Author Archives: sidney

My mother went through three years of deep personal impacts since 2014, first the passing of my brother. Then she went through a period of declining health, both cognitively and physically. However, she is a very resiliently lady, and she … Continue reading →

馮瑞芳 Sui Fong FUNG Link to PDF 我姓馮,名瑞芳,廣東順德人。我的父親叫馮棉。父親年輕時家貧,沒 錢娶妻,後來得人介紹,和一個「不落家」的小姐成婚。這位小姐給馮棉 一筆錢, 讓他另娶一女子作妾, 這個女子, 就是我的母親黎旺。原來 清代末年,廣州與珠江三角洲一帶的未婚女子都梳著一條長辮子,結婚 時,由母親或女長輩替其把辮子挽成一個髮髻。在中國農村,女子地位本 來很低微,不過當時順德蠶絲業發達,許多女工收入可觀,經濟獨立,不 必倚靠男人。女工們見到一些姐妹出嫁後在婆家受氣,她們不甘受婚姻束 縛,情願終身不嫁,於是自己將辮子梳成髮髻,表示永不嫁人,獨身終老, 這些女子便稱為「自梳女」。而「不落家」則是自梳女子的一種假婚習俗。 當時有些女子被父母強迫嫁人,沒法梳起,就採取「不落家」的假婚辦法。 她們雖然過門行婚禮但拒絕與丈夫同寢,三朝回門後即長居母家不返,故 稱為「不落家」。我的父親馮棉和一個「不落家」的小姐成婚後,才有錢 迎娶母親。母親替馮家生了六個孩子, 三子三女,依次為仲聯、 帶豪、 帶昌、仲蘭、帶旭和我。我是最小的一個, 取名仲喜。我不喜歡仲喜這 個名字。我自小孤苦零汀,流離失所,何喜之有?所以我長大後自己改名 為瑞芳。 當時我們家很窮,生活困苦,孩子又多,真是六兒日漸長,黃口無飽期。 我出生之後, 父親與大哥帶豪決定做「豬仔華工」,到海外謀生。他們在 招工所得到一筆預付薪酬,把錢留給母親就賣身到馬來亞開礦修路做苦 工。華工的工作量大,工時長,但薪金微薄,食宿又簡陋,有時甚至要席 地而宿。由於工作及生活環境惡劣,處境淒涼,很多華工都沒法捱到約滿, 他們或因耐不住辛勞, 或因染上疫症而長埋異土, 父親就是其中的一個。 壞消息從馬來亞傳來, 說馮棉染上瘟疫, … Continue reading →

~~~ “When adult children send their aging parents to a senior home.” ~~~ As we grow older, so would our parents. Modern day life is fast paced, hectic, sometimes brutally fast, in the brink of an eye, our parents become … Continue reading →

God looked around his garden And found an empty space; He then looked down upon this earth And saw your tired face. He put his arms around you And lift you to rest, God’s garden must be beautiful, He only … Continue reading →

Why this topic? In the past five years, I do volunteering work on Sunday mornings in the palliative ward of a hospital. Families and friends sometimes ask me why amongst all sorts of volunteer work varieties, why do I choose … Continue reading →

Today is 2015/06/1st. I have not been diligently updating on my little piece of the blog. You know what? I will from now on. I have not really going anywhere other than staying put in Vancouver in the last two … Continue reading →

Human Life with a dollar value. Some times a flash back with come to me as I go about my daily routines since I came back to Vancouver, the following news from the tube has stayed in my mind ever … Continue reading →

Let the truth be told. There is a popular reality show in the local Ningbo channel. The English translation would be roughly,” The Old Uncle” It is a bit like Doctor Phil – A psychiatrist – in our popular day … Continue reading →

Public Facilities We in North America enjoy a variety of publicly funded facilities like community swimming pools, recreational centers, public libraries which charge nominal per entry fees, or very reasonable monthly or yearly rates. In my limited travels within China, … Continue reading →

My favorite TV Variety Talent Show in China. This show is called “Starlight Boulevard” – it airs Saturday evenings and is two hours long. Here is the format of the show, five or six groups of amateur performers (each group … Continue reading →