李黃嬋英
我父母親年輕未婚時來自潮州；但我們六個兄弟姊妹都是出生於越南。全家一直住在華人聚居最多的「堤岸」。華人都是做大小生意為生的。連本地越南人都學會說粵語，特別需要在生意上能用粵語溝通，他們也讓自己孩子去華文學校讀書。越南人與華人雖有許多文化相似的地方，但生活上也有許多隔隔不入的習慣。越南人妒忌華人；一開口就喜歡駡華人「霸道」，意思是華人是外來霸佔了他們的工作、地土和經濟。據說越南有六成的生意和經濟都操縱和控制在華人手上。華人對越南人的一般印象是他們缺少「禮儀廉恥」的意識，又不懂得生活節儉；賺一元要用一元。所以常過著貧窮的日子。例如：昨晚吃過大餐豐宴之後，隔天要孩子去店裡買一小碗醬油或糖或是買兩斤米和炭柴。物少價貴，不會精打細算，用錢方法不理智。當今的社會風氣豈不是一樣嗎？常用信用卡借貸，結果只有長年償還貸款之苦。
勤奮與慷慨他人
我非常敬佩父母親做的小生意，經常讓左鄰右里的街坊買布料時無息貸款。母親雖是沒有怎樣讀過書的人，可是加減乘除的數理，卻是難不倒她。在生意上全是她在記帳的。父母親上午做生意，下午去補充貨源，傍晚母親自己手拿帳簿，步行各處去收數。有一次，母親在附近巷子裡收數時，因為對方誤解引而發一些衝突，語氣聲勢漸大。父親見情況不妙；腳穿拖鞋，手抱住約兩歲的妹妹勸解母親離開。對方誤以為父親是助長氣勢對付她。銷售汽水的這位中年婦人就大發雷霆，手拿起空的汽水瓶要打他們。父母親見形勢不好，馬上急忙離開婦人家門，母親走在最前，父親在後走路時脫落了一隻拖鞋，而我隨著父親後面走，要拾起拖鞋的那一瞬間，一個空玻璃瓶飛越我的頭部而過，大響一聲落在我與父親之間。幸好我們沒有一個人被擊中受傷。
民族之間的爭鬥
我們住屋的對面巷內有一個華人小幫派，在左面後街巷也有一個越南人小幫派。兩個不同民族的幫派年輕人經常爭鬥追打。小時候，眼見過有一次，「越幫派」的十多人，拿著大小木掍、鐵棒、菜刀在街上追趕另一「華幫派」的年輕人。結果「華幫派」逃返入巷鎖上巷口大門，追趕才停止下來。當地的越南人鄰居會打開門走出街，大聲疾呼：「天啊！發生了什麼事？」而我們華人的特色是沉默無聲，家家戶戶只顧閉門上鎖，關燈自守，恐怕惹事，視而不見。嘆！難怪華人常被標籤是「一盆散沙」的民族。而越南人是團結，出手相助的一個民族。
敬畏上帝得「真」福
聖經提醒地上的萬國萬族，要敬畏上帝為主為神，所以「以耶和華為神的，那國是有福的！祂所揀選為自己產業的，那民是有福的！耶和華從天上觀看，祂看見一切的世人；從祂的居所往外察看地上一切的居民，祂是那造成他們眾人心的，留意他們一切作為的。」（詩篇 33:12-15）。上帝也賜福給那些敬愛祂的人：「耶和華的眼目看顧敬畏祂的人和仰望祂慈愛的人。」（詩篇 33:18）
作者：李黃嬋英師母出身越南堤岸。少年信主後，移居北歐瑞典，修社工。婚後與夫婿移居美國。
李黃嬋英。〈【小趣奇遇】民族之間文化的差異〉《真理報》(美東版) (2023年9月)。
https://nystm.org/nytm0923-08/
【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家驅逐去新經濟區
當我們一家被迫拋屋棄貨被驅逐到龍安省（Long An）的一個小鎮墟（Thu Thua）之後；我們的戶口被取消，孩子同時也被取消在城市內上學的資格。四哥與我、弟妹都要輟學。
[Storm Buster] Storm Surge
![[Storm Buster] Storm Surge](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Hurricane_Kate_2003-_Good_pic-860x500.webp "[Storm Buster] Storm Surge")
Storm surge causes inundation of large swaths of coastal land. Eleven years ago, storm surge from Hurricane Sandy havocked large damages in New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ). Today, some of those destructions are still noticeable and remain unrepaired.
