All the pictures were destroyed during the Second World War – furniture, books, photos and other records were all taken out from the house, piled up in the yard and then burnt. The following was the only picture I have of my parents. On the left is my dad – Abraham. On the right is my mom with sister#2 and brother #5.
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THE THIRD VISIT
* The President wanted my dad to say `Yes` *
In his endeavor to place his dream baby, the Academy, in the loving care of someone who loved it as much as he did, the President made his 3rd visit to my dad in the evening after the closed meeting. Again it was a surprise visit, more surprising than before because it was early before supper time. He came in saying he couldn’t eat his supper until he saw my dad nodded and said ‘Yes’. Not knowing what was on the President’s mind, my dad and mom looked at him with bewildered eyes ??? That was exactly what the humorous President wanted, big big question marks in their eyes !!! When dad and mom were told what it was all about, they all broke out in a hilarious laughter. My mom and dad invited the President to join them in their family supper which he joyfully acceded.
When supper was over and the party seated comfortably in the living room, the President confided to my dad the results of the closed meeting – opinions were tied. It was really not easy to make a choice between my dad and Chang – each with as many pros and cons as the other. The preliminary balloting was equally divided. It was expected that the formal voting at the coming Ministerial Meeting would turn out to be the same. The President, chairing the Meeting, would be asked to cast his final deciding vote. He said confidentially that he would give his vote to dad, and he wanted him to say “Yes”.
My dad thanked the President for his gracious friendship and trust. However, my dad said that the president’s deciding vote would cause resentment from Chang’s supports and would risk dividing the country and hence China’s stability and progress. If my dad voluntarily abdicate from the race, therefore a ‘No’, it would ease off tensions between the supporters of the two candidates. My dad was adamant in putting the ‘country’ before any other considerations. Regrettably, he had to say ‘No’ rather than ‘Yes’ in this case. My dad went on to say that the Academy was just as much his dream baby, and that he would do all he could to provide the peace and security for the Academy to run smoothly and successfully, so as to bring forth many military leaders and heroes for the Republic. He fully understood that whoever it was to be the Head of the Academy would be the one holding the reins for the future of China. He would willingly give away this chance rather than putting the country at risk.
* My dad officially declined the nomination *
So it came to pass that my dad, at the final Ministerial Meeting, officially declined the nomination to be the Head of the Academy. The post was therefore entrusted to Chang Kai-Shek. And as predicted by the President, he became the one holding the reins to the fate of the country. How good or how bad he had held these reins, it is up to the Historians to comment.
* An epilogue to the epilogue *
I couldn’t stop wondering what the impact would have been if my dad had decided otherwise ?!
This brings my stories to an end. Hopefully my readers will find them interesting.
THE SECOND VISIT
* His wisdom, his dreams, his far-sight , his wishes. *
It was another visit from the President in the evening before the Ministerial Meeting scheduled for the next day. There was so much on his mind that he could not wait to unload some of it to someone worthy of his trust. Which someone could be better than my dad who, shoulder-to-shoulder with him, bathed in bloodshed and fought through flying bullets and roaring guns. They came forth alive together from the graveyard, from the burial ground of dead bodies of thousands and thousands of heroes who had given their lives to give birth to a new democratic China. They, the President and my dad, had shared ‘life and death’ together. They, could share together any ‘thought’, bitter or sweet.
The second visit from the President came as unexpectedly as his first. He loved to make surprises. My dad and my mom said it was more exciting and romantic this way.
The threesome started off with their casual talks, enjoying their fragrant cups of hot tea. The conversation turned gradually into the President’s hopes and dreams of a new China. He said we had all the potentials of a great nation. However, potentials were only potentials until they were put into use and brought results. They were laid to waste during the corrupted Imperial rule. It was only until the New Republic was born that these potentials were reactivated. We had made much headway since then. However, a full development of our potentials required continue peace, and this role of ‘Peace Keeping’ was being very well performed by my dad and his armies. He compared my dad (a battle proven General) to a good sheep dog, who was able to hold at bay all the hungry preying wolves (the lurking Warlords), thus allowing the sheep (our New Republic) to graze and grow.
* The peace keepers – friends of the people *
My dad always said his soldiers were the peace keepers. They were the friends of the people. He took pride in each and everyone of them. He joined them frequently in their camping sites, joining them in their morning and evening drills, taking part in whatever missions they were in, eating with them and sleeping in their tents. He was with them body and spirit !
* Peace does not come easy *
‘Peace’, like all other noble goals, does not come easy. To achieve this goal, my dad kept his armies fully mobile, moving from region to region, wiping out any bandits on the way, bringing peace to the farmers, allowing them to attend to their crops happily, winning their friendship and their firm support to the Republic. This fluidity also let the insurgents know they were being closely watched and any reactionary move would be crushed instantly.
