you are the only one who can speak a unique language. " Indeed, it's rare.

"How did I get my passport and end up studying abroad." Tsomo suddenly asked herself with a mischievous smile. "It's difficult for Tibetan people to get passports issued by the government. 'They' checked my family background, education profile... (pause)... again and again to make sure everything is under the control."

Until that moment I just realised "One passport, two systems" really exists. It's not a made-up story. Tsomo then has a long sigh. "I'm pretty cool. I'm probably one of the very few in my area who managed to get a passport." The passport comes with a price. and the price is that, according to her, "Umm, the uncool fact is that I'm not able to read Tibetan language." Tsomo grew up in a city, not a rural town. This means she could receive standardised education under the government's control.

"The school(her high school) is normal. But for Tibetan kids, being able to read and write in Chinese and to deliberately forget about your Tibetan identity is just a privilege. Well, I was initially very happy about the schooling because I won't be seen as a Tibetan village savage." Why would Tsomo associate her people's general image with the idea of savage? Since when that forgetting the language, the main tool to keep track of one's cultural memories, has become something we should be proud of?

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Tsomo turned silent. "I'm glad I'm picking up some fragments from my language. I'm learning to read and write, yeah, you hear me, after 20 years since I was born. On the other hand, I'm lost. Who am I now? Am I still a Tibetan person but also the one who's not able to read in her own language? It's my price of getting that damn passport."