"Teaching, although not always highly regarded, does afford a valuable perspective on aspects of a country and in this case ? ethnicity. Last year I was fortunate enough to teach on an academic development course which enrolled students from across the country; Wa Chin, Karen- even a young Rohingya man were among our particularly diverse cohort. So when I thought about the upcoming census and the heated question of ethnicity, I considered it in terms of that school and of those students. And I realised there was particular problem when asking someone their ethnicity ? it is subjective. It is likely to shift depending on who they spoke to. They were often unreliable narrators of their own identity..."