飛天小笨鯨

These weekend I was immersed in reading an intriguing book called “Memories of a Nonya” and here are some reflections on that work. Soon after opening this book, I was totally attracted to its touching stories. After finishing it, an uneasy feeling lingered in my heart.

The author, Queeny Chang, was the daughter of Tjiong A Fie, a prominent businessman and leader of the Chinese community in Medan, Indonesia. She wrote about her youthful memories, including how her father started up a successful business in a foreign country. She also discusses her parents’ marriage and some family memories. Besides, she wrote many stories about her marriage with Lin Ben Yuan Family’s eldest son, Lim King Jin,.

This book describes Chinese Southeast Asian immigrants, who have been largely ignored in official history. These people, living in a complex and mobile society, often have blended cultural identities. Those identities can’t be understood merely on the basis of nationality; they should be understood from a broader perspective.

It would be really difficult for the author’s father to start from scratch and climb up the social totem pole. Because the author and her husband were upper class, even people who are used to colorful modern lives may still feel surprised by the resplendent ways she described the banquets, parties, buildings and social lives of the bourgeoise people of that era.

She probably didn’t intend to boast, but her descriptions seem direct, down-to-earth and believable. Her fresh and interesting material shows how political and business networks were closely intertwined and how luxury goods could be used to prove their affections.

What I love about this book most is the author’s gentle writing. The uncertainty of life makes me sigh, and even having wealth and power, there is no perfect person or life. These memories are not reality, but the shadows of reality. What a beautiful metaphor!

I can feel the memories she wrote are painted with warm colors even those dark frustrations were written in an implicit way, probably because she was at the age full of wisdom or due to her kind personality.

“Memories of a Nonya” makes readers reflect on their own lives and realize the good nature of humans. Take things as they come and use that kind of attitude in various encounters.

What is a happy life?

Perhaps, the happiness you think for yourself is the real happiness.