Chinese-Australian Darryl Low Choy never lived the Chinese lifestyle when he grew up in Far North Queensland.

Key points: Darryl Low Choy joined the Army Reserve in Innisfail because the beer was cheap

Darryl Low Choy joined the Army Reserve in Innisfail because the beer was cheap He became the first recorded Chinese Australian Army Reserve Major General

He became the first recorded Chinese Australian Army Reserve Major General His family's Chinese culture was concealed because of the White Australia Policy

He went to a Greek preschool, ate spaghetti at home, played football and had European school friends.

The now-72-year-old didn't know he was Chinese until he was five.

"I came home from school singing a song I had learnt, the song was titled 'Ching Chong Chinaman'," said the retired reserve Major General.

"My mother said to me you shouldn't sing that song because you're Chinese.

"At the age of five I had no idea whatsoever I was different, and in fact, it didn't really resonate with me what Chinese meant."

Then, years later, a comment from a Chinese librarian set Mr Low Choy on a journey to find out more about his past.

Darryl Low Choy was part of the Innisfail State High School Cadet Unit in 1962. ( Supplied: Darryl Low Choy )

The librarian questioned the origin of the family name written on Mr Low Choy's library borrowing card when he was checking out books at the university library.

He naturally replied that Low Choy was a Chinese name. The reaction of the Chinese librarian nearly crushed him: it's not a Chinese name.

Later in life, when he was doing some research on his family history, he realised his surname had been anglicized at some stage because his paternal grandfather's surname was Low Joy.

Darryl Low Choy's story of growing up as fifth-generation Chinese in Innisfail in Far North Queensland is part of an exhibition officially opened in Melbourne this week.

"One Million Stories: Chinese Australians 200 Years" at the Chinese Museum showcases the varied stories from the Chinese community since the first recorded Chinese settler in Australia in 1818.

How a cheap beer sparked a career to the top

Without knowing of any military links in his family, at the age of 16 Mr Low Choy joined the army to "stay in" with his mates and to get cheap alcohol after a game of football.

"Someone found out that you could get cheap beer and it was legal to drink that beer if you join the Citizens Military Force unit because in those days the legal drinking age was 21," he said.

"The Innisfail depot was right beside the football grounds … the army didn't pay state sales tax on beer."

Little did he know how that cheap beer would change his life.

Darryl Low Choy, top row far left, with the Innisfail State High School Cadet Unit in 1963. ( Supplied: Darryl Low Choy )

Mr Low Choy never attended an Army Officer's Academy due to a football injury to his knee, but he received separate coaching and sat and passed his exams outside the normal officer training system.

His military career progressed through a series of command appointments to the highest rank in the Australian Defence Force for a reservist — Major General.

Darryl Low Choy reached the rank of Major General in the Australian Army Reserve. ( Supplied )

He was the first recorded Australian of Chinese descent in this position but has since retired and had a career in academia.

Under the prime ministership of John Howard, Mr Low Choy helped to pass the Defence Legislation Amendment Bill 2000 — legislation for the government to call out Reserves in times of emergency.

Mr Low Choy advised the Chief of the Defence Force and the government on the deployment of Reserves on operations, such as peacekeeping operations to Timor Leste, Israel, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

'We should not attempt to be Chinese'

Darryl Low Choy's parents and grandparents suffered generations of shame, being Chinese in a predominately white society in Far North Queensland under the White Australia Policy.

The White Australia Policy of the late 19th and early 20th century was designed to restrict migration to Europeans only and define Australia as a white man's country.

For the Low Choy family, assimilation seemed to be a way of avoiding racial discrimination as an ethnic minority but it meant family history and cultural identity was lost for a long time.

Mr Low Choy's grandparents were sugarcane farmers, who had not only experienced institutional racism but also economic racism from sugarcane companies.

"They couldn't access government support to early sugarcane farmers … Chinese sugarcane farmers were paid less by the sugar mills than European farmers," Mr Low Choy said.

Darryl Low Choy with his parents Doris and Tibby, wife Nancy and eldest daughter Jacqueline at Government House in 1981. ( Supplied: Darryl Low Choy )

Mr Low Choy's grandfather also refused to teach his children Chinese, including his mother.

"He made a comment to her that you were born in Australia, you're an Australian, you must live your life in Australia, there's no need to for you to learn Chinese," he said.

Subsequently, Mr Low Choy said his parents deliberately refrained from handing down various aspects of Chinese culture to him.

"My mother once told me we should not attempt to be Chinese," he said.

"I know that any ideas of culture were discouraged by the White Australian Policy.

"In hindsight, I'm terribly disappointed that my Chinese culture didn't flow on to me."

'Rejected by the country he was born in'

Along with lost culture, details of his father and great-great-grandfathers' military connections were kept quiet until Mr Low Choy actively asked about them.

When World War II broke out, Mr Low Choy's father Tibby wanted to join the air force to defend his country.

Despite his ability to fly a Gypsy Moth — the aircraft used by the Royal Australian Air Force for training before and during World War II — he was rejected after attempts to enlist in Innisfail, Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane and Sydney.

During the world wars, soldiers enlisted were required to be "substantially of European origin".

"I have a number of relatives both on my father's side and mother's side, all Chinese-Australians born here, who served in the armed forces during WWII," Mr Low Choy said.

"But in my father's case, he couldn't break through that ceiling.

"Even though he never mentioned it to me, knowing how proud he was, he would've been very disheartened by being rejected by the country that he was born in."

In the end, Mr Low Choy's father served in the volunteer fire brigade during the war — another way of contributing to the war effort.