One Bright Moon
Page 33
In 1955, when I was just six years old, I was sent to Hong Kong, where I lived with my maternal grandmother, Grandmother Young. This photograph of the two of us was taken during my brief stay, before I became homesick and asked to be allowed to go back to Shiqi.
A 1959 propaganda poster promoting the Great Leap Forward, Mao Tse-tung’s plan to modernise and collectivise China’s agricultural production. (Alamy)
Mao in 1959, surrounded by adoring children. He is wearing the Red Scarf, an honour awarded to young people who had proved themselves to be loyal communists. (Getty Images)
A photograph of my primary-school year group, circa 1959, after we won a ‘Model Class’ prize for assisting efforts to boost steelmaking during the Great Leap Forward. I am fifth from the left in the back row. My friend Big Eye is third from the left in the second back row.
A family portrait taken just after Baba returned home from prison in early 1960. Back row: me, Ying and Ping. Front row: Mama, Baba and Weng. Ying is still wearing her provincial swimming squad uniform. Mama and Baba both look anxious – not surprising given that the family was by then having to deal with major food shortages exacerbated by the government’s economic policies.
The visa that was approved and stamped by the District Head, allowing me to leave China. The photograph was cut from a larger image of Mama, Weng and me. Mama later submitted the other part of the photo with an application for her and Weng to leave, which was rejected.
A studio shot of Ping, Baba and me, taken not long after Baba and I arrived in Hong Kong, in late 1962. Baba’s renewed optimism is clear. Every year from then on, we would dress in our best clothes and have photographs of ourselves taken to send to Mama and our sisters in Shiqi.
Fly, young eagle, fly! Me on arrival at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport on 31 January 1969. My Pan Am bag and typewriter stand beside my suitcase. As it turned out, I had a long wait here, but fortunately was quickly befriended by other newly arrived Chinese students.
At Holy Cross College, Ryde, with fellow students Tony Chen (at left) and Peter Wong (at right). For me and many others, Holy Cross provided a safe and happy entrée to Australian society.
After passing my final-year medical exams in 1976, I took a trip back to Hong Kong to see Baba. He looks so happy, and I was clearly very proud of my University of NSW sweatshirt!
I was sad that Baba and Mama couldn’t be at my University of NSW graduation in January 1977, but delighted to have other family in attendance, including my sister Ping, Grandmother Young, and my Aunt Bertha and Uncle Chong Young from Hawaii (at far left and far right, respectively).
Sheree and I were thrilled to have Ping and Baba as our ‘guests of honour’ at our wedding in Sydney in 1977. We sent photographs of our happy day to Mama and my other sisters, and even managed to smuggle some of the wedding cake to them in Shiqi.
Baba and Mama during their first trip to Sydney in 1983. It was thrilling for me to finally see them together again and to show them around my new home city.
Our family reunion in Washington, DC, in 1989 was the fulfilment of a long-held dream, bringing together three generations and our entire immediate family. I’m standing at top left next to Baba and Mama; Ping is second from right in the back row; Weng is second from left in the second back row; and Ying is second from right in the second row, in the blue dress.
Walking down memory lane in Shiqi in 2018, with my lifelong friend Ah-dong. Despite the loss of our old playground in Kwong Street, we were delighted and amazed by Shiqi’s transformation from a quiet riverside town to a thriving, cosmopolitan and environmentally friendly city of three million people.
With my family at home on the Central Coast of New South Wales. From left to right: my daughter Harmony, me, Sheree, daughter Serena and son Andrew-James.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANDREW KWONG was born in Zhongshan in the Pearl River Delta, China, and educated in China, Hong Kong and Australia. He works as a family physician on the Central Coast of New South Wales. He has been the recipient of numerous writing awards and fellowships and his stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Fear Factor: Terror Incognito (2010) and Alien Shores (2012).
PRAISE FOR ONE BRIGHT MOON
‘An unforgettable tale told simply: one of resilience and courage, of love and hope triumphing over the most terrible of odds. This book will live on in your heart long after you’ve read the last page’ – Vicki Laveau-Harvie, author of The Erratics
‘Heartbreaking, honest, personal, Andrew Kwong’s moving journey from oppression to freedom is inspiring’ – Susanne Gervay, OAM, author
‘A profoundly moving and spellbinding story that perfectly illuminates the terror of the times and the irrepressible yearning for something better’ – Carol Major, author and writing mentor
‘One Bright Moon is extraordinary writing that encapsulates long-term hunger as a background feature of daily life in Mao’s New China. In the foreground are images of adults and children populating the world of the pre-teenage boy with a photographic memory who would later write of them. The book is rich archival material for the study of China’s social history’ – Mabel Lee, PhD, FAHA, writer and translator
COPYRIGHT
HarperCollinsPublishers
Australia • Brazil • Canada • France • Germany • Holland • Hungary • India • Italy • Japan • Mexico • New Zealand • Poland • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • United Kingdom • United States of America
First published in Australia in 2020
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
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Copyright © Andrew Kwong 2020
The right of Andrew Kwong to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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ISBN 978 14607 5862 5 (paperback)
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.
Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover image of Andrew Kwong, courtesy of the author