28th Mar 2010 (7)
ROOT STILL UNKNOWN
It did not occur to me when I was young that I should try to find out my
father’s root, be it his own biological root or the root of my grandfather. It
is now too late as people belonging to our former generation have all
passed away. Up to now I am still unable to find out where was my
grandfather’s homeland. From the graves of my ancestors which I visited
regularly, the name of my great grandfather on the tombstone was
engraved in Arabic and his wife’s name was in Chinese from the history of
the family as shown on the tombstones, I am the fourth generation of the
family since its migration to Hong Kong. I also did not know how my great
grandfather came to Hong Kong. Stories were circulating that he was a
successful businessman owning properties along a whole street in
Causeway Bay. My grandfather had inherited a huge estate and
therefore did not need to work in the earlier part of his life .
I was born a Muslim and my mother, who was Chinese, was converted to
Islam when she married my father. The relatives from my grandfather and
father are mainly Muslims from Malaysia, Singapore and other countries in
the Asia Pacific. The Muslim community in Hong Kong was a tightly knitted
one. Everyone knows everyone else in this small community. My father
was educated at Queen’s College, a very prestigious secondary school in
Hong Kong at that time. Most of the Muslims in this community were
employed either by the Hong Kong Government or other organizations in
the public sector as most of them had a very high standard of English,
which was hard to come by at that time in Hong Kong.
On the 27th day of the fasting month, Ramadan, there was always an
overnight praying ritual in the mosque in Happy Valley where Muslims
prayed till the following morning, with several breaks of course. My
parents took me and my two sisters to the mosque and spent the night
praying there. Women wore glittering head scarves and sparkling
diamond rings and gold bangles. The most popular one was a set of 7. I
liked them so much that I bought a set some 20 years later. I remember
from an early age, I disliked some of the women there as I found them
rather arrogant. There was a saying in Chinese to describe them and
that is ‘pigeon’s eyes’. The reason is that pigeon eyes look down from
above.
After having a feast of delicious Malay, Chinese, and Indian food served
after sunset on that fasting day, it was time for prayers. During breaks,
we children dressed in white overalls which were the outfit for praying
went out to the road to play. The road scarcely had any traffic and it was
very quiet. By this time, it was well past midnight, might be 2.00 or 3.00
in the morning. I often pretended to be a ghost and frightened the
passers-by, and then laughed my head off afterwards.
Yuen-yee
ROOT STILL UNKNOWN
It did not occur to me when I was young that I should try to find out my
father’s root, be it his own biological root or the root of my grandfather. It
is now too late as people belonging to our former generation have all
passed away. Up to now I am still unable to find out where was my
grandfather’s homeland. From the graves of my ancestors which I visited
regularly, the name of my great grandfather on the tombstone was
engraved in Arabic and his wife’s name was in Chinese from the history of
the family as shown on the tombstones, I am the fourth generation of the
family since its migration to Hong Kong. I also did not know how my great
grandfather came to Hong Kong. Stories were circulating that he was a
successful businessman owning properties along a whole street in
Causeway Bay. My grandfather had inherited a huge estate and
therefore did not need to work in the earlier part of his life .
I was born a Muslim and my mother, who was Chinese, was converted to
Islam when she married my father. The relatives from my grandfather and
father are mainly Muslims from Malaysia, Singapore and other countries in
the Asia Pacific. The Muslim community in Hong Kong was a tightly knitted
one. Everyone knows everyone else in this small community. My father
was educated at Queen’s College, a very prestigious secondary school in
Hong Kong at that time. Most of the Muslims in this community were
employed either by the Hong Kong Government or other organizations in
the public sector as most of them had a very high standard of English,
which was hard to come by at that time in Hong Kong.
On the 27th day of the fasting month, Ramadan, there was always an
overnight praying ritual in the mosque in Happy Valley where Muslims
prayed till the following morning, with several breaks of course. My
parents took me and my two sisters to the mosque and spent the night
praying there. Women wore glittering head scarves and sparkling
diamond rings and gold bangles. The most popular one was a set of 7. I
liked them so much that I bought a set some 20 years later. I remember
from an early age, I disliked some of the women there as I found them
rather arrogant. There was a saying in Chinese to describe them and
that is ‘pigeon’s eyes’. The reason is that pigeon eyes look down from
above.
After having a feast of delicious Malay, Chinese, and Indian food served
after sunset on that fasting day, it was time for prayers. During breaks,
we children dressed in white overalls which were the outfit for praying
went out to the road to play. The road scarcely had any traffic and it was
very quiet. By this time, it was well past midnight, might be 2.00 or 3.00
in the morning. I often pretended to be a ghost and frightened the
passers-by, and then laughed my head off afterwards.
Yuen-yee
Hong Kong nearly a bare rock
island inhabitated with fishermen
in 1980s
island inhabitated with fishermen
in 1980s
An advertisement of a Chinese beer in
1950s
1950s
Botanical Garden in 1940s
