What’s this? Ducks! ducks! and ducks ?
Yes, yes and yes! That’s the nickname given to my family
by the villagers of a quaint seaside little village where we
lived, about 16 miles from Downtown Hong Kong.
And this queer name brings out :-
“The Story of My Family”
Mine is a Family of Papa Duck, Mama Duck and 21 ugly little
Ducklings! 21 children? That is correct! Very much like the
movie story of “Sound of Music” where the Captain has 7 children,
and we had 21, out-numbering them by 3 fold. The people of my
hometown village keep counting again and again, as the family
passed by the market place, 1 papa duck, 1 mama duck, 1 and 2,
3 and 4 ………20 and 21 little ducklings !
Why ducks and ducklings ? All because the whole family were
born swimmers. Papa, after his retirement from active military service, took up a seaside residence in a fishing little village
in the suburb of Hong Kong. It was his retirement dreams come
true – he loves the ocean, the sea, the lakes, the mountain streams,
any pool,… anywhere he can swim ! And all his 21 children took
to the water like little ducklings, paddling away and splashing
around, happily and fearlessly.
“A Home by the Seaside”
Our home, overlooking a deep bay which strethes out to sea, was
like a painter sitting in front of a breathtaking picture of sea
and sky! The sea, blue as jade and sparking with waves under the
sun, was dotted here and there with exotic fishing boats coming
home with their catches. The sky was a dome of blue, displaying
dreamy clouds of ever-changing shapes of horses, dragons, whales,
dolphines … in their various moods. Such views, such sights
would fascinate and inspire any painter, any poet, anybody !
And, in a moonlit night, the bay was like a basin of liquid
silver, so unreal, so like magic. Moonbeams, filling the whole
sky, would take us by the hand and lead us to a dance – waltzing
away to another world of dreams. Dreams of fairies coming down
from the Moon chosing husbands of heroes and scholars from our
planet.
“No lack of Entertainment”
There was no lack of entertainment in this quaint little village.
The Big Circus would come around once every year, which grownups
as well as children anxiously look forward to. Elephants, lions,
tigers, horses and all cicus animals would be transported in and
the big tops put up. It was then great excitement in all the villages for miles and miles around.
Then there were the Annual Chinese New Year Operas, showing the
Classic Chinese Opera with Chinese instrumental music. There
were also shows of “Lion Dance” .. “Kung Fu Dance” .. Singing
and Ethnic Dances in exotic traditional clothes.. etc…etc.
Such were occasions for added excitements for the villagers !
“An Education straddling 2 Systems, 2 Cultures”
Our Education straddled two systems. The classical Chinese
system in the Elementary grades, and the British system in
Secondary grades and in University. These 2 systems, in their perspective, covered Two Cultures in all their Complexities
and Beauty !
Chinese System : found in all the elementary schools in the
villages. Here, kids were taught to read and write Chinese
characters (which might at first seem complicated, formidable
and incomprehensible, but they could be picked up by kids and
vertually printed into their heads with time and patience –
learning from simple to complex characters).
They had to learn simple poems and classics with standard texts
from centuries-old Chinese Classics. They had to do recitations
(in a singsong manner) and dictations from those texts which
in their contents introduce elementary knowledge of history,
geography, social etiquette, attitude and morals in philosophy.
British System : Being a Britiah Colony, this system was adopted
in Secondary grades and in University. Teachers and Professors
(who are enthusiastic in, having a passion for and thrilled by
a desire to educate and to blend the Two Cultures of the East
and the West into One.) were sent from England, with numerous
Missionary teachers from France, Italy, Spain and…Germany.
English was the teaching medium. So, with this multi-cultural
teaching staff, bringing in their individual cultures, students
reaped the benefits and enlightenment from various cultures.
It was here that was conceived and born the Historic Revolution
to overthrow the corrupted Empire and to create a New Republic
constituted in Democracy and Freedom.
“Sun-deck turning into
A Moon-deck,
A Star-deck,
and
A miniature Holliwood Bowl.”
Our home, a huge village type 14 room house, having a kitchen
and dining room not unlike a school canteen. Pots and pans
and barrels of foods and drinks hang and lie around the
kitchen walls and floor… AND the dining room had tables of
all sizes and shapes with table-cloths of all colors and
designs to fit the moods of adults and kids.
At dinner times, Grand-parents, Parents and visiting Guests
sit at the Head Table, and kids pack themselves around tables
befitting their ages and sizes. Meals were served and dishes
were cleaned by maids.
The prime hours of the evenings were afer dinner, when everybody
moved out onto the Sun-deck which would turn into a Moon-deck
and Star-deck when the Stars and the Moon began to shine. The
deck was large enough to be a miniature Holliwood Bowl, where
Grandma, a great story-teller, told her inexhaustible oldtime
legends and stories. Grandpa would gathered as many kids around
him as he possibly could, with the smaller ones climbing up onto
his laps. Then came the games of the children, yelling, laughing running, singing and dancing round the deck. But the climax of
the evening came, when on occasions such as after a Circus Show
or a Chinese Opera Show, the kids (some quite talented) would
imitate the Circus clowns and put up some hilarious shows that
made everyone roar with laughter. And sometimes the kids were
daring enough to perform a little part of the Opera Show which
they had seen. And God be praised that some of the kids were
born performers. They came on the stage with no rehersals, no
directors, … They just did it ! and not bad at all !
***** ******
There will be more stories about My Dad, My Mom, My Brothers,
Sisters…Our fun, our ballgames..our own teams…..
And if readers are interested, please watch out for them
in my next issues on the Word Press.
Many many thanks from Bernie Lam.
And
Please forgive my many errors and mistakes.