18th Apr 2010 (9)
IMAGE MANAGEMENT TO THE EXTREME
Talking about image management earlier on, I think there was the same
gene running in the family blood. In the 1970s, my second younger sister
came to London and stayed with me for a few days. One day I heard her
talking to her future mother-in-law, saying she was staying in the
Inter-continental Hotel. I then laughed my head off !!
Before she got married to an English man, she pushed herself very hard to
be in high society. One way of doing it was to join social clubs formed by
and for expatriates in Hong Kong. After she got married, she terminated her
contact with all her old friends. She even had the courage to say 'I do not
know you' when she bumped into some of her old friends.
On one occasion, my mother asked her to bring some presents to my
children when she and her husband visited the United Kingdom. We fixed
the date and time on the phone for me to pick up the presents. On that day,
my husband drove me, my son and daughter who were small children to her
parents-in-law's house which was in the suburb outside London. After
several hours driving in a freezing cold day, we were finally there.
I knocked on the door, an English woman opened the door. I told her who I
was, and she told me that my sister and her husband had gone out. She
then went into the house and fetched me a parcel. We then drove home.
Later my sister told my mother that we were invited into the house and the
children were offered hot chocolate drinks.
Looking back, I regret that I chose to keep the family intact.
Yuen-yee
IMAGE MANAGEMENT TO THE EXTREME
Talking about image management earlier on, I think there was the same
gene running in the family blood. In the 1970s, my second younger sister
came to London and stayed with me for a few days. One day I heard her
talking to her future mother-in-law, saying she was staying in the
Inter-continental Hotel. I then laughed my head off !!
Before she got married to an English man, she pushed herself very hard to
be in high society. One way of doing it was to join social clubs formed by
and for expatriates in Hong Kong. After she got married, she terminated her
contact with all her old friends. She even had the courage to say 'I do not
know you' when she bumped into some of her old friends.
On one occasion, my mother asked her to bring some presents to my
children when she and her husband visited the United Kingdom. We fixed
the date and time on the phone for me to pick up the presents. On that day,
my husband drove me, my son and daughter who were small children to her
parents-in-law's house which was in the suburb outside London. After
several hours driving in a freezing cold day, we were finally there.
I knocked on the door, an English woman opened the door. I told her who I
was, and she told me that my sister and her husband had gone out. She
then went into the house and fetched me a parcel. We then drove home.
Later my sister told my mother that we were invited into the house and the
children were offered hot chocolate drinks.
Looking back, I regret that I chose to keep the family intact.
Yuen-yee
Apartments facing the beach for the rich