Chinese Cinderella – the true story of unwanted daughter.
[SPOILER ALERT!] Wuhu~~~“Your name is Ju qing right?”
“No, father. That’s older sister’s name. My name is Jun Ling.”
Adeline Yen was the youngest of 5 siblings, born as Yen Jun Ling in 1937 in Tianjin,China. Tianjin is a famous port city, govern by French people after China's lost to France & Britain alliance in Opium War. (sila la rujuk apa itu Opium War. Many Chinese film was based on the life during this period. Salah satunya filem best Leslie Cheung & Anita Mui; “Rouge,1988” . Masa tu semua orang hari2 dengan drugs macam kunyah cokelat je)
Her biological mother died 2 weeks after giving birth to her and Adeline has since, been blamed for her mother's death. Macam tak lojik kan? Salah baby pulak. She doesn't even asked to be born kot. But for Chinese people, she is the epitome of bad luck. Except for her Aunt Baba, Ye Ye and Nai Nai, her other family members treat her as if she was the murderer of her own mother. A clueless child like her, being treated for something she doesn’t have any control of, she then grew up longing for love, recognition and the sense of belonging.
Right after her birth, she was placed under the care of her Aunt Baba, who never married. Her father remarried a year after that, to a 17 year old French-Chinese women named Jeanne Virginie Prosperi - who she called Niang. With Niang, her father had 2 more children. With a total of 7 children under a household, their family was fortunate as her father was a successful businessman. Her homebirth in Tianjin was 3 storey mansion, big enough to occupy her father,Niang,Aunt Baba,Ye Ye,Nai Nai, 7siblings and also maids’ quarter. (So boleh bayang kan how wealthy they were even masa tu tengah gawat dan perang.) Lepas tu dorang beberapa kali pindah disebabkan Japanese Occupation,WW1, Communist and reformist rebellion, dari empayar ke republic, etc. From Tianjin-Shanghai-Hong Kong. But still, setiap kali pindah rumah dorang besar dan in a wealthy neighborhood.
Antara bab yang saya ingat sangat :
She was called Wu Mei - ‘the Fifth Daughter’ in her family; Wu (Fifth) , Mei (Daughter). A Chinese tradition similar to Malaysian kot, macam Along, Angah, Alang, Andak, Uda, Dara, eh? Hehe.
Ok, masa dorang 1 family dah pindah ke Shanghai,one day when she was 10 years old, after a hugeeee incident that enrage her Niang, (this incident kena baca sendiri ye dalam buku, hehe) she was sent back to Tianjin to a Catholic Church boarding school. Masa tu Tianjin sikit lagi nak dimasuki oleh geng komunis yang dah menjajah kawasan sekitar. Semua orang nak keluar dari Tianjin dan berpindah ke Shanghai or Hong Kong yang dikuasai British supaya selamat dari Komunis. Tiba2 her parents sent her to Tianjin yang tengah bahaya tu.
Boarding a plane, the stewardess gave her a card to be filled with details. As she was still underage, her father was supposed to fill it for her. Since she was sleeping, her father woke her up. She thought they had reach Tianjin. But nope, her father wake her up because he doesn’t remember her name.
“Wu Mei, wake up”
“Yes father. Did we arrived at Tianjin?”
“No, I wake you up because I need to fill this card. Your name is Ju qing right?”
She felt pang right away. Her own father doesn’t remember her name. That showed how invisible she was to her own father and how neglected she felt.
“No, father. That’s older sister’s name. My name is Jun Ling.”
“Oh, right. You are Jun Ling. When is your date of birth? Do you remember it?”
How can she remember her birth date if the moment she was born was the most dreadful moment of her life?
“No, I don’t remember”
“In that case, do you mind if I put 30 November as your date of birth? It’s my birth date as well”
“Oh father ! Of course ! I would be very happy to have the same birth date as my father!”
 |
| From left at the back : First Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother. From the left in front : Older sister with Forth Brother, Adeline. |
Despite being treated harshly and with malice, throughout the story we can see that many fortunate events dan unexpected pertolongan2 came to her life and help brought her to where she is now.
Ex : She won an international story writing competition in 1950’s. The first ever Asian and Hong Kong-er to win such a contest. (That means a lot because he had to write in English). That was really the turning point of her life. Sebab that news masuk paper, her father's business partner tanya dalam lif “Eh, ni anak you ke, surname Yen macam you?”. So, she brought honour to her family, she gave ‘face’ to her father in front of his prominent colleague and that give her the opportunity to study in England.(Ayah dia sudi support). She became a doctor.
*At first I thought her Ye Ye, Nai Nai and Aunt Baba as her 3 fairy Godmother, but after finishing the book, my thought was wrong. They were not her fairies, but only her supporter – the one to make sure she doesn’t go astray. However, she herself is the fairy to her own destiny. With all the courage a child could muster, she changed her own live. Dia ni pandai pula tu. Always at the top ranking since kindergarten.
*Aunt Baba is her father’s older sister. Ye Ye is her grandfather and Nai Nai is her grandmother. Niang is mother.
* These are all based from what I recall from the book. Mungkin ada ayat tersalah kot, hehe.
Hope I didn't give away the story too much. lol.
