From: Paul Chang Min Phang
Date: 7/15/00
Time: 1:29:04 AM
(In the voice of Grand Father - Chang Kuek Yoong)
Woh Lian (Paddy Hill) village is the home of my ancestors, bearing the family name Chang. It lies in the district of Ng Wah, Mei Sien County, in Guangdong province, South China. All residents of Mei Sien Cunty are Hakka and speak a dialect distinctly different from the other Hakka dialects. It is considered to be the standard Hakka dialect, nearest to the Beijing dialect, now accepted as the national language of China.
My father owned a wine retail shop in a rural town about an hour brisk walk from Paddy Hill village. He also brewed his own special brand rice based wine in the backyard of the shop.
My father had four sons. I am the youngest and given the name Chang Kuek Yoong (glittering Chinese gold). My eldest and second brothers helped father in managing the wine retail shop. Father wanted third brother and I to study classical Chinese, calligraphy and martial arts. A martial arts expert was engaged to teach us the Shaolin style. We were to form part of the village defence corp. to protect the village from possible attack by rivals from other villages.
In 1911 when the Republic of China was established with the fall of the Ching Dynasty, I decided to move from my village to Guangzhou of Guangdong. My decision was prompted mainly by my discovery that soon after my birth I was betrothed to a girl, daughter of my father’s customers. I never met the girl and knew nothing about her. I was fully aware that I would be considered most unfilial if I would not honour the pledge of my father. But I could not make myself to live with a woman for whom I had no affection at all. It was a crossing the Rubicon decision; for once I left the village, I could not possibly return without having to face the fury of my father and the censure of the entire Chang clan.
In Guangzhou I was introduced to a young woman who stunned and bowled me over by her rare beauty, fair complexion and elegance. It was love at first sight. It did not bother me when told that she was not a Hakka, a Hunanese, a widowed concubine of a mandarin, ten years senior to me in age and had two young sons.
Despite the fact that it would be a more severe blow to my father, I began to court this rare beauty and after a few months I plucked up courage to ask her to marry me. Her calm response was that I should spend some time to think over seriously the implications of my proposal as it was unheard of at that time that a young man should marry a woman outside the Hakka circle, nine years older in age, a widow who had been a concubine of a mandarin and burdened with two sons. For nights I found it extremely difficult to fall asleep and struggled hard to find ways and means to convince her of my true love and sincerity. I was conscious of hear fear that if she agreed to marry me, she would not be accepted to my parents and be ostracised by members of the Chang clan.
At last I found an answer to her problem and means to dispel her fear. I heard of Singapore and Malaya (as Malaysia was known then) from friends who had returned from these two places. Prospects of earning a living would be better than in China facing an uncertain future. My practical proposal that if she agreed to marry me, she and I with the two boys could migrate to Malaya where we could start a new life free from the oppression of feudalism and traditions. She was touched by my sincerity and courage to break away from the bond of unconsented child marriage and so at last willingly gave her consent.
We were married informally and privately in a Chinese temple kneeling before the Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) pledging life-long commitments to each other. That night after consummation of our marriage when my wife had passed out to a calm, sweet and peaceful sleep, I began to reminisce and told myself how lucky I was to have married a woman who was prepared and had the courage to share my ventures into the unknown. Beneath the surface of a pretty face and skin smooth as alabaster was the heart of a lioness and a will strong as steel. My respect and love for her increased a thousand fold. Soon I too fell asleep with my wife embraced gently around my arms.