The RepresentASIAN Project™ is a Canadian platform dedicated to celebrating, advocating and elevating Asian representation and voices in media and beyond.
We’re a team of Asians based in Canada who are passionate about celebrating and amplifying the Asian community. We grew up not seeing people who looked like us on television, in movies, in books and in magazines, and we recognize how the lack of representation can impact the mental health of BIPOC individuals. Despite the current rise of Asian representation in media, there is still plenty of room for improvement when it comes to representing Asians in many different areas of life.
Our mission is to share and tell stories of successful Asians in their respective industries to inspire and motivate members of the Asian community to achieve their dreams. We want to celebrate the joys of being Asian and put a spotlight on all of the incredible things our community members do. We also want to foster a sense of community within the Asian Canadian diaspora while celebrating our individuality.
Interested in joining our team? Check out our current openings here.
The Team
Madelyn Chung
Madelyn Chung is a former lifestyle journalist turned freelance writer and part-time therapist with a special interest in issues related to race and identity, particularly women of Asian descent. She has previously worked as Style Editor for HuffPost Canada, Editor of the now-defunct StyleList Canada and Digital ‘Chase’ Editor for FASHION magazine, has bylines with Netflix, FLARE, and Strong Fitness, and has made numerous television and radio appearances on networks such as CBC, CP24, CityTV, Global News, Entertainment Tonight Canada and etalk. As a second generation Chinese Canadian, Madelyn aims to help others feel seen, heard and validated through her writing, advocacy and therapy work.
Rebekah Lim
Rebekah is a Malaysian-born freelance photographer and graphic designer with a passion for visual storytelling. She is a big fan of bubble tea, long walks and longer naps.
Nathan Sing
Nathan Sing is a journalist, feature writer, and filmmaker with a fierce devotion for storytelling. As a fifth-generation Chinese Canadian settler, his work honours the collective experiences of the Asian diaspora while celebrating the creative individual each individual possesses in themselves. He previously worked as a reporter at Maclean’s Magazine writing about food security and hunger in Canada, worked alongside the digital features team at CNN International, and reported for VICE World News, BuzzFeed, and Xtra Magazine. Through various mediums, his work seeks to explore and analyze the complex systems that shape our identities, focusing on food, music, and social media.
Sadaf Ahsan
Sadaf Ahsan is a Toronto-based arts and culture writer and host of pop-culture podcast The Reheat. She previously worked at The Juggernaut, NOW Magazine, and the National Post. She dreams of running her fingers through Dev Patel’s hair, after which she will die a peaceful death.
Zeahaa Rehman
Zeahaa (pronounced Zaha) Rehman is a freelance writer who loves to write about her lived experiences as a member of the Muslim South Asian diaspora in North America. She has previously written for The Varsity, The Varsity Magazine, The Medium, Slate, and Seoulbeats, and published a novel titled “Secrets Under My Hijab.” When she is not staring at a blank Word document, Zeahaa likes to read romance novels, bullet-journal and drink bubble tea.
Samantha Lui
Samantha Lui is a journalist and radio producer. Her work has appeared on CBC, VICE, NBC Asian America, Huffington Post Canada, Refinery29 and FLARE. She previously spent a summer interning at Hong Kong’s english daily newspaper, South China Morning Post. Samantha is passionate about featuring diverse perspectives in her stories, and often writes about pop culture, race and identity. When she’s not thinking about her next story, she likes taking food pictures at all angles, thrifting and editing videos. You can learn more about her at samanthalui.ca
Urbi Khan
Urbi Khan is a journalist, storyteller, freelance feature writer, and fact-checker. As a Bangladeshi-Canadian, she is interested in exploring stories from the Asian diaspora about food and various mediums of art. She specializes in reporting health and education stories, as well as investigative journalism. She previously worked as a staff reporter for the Toronto Star and her work has appeared in UofT Med Magazine, Exclaim! and This Magazine, among others.
Catherine Abes
Catherine Abes (she/her) is a writer and editor living in Toronto. She’s most interested in exploring the intersection of art and identity, and bringing empathy into storytelling and editing practices. She previously worked as the editor-in-chief at The Eyeopener, Toronto Metropolitan University’s independent student newspaper, and her work has appeared in the Toronto Star, THIS Magazine, RANGE and The Dance Current. She currently works as a publishing assistant at Random House Canada.