Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-02-12 19:18
My Family in the British Colonial Malaya - 1858 to 1960 (4)
073. Celebrates the first Moon Festival after the war - 1946
八月十五看月光
(男 Nan) Male
八月十五看月光,---Ba yue4 shi2 wu3 kan yue4 guang
看見鯉魚跟水上,---Kan jian4 li3 yu2 gen shui3 shang3,
鯉魚唔怕漂江水,---Li3 yu2 wu2 pa4 piao jiang shui3,
戀妹唔怕路頭長.---Lian4 mei4 wu2 pa4 lu4 tou2 chang2.
Watching the bright moon on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month,
I saw a carp swimming upstream,
The carp was not afraid of the strong current in the river.
Wanting to go and see my sweetheart I was not afraid of the distance.
(女 Nu) Female
八月十五看月光,---Ba yue4 shi2 wu3 kan yue4 guang,
郎出月餅妹出茶,---Lang2 chu yue4 bing3 mei4 chu cha2,
郎食月餅甜到肚,---Lang2 shi2 yue4 bing3 tian2 dao4 du4,
妹食細茶開心花.---Mei4 shi2 xi4 cha2 kai xin hua.
I watched the bright moon on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month,
My sweetheart brought out his moon cakes and I the tea,
The moon cakes sweetened into his stomach,
And the delicious tea opened my heart.
(男 Nan) Male
八月十五月團圓,---Ba yue4 shi2 wu3 yue4 yuan2 yuan2,
粉絲炒麵纏對纏,---Fen3 si chao3 mian4 chan2 dui chan2,
妹子有情郎有意,---Mei4 zi3 you3 qing2 lang2 you3 yi4,
交條人情萬萬年.---Jiao tiao2 ren2 qing2 wan4 wan4 nian2.
On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month the moon was round,
When the vermicelli fried with noodles they twined around each other,
As my sweetheart and I had found congenial companionship,
We hoped that our relationship would last forever.
(女 Nu) Female
八月十五是中秋,---Ba yue4 shi2 wu3 shi4 zhong qiu,
買個月餅送朋友,---Mai3 ge4 yue4 bing3 song4 peng2 you3,
今日交了有情哥,---Jin ri4 jiao le you3 qing2 ge,
永久相好情唔丟.---Yong3 jiu3 xiang4 hao3 qing2 wu2 diu.
15th day of the 8th lunar month was the Moon Festival,
I bought a few moon cakes as presents for my friends,
Since I had found a sweetheart,
I hope our relationship would last.
A Hakka folk song from the county of Yongding (永定) in Fujian province
(福建省).
--------------------------------------------------------------
The village celebrated the first Moon Festival since the Japanese surrendered.
Zeng Gengyou (曾庚友) led a group of the former fighters of the Malayan
People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) from the 3rd Patrol to Kampong Sayap.
[Note. The MPAJA was officially disbanded in December 1945, three months
after the Japanese had surrendered] All the fighters were from the village
and there were more than 20 of them. There were Zeng Zihua (曾子華), Zeng
Gengyou's second younger brother, a leader of a squad, Zeng Zihui (曾子揮
), Zeng Gengyou third younger brother, Zhang Shuifa (張水發), Lao Yangma
(老楊麻), Huang Baozai (黃寶仔) and others. Several days ago, Zeng Gengyou
told the village that he was leading the Sayap boys to the village to meet
the folks. There was a big crowd waiting for them in front of Father's grocery
shop where there was a big open space and a big rambutan tree nearby. All
the members of the Chung family went there to watch.
As soon as the crowd saw the fighters, not in uniform, coming they all cheered
and clapped hands. The fighters gave a salute to the people. Father, the
Village Chief representing the village folks shook hand with Zeng Gengyou
and thanked the fighters for defeating the Japanese. Zeng Gengyou gave a
short speech about how the Japanese had been beaten. He invited the village
folks to go to Siputeh, a small town about two kilometers south of the village,
to watch the concert to be held that evening. Zeng Gengyou brought his Sten-gun
along and he loaded it with a magazine and fired it into the coconuts of
a coconut tree. Juice could be seen dropping out from the coconuts but not
falling down. The fighters were invited to have Chinese tea specially made
for them and the Hakka cakes that the women folks prepared for them. The
fighters parents were also present among the welcome party. Everybody was
happy and the fighters told them about their lives in the jungle. Actually
they did not do a lot of fighting with the Japanese because the Japanese
rarely came to the Kampong area on patrol. After much talking with their
parents and friends Zeng Gengyou led them off to Siputeh to prepare for
the concert for that night. There were many village children following them
to Siputeh but not the kids of the Chung family.
Seeing the MPAJA went off, it reminded Grandmother of Second Uncle who was
executed by the Japanese in Kampar. Grandmother began to cry and asked Father
if Second Uncle was a member of the MPAJA. Father told Grandmother that
Second Uncle was not a member of the MPAJA but he belonged to the army called
Force 136 who were led by British officers. Grandmother regretted for not
allowing Second Uncle to go to China to fight the Japanese there. She said
that Second Uncle might have live if he were in China. Grandmother sighted
and said that it was all over and lucky that the MPAJA had defeated the
Japanese. Many village folks believed that it was the MPAJA that defeated
the Japanese. They were illiterate and they did not know how to read newspapers
and only believed what the MPAJA told the Japanese.
Zeng Gengyou was the eldest son of a family of nine children. His family
lived next to our house and I could not recall his parents' name. Zeng Gengyou
had three younger sisters and five younger brothers. They were all involved
with the Malayan Communist Party except the youngest one who was too young
to get involved. He was second in command of the 3rd Patrol of the 5th Independent
of the MPAJA based in the State of Perak.
After the war, village folks, especially the children, loved to visit Zeng
Gengyou's parents' house because members of his family would tell stories
about their lives in the jungle and how they fought against the Japanese.
Besides Zeng Gengyou had many photos to show the visitors. The photos showed
the British parachuting weapons and supplies to the MPAJA. There were also
photos showing the MPAJA parading in towns all over Malaya.
Zeng Gengyou bought a lorry and he used to take the children from the village
for joy rides to other towns. It was my first time riding on a lorry and
we felt very exciting. I remembered in front of his big house there was
a very big rambutan tree next to our durian tree. He tied a few ropes on
the branches of the rambutan tree to make swings for kids to come to his
house play. He became the most popular person in the village, more popular
than Father. He was the leader of the MPAJA in Kampong Sayap.
Posted to Overseas Chinese Forum at asiawind.com
By CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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