8
HELEN F. SIU
prolonged discussions, the commune officials decided to process the application with the expectation that Liang would help the commune establish overseas business connections. Impatient with the bureaucratic delays, he took his chances and smuggled himself into Hong Kong in late 1979.
One of Liang's friends could not tell as successful a story. He took a land route to the coast to meet up with a gang ferrying illegal aliens directly to Hong Kong. Caught before he reached the coast, he was confined in a temporary prison. He and fellow prisoners were made to labour but were each given four ounces of rice a day. Isolated and totally at the mercy of the prison officials, they lived the agony of extreme anxiety for half a month. He was then returned to the commune. Though publicly reprimanded, he was allowed to retain his job in the commune factory. His peers actually sympathised with him. However, the weeks of captivity were so traumatic that he swore he could never try the adventure again.
Adapting to the life of an immigrant
Four months after Liang arrived in Hong Kong, he and I met on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He had managed to get in touch with two graduate students who had assisted me in fieldwork. We took a walk on the campus grounds after dinner. It was a clear night, and I remember he looked up and said, "How bright are the stars." He was thin and pale, wearing a leather jacket too big for his frame. He looked subdued. I could not believe that he was the young, motivated technician I had met in the commune a year before. I knew he was missing home, because I remembered the starry skies on the nights when we walked home after fieldwork.
To his surprise, his uncle did not put him up at his home. Instead, Liang had moved to a hostel rented by the restaurant for single male employees. His work hours were harsh from 5 p.m. to early hours of the morning. City noise and congestion made him tense and restless. He was disgusted with his co-workers, who, according to him, gambled all day, swore, and squandered their pay on women, as if there was no future. He could not understand why they wasted the income which, compared to his commune
8
HELEN F. SIU
prolonged discussions, the commune officials decided to process the application with the expectation that Liang would help the commune establish overseas business connections. Impatient with the bureaucratic delays, he took his chances and smuggled himself into Hong Kong in late 1979.
One of Liang's friends could not tell as successful a story. He took a land route to the coast to meet up with a gang ferrying illegal aliens directly to Hong Kong. Caught before he reached the coast, he was confined in a temporary prison. He and fellow prisoners were made to labour but were each given four ounces of rice a day. Isolated and totally at the mercy of the prison officials, they lived the agony of extreme anxiety for half a month. He was then re- turned to the commune. Though publicly reprimanded, he was allowed to retain his job in the commune factory. His peers actual- ly sympathised with him. However, the weeks of captivity were so traumatic that he swore he could never try the adventure again.
Adapting to the life of an immigrant
Four months after Liang arrived in Hong Kong, he and I met on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He had managed to get in touch with two graduate students who had assisted me in fieldwork. We took a walk on the campus grounds after dinner. It was a clear night, and I remember he looked up and said, "How bright are the stars.” He was thin and pale, wearing a leather jacket too big for his frame. He looked subdued. I could not believe that he was the young, motivated technician I had met in the commune a year before. I knew he was missing home, because I remembered the starry skies on the nights when we walked home after fieldwork.
To his surprise, his uncle did not put him up at his home. Instead, Liang had moved to a hostel rented by the restaurant for single male employees. His work hours were harsh from 5 p.m. to early hours of the morning. City noise and congestion made him tense and restless. He was disgusted with his co-workers, who, according to him, gambled all day, swore, and squandered their pay on women, as if there was no future. He could not understand why they wasted the income which, compared to his commune
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.