* Never idle *
Apart from peace keeping, the soldiers were never idle. They were there wherever help was needed – repairing flood dikes, clearing landslides to keep traffic running, bringing food and clothing to victims of natural disasters. … They were always there!
* Another important role *
But then, the President added, there was another very important role which he wished to be undertaken by my dad, and It was to be the Head of the proposed Military Academy. The implication, he emphasized, was much more than being the Head of an Academy . “Whoever it will be”, he said, “will be the one holding the reins to the fate of China in the years to come ! “. It was his most earnest wish that these reins would be placed in the hands of someone who would place the ‘country’ before himself and not otherwise. My dad was very much touched by the President’s compliments, his warm friendship and his deep trust. But it was my dad’s opinion that the heavy responsibilities of maintaining peace was keeping him so busy – so fully occupied that it was impossible to find time to look after the Academy which should be run with the full-time loving care of a fond parent.
* The Clock again struck 2 am *
In between their talks, their discussions, their refreshments, their joyous moods and their pensive moods … the Clock again struck 2 – 2 am ! It was again late in the night, again time to bring the President home! Outside, the night was again peaceful and calm! The sky was starry and bright ! Another magnificent Autumn night!
* THE CRUCIAL MINISTERIAL MEETING *
* Pros and cons *
The scheduled Ministerial Meeting was declared opened by the President. The issue on the agenda was the choice of an appropriate candidate to head the proposed Military Academy. Opinions and discussions were invited from meeting members. Long discussions followed. The pros and cons for each candidate on the list were considered.
The list was finally shortened to the 2 most appropriate choice of either my dad Abraham Lam or Chang Kai-Shek. The consensus of opinion at the meeting was that whoever was the choice or whatever decision was made, the predominant consideration should be a continuity of the present stability and progress which our people were living in. The Minister of Communication wanted his communication network to be completed and put into use. The Minister of Education wanted to speed up his improvement plans for schools. He wanted his overseas student exchange and scholarships plans to bring back more specialists, more experts, more engineers, more architects, more medical doctors, more artists, musicians … more specialists in every fields. The Minister of Health and Medicine wanted to build more hospitals, to train more doctors and nurses and to provide better medical care to the people. In short, the People and the Republic needed stability and peace to move ahead.
The President summed up all these needs which highlighted another important need to establish an up-to-date Military Academy. The need of training many cadet officers from the Academy who would be the new blood to the peace-keeping armies and soldiers. They would be the future pillars of stability and progress for the country. It would be the responsibility of the Head of the Academy to achieve this goal. The President’s summary and his ardent hopes on the success of the Academy received standing ovation and applause from the meeting.
To enable members of the meeting to discuss, to debate and to express more freely on their choice of a most appropriate candidate to be the Head of the Academy, the meeting was adjourned to the afternoon for a ‘Closed Meeting’ during which a preliminary ballot would also be taken. For obvious reasons, my dad and Chang Kai-Shek were excused from the closed meeting.
* The closed meeting *
The closed meeting was held as scheduled. Members deliberated for hours before reaching their decision. The two candidates were indeed at par in their opinions for the post.
The pros for Abraham Lam was his meritorious role of peace-keeping and his continuing contribution to the stability and progress of the Republic. The cons for him was his heavy responsibilities which kept him already fully occupied, with no time to spare to supervise closely the Academy. There were suggestions for my dad to split his command of the armed forces and to delegate the lesser part to another General, thus enabling him to take charge of the Academy. The majority of opinion was that this action could be maliciously interpreted by the reactionaries as a split of unity within the Government. It was a good opportunity for them to hail it with their long waited for uprisings. War might break out. Any internal war, even in its minimal scale, would be detrimental to the stability of the country, and internationally would mar the good image of the Republic among the Western nations. This risk was not worthwhile.
The pros for Chang Kai-Shek was his very up-to-date knowledge of effective operation and administration of the Academy which he had acquired from his recent training at the Military Academy in Japan. His contributions at the Staff Committee under the President were also highly creditable. He could devote his full time and full attention in running the Academy. The most favorable opportunity was now available to him to apply his new knowledge for the Academy and to learn for himself practical knowledge in taking command. Under the spreading wings of peace from my dad, he had all the golden opportunities laid before him. The cons for him was that he was still raw in battle experiences and needed time to learn to take command.
A preliminary ballot was taken, the results were again at par for both candidates. The formal final ballot would take place at the Ministerial Meeting scheduled for the following week.