Bean-curd has always been a staple diet of the Chinese people. My paternal grandpa used to be a bean-curd maker. He was from the southern province of Guangdong in China.
Unlike most Chinese immigrants who came to Malaya at the end of the 19th and early 20th century to escape poverty, grandpa came to escape the sword.
You see, he had secretly funded a revolution to change China from a monarchy to a republic. Beneath the humble façade of a small sized and soft spoken bean-curd maker, he was actually a revolutionist or shall we call him an idealist? For waiting to replace the old with the new, he had to pay a heavy price for it. Nearly caught once, he was forced to leave his motherland forever.
I think he has no regret for this decision. Life was good to him in Malaya. Like many Chinamen of his era, grandpa had no qualms over the popular practice of “three wives and four concubines.” Indeed, he had three wives but luckily for them, he stopped there.
Grandpa had a very soft spot for all his grandchildren, especially the female ones. Being the baby girl in the family, I was, therefore, the apple of his eyes. He often came to visit me and gave me some money to buy candies. I would not ask for a better grandpa.
Yip Soo, also known as “Tau Foo Soo” was another character being prominently featured in my book, “The Stories of The Scissors Sharpener’s Daughter.” Beside dad, he was the other man who loved me the most when I was a child. Today, his spirit of wanting to change for the better still lives in me.
To be continued…..
Those who likes “three wives and four concubines”
also like Rose Chan.
True or False?
True. That’s why Rose Chan, my grandpa’s idol, will be mentioned too in my book. 🙂
I like to share a bit of my family roots.My paternal grandpa whom I never met[he passed on in the 1930s] was an enigmatic man. He migrated to then Malaya in the 1900s. The first thing he did on landing here was he cut off his queue, a capital offence back in Ching dynasty China. That means he was never ever to go back to China for if he did, he would lose his head like your grandpa. All I can see of him are old faded photos of him cutting a martial figure when taking photos. No one, not even my late grandma knew about his background. Her aunt who had bound feet & she who were both of same age,also fled China in 1900s because they were Christians, a persecuted group lot then.My grandma’s feet were normal. I met them when I was little but they passed on in the 1960s. All other siblings of my grandparents have all passed on & it is too late to find out more of my ‘roots’ It is heartening that you have noted your family’s down to pass it in on a book for posterity. I believe most of our grandparents share similar backgrounds i.e. escape poverty stricken existence or persecution in China to come to Nanyang to survive.Many who made it went back to build mansions & die there but many [like yours & mine] stayed behind for various reasons. Many I believe do so because they didnt make enough money to go back.