2nd May 2010 (11)
THE NEW BRIDE
I was married in 1969 when I was 21 years old. The most funny thing I
can remember after I got married was that I was having difficulty in falling
asleep in the beginning because I was not used to sleeping with another
person in the same bed after having been sleeping on my own for so
many years. My husband came from a large family. His parents have
eight children and my husband was the eldest. His parents had a very
strong Chinese tradition. My father-in-law owned all the units in two
buildings in the Sheung Wan district. He expected that all his sons would
live with him after they were married. My husband was the first to get
married. Therefore I had to move to live with my husband's family of
seven sisters and brothers, two maids, the mother of my mother-in-law,
two servants and my father and mother-in-laws. We all lived together on
the top two floors of the two buildings combined.
Video clipping of Sheung Wan district in 1960
My mother-in-law was a fervent Buddhist and very superstitious. In the
main road nearby, there were several shops selling coffins. Such shops
must be eye sores and some people considered them as bad omens. I
do not understand why my father-in-law bought a property so near to
these coffin shops and this must have made my mother-in-law very
uncomfortable at that time.Our flat was very near to Possession Street
where there was a nullah beside it. It was the place where the British
garrison first landed on Hong Kong Island in 1841. I remember
Possession Street was full of stores selling embroidery baby clothes,
blankets, pillow cases, sheets and all of the products were coloured red,
which is regarded as a lucky colour in China.
My mother-in-law who was twenty years younger than my father-in-law
was his fifth wife. When my mother-in-law married her husband, he was
a widower. He was widowed by his four previous wives, one at a time.
Two sons from his previous marriages died as infants as medicine was
not that advanced at that time. My mother-in-law was so superstitious
that she would ask all her eight children not to call her 'mother’; instead
they all called her ‘nanny’ because if she treated herself as the legitimate
wife of her husband, all of her predecessors might be offended. She
even instructed all my sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law to address me
as the second sister-in-law, and not the eldest, because by claiming to
be the eldest, this might also offend her deceased step-sons.
Yuen-yee
THE NEW BRIDE
I was married in 1969 when I was 21 years old. The most funny thing I
can remember after I got married was that I was having difficulty in falling
asleep in the beginning because I was not used to sleeping with another
person in the same bed after having been sleeping on my own for so
many years. My husband came from a large family. His parents have
eight children and my husband was the eldest. His parents had a very
strong Chinese tradition. My father-in-law owned all the units in two
buildings in the Sheung Wan district. He expected that all his sons would
live with him after they were married. My husband was the first to get
married. Therefore I had to move to live with my husband's family of
seven sisters and brothers, two maids, the mother of my mother-in-law,
two servants and my father and mother-in-laws. We all lived together on
the top two floors of the two buildings combined.
Video clipping of Sheung Wan district in 1960
My mother-in-law was a fervent Buddhist and very superstitious. In the
main road nearby, there were several shops selling coffins. Such shops
must be eye sores and some people considered them as bad omens. I
do not understand why my father-in-law bought a property so near to
these coffin shops and this must have made my mother-in-law very
uncomfortable at that time.Our flat was very near to Possession Street
where there was a nullah beside it. It was the place where the British
garrison first landed on Hong Kong Island in 1841. I remember
Possession Street was full of stores selling embroidery baby clothes,
blankets, pillow cases, sheets and all of the products were coloured red,
which is regarded as a lucky colour in China.
My mother-in-law who was twenty years younger than my father-in-law
was his fifth wife. When my mother-in-law married her husband, he was
a widower. He was widowed by his four previous wives, one at a time.
Two sons from his previous marriages died as infants as medicine was
not that advanced at that time. My mother-in-law was so superstitious
that she would ask all her eight children not to call her 'mother’; instead
they all called her ‘nanny’ because if she treated herself as the legitimate
wife of her husband, all of her predecessors might be offended. She
even instructed all my sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law to address me
as the second sister-in-law, and not the eldest, because by claiming to
be the eldest, this might also offend her deceased step-sons.
Yuen-yee
Street barbers
Street facial removing services