History matters

Lynda, what were you trying to show in one of your plays with the Asian the Chinese heritage? What were you trying to express to the actors or the readers of the play?

You mean the audience? What was I trying to express to the audience? I was trying to… through the characters, show a lot of New Zealand Chinese history that hadn’t been explored before. That when Hone was talking about minority voices, New Zealand Chinese community hadn’t previously really been listened to, or… I felt very strongly that my Porpor and Goong Goongs, my Chinese grandparents’ stories had never been heard. My mother’s story had never been heard. The issues around the poll tax, the whole thing about Chinese being singled out as the only ethnicity, the only race in New Zealand to be charged a poll tax. All these things…. came, you know, just came pouring out into the play. So what I was trying to do was express these issues through the characters so that the audience would, I was hoping, fall in love with the characters, or care about the characters, so then they would care about the history, rather than hit people over the head with a big lecture, it’s about trying to tell the story through the characters.

This particular piece is my Porpor’s voice, my Chinese grandmother…

It’s dark when I wake. Put on wooren singret, corset, thick stockings keep the reg warm, broom up, old cheongsam, put on my sock – three pairs these day, black gloves, no finger, it’s better to pick up the fruit, go down stair and open shop. First customer Mr Jone. Oh, he always come too earry, complains service is srow. I tell him ‘Mr Jone, 7.00 o’clock we open shop’, then ‘Mr Jone you buy banana for your breakfast’…. I even offer deriver, but he a bit crazy. Hmm! Anyway, he say to me ‘Have nice day’ and I give him his banana.

When children little, next door Parker kid got rude to Cyril. Cyril just little boy then, he a good boy. Oh this Parker kid little shit. He say to Cyril ‘Ching Chong Chinaman eating dog in frying pan’. Oh punched Cyril, it was very hard for Cyril. He not allow fight back, give us bad name. Gweilo!

They call us alien. Say we pay 100 pound or not come. It take a long time save. I sell family gold just to come. Leave Amah behind. Oh Cyril cry for Amah when we get on big boat, he want her come too. Everything different here. No Amah look after children. Oh New Zealand government not charge anyone else fee but Chinese. They say we be good and only come here for two year until war is over. Then we all go home, back to China. Huh! How can we go back? Japanese are everywhere!

We eat the pigeon from the park one day…. hmm! Well why not? Maybe I should have killed the next door Parker dog. One day stupid mutt got one of my chicken. Mr Parker not even sorry. Better I not, might make government unhappy if I eat the neighbour’s dog. Gweilo! So stupid! We only people with sense – if you hungry just whistle and he come. Ok? And him, Mr Parker he no better than a dog as far as I see. Always drinking and screaming at wife. Ah, stupid man.

Oh my husband spend too long with Gweilo! It’s gone to his head. He say to me ‘Come over. Come over. Plenty of money here for family business …. good’. I am in Hong Kong with the Japanese invasion. He say ‘Come over’. What business? He got no money because he spend all on himself, on the Mah Jong, and the stupid hotel, and the woman. I know he had her. This not home, not China. He think he can be married more than one wife. They arrest him. He think I not know but I do. I seen him. I just say nothing. Oh, one day he want school money. Oh, no way our children got to go. I want Cyril be doctor. Abby train play piano. Good husband want her if she go to good school, it got to be that way. Well I tell him, but he say ‘No! Kid work for business first’. He start yelling. He want money bad for debt. For rong time I hold my tongue, then I tell him. I say ‘No! No more for Mah Jong, no more take, take, take!’ He say I bitch or something. Say I be good to him or he go. Sure he go… he got nothing. I work. MY business!