[Interesting Adventures] The New Economic Development District Policy in Vietnam
The Vietnamese government had planned well ahead and prepared many makeshift-hut developments such as the one we were sent among all the villages and provinces.
[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)
![[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/oppressed-Merchants-2-web-edited-800x500.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] Suppressing the Merchants (Part II)")
Upon the confiscation of our family-cloth-business, there was an undercover policewoman stationed at our home for three weeks every day from 7:00 am till 6:00 pm. Our every move was scrutinized⋯⋯
[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast
![[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-10-30-at-11.05.07-PM.jpg "[Storm Buster] Autumn Foliage Forecast")
Autumn is pleasant. It has many public holidays for the most populous countries in the northern hemisphere. In the U.S. we have Labor Day, Columbus Day and the Veterans Day. In China there are Mid-Autumn Festival and Double-Yang Festival.
[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires
![[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-72.jpg "[Storm Buster Series] Preempt Wildfires")
We were all stunned by the apocalyptic scenes of devastation and destitution caused by wildfires in Maui, HI. The utter sense of desolation and desperation was overwhelmingly sad. It destroyed the idyllic Island of Maui. Many people are still in denial and disbelief when they look at the news reports.
[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)
![[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-71-700x500.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)")
Mom and dad ran a textile and cloth business for thirty years. Their humble street hawker beginning was never remote. Only through thrift living and hard work did mom and dad gradually expand their business and eventually proudly owned a retail shop in the middle of the vegetable markets.
【小趣奇遇】民族之間文化的差異
我父母親年輕未婚時來自潮州；但我們六個兄弟姊妹都是出生於越南。全家一直住在華人聚居最多的「堤岸」。華人都是做大小生意為生的。連本地越南人都學會說粵語，特別需要在生意上能用粵語溝通，他們也讓自己孩子去華文學校讀書。
Heatwaves
Heatwaves in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere captured the public’s attention. The inadequacy of the central air conditioning units in many of the northern cities testifies to the unexpected increase in air temperature across Northern Europe, Asia and America.
Cultural Divide
Born in Vietnam, my siblings of six including myself, lived in a Chinese town called “Cholon”. Cantonese was the business dialect that even the native Vietnamese learned to speak. Many of the Vietnamese natives sent their children to Chinese schools.
【小趣奇遇】教學混亂與民間迷信
在1975年南越政變後，我和二哥（榮光）和弟弟（榮南）就讀的「同心」中小學，从私立成了公立學校，取消了學校制服。由於不夠老師，加上政府監控學校制度，又撤銷所有華語課堂，規定只准許學習當地越南文。
The Unfathomable Deep Space and Seas
Man is an adventurous creature. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019 the US travel and tourism industry generated 1.9 trillion dollars in economic output. That was a startling 9% of the nation’s corresponding GDP of 21.38 trillion dollars in 2019.
Chaotic schools and rampant superstitions
When the communists took over Vietnam in 1975, my second eldest brother (David), I and my younger brother (Kevin) were studying in the “Same Heart” middle-and-elementary school in Cholon, Vietnam. Originally a private school, it was changed to a public school under the communist government.
Calmness after the War (Part II)
My parents ran a textile and clothes retail shop from our home. Under the new communist government after the Vietnamese civil war, every home was eager to sew the new national flag. Therefore, all of a sudden our home business was thriving beyond our wildest imaginations.
【小趣奇遇】戰亂後的平息（下集）
父母親是做買賣布料的家庭式生意。內戰後的新興政府，規定家家戶戶都要買布料縫裁新國旗。突然間，店舖的生意好到忙不過來。我的大哥（雁榮）想幫父親的輕型電單車加油，去了附近一公哩以外的油站加油。
Pollen Allergy Becoming a Mainstay
Pollen allergy is more commonly known as hay fever. Medically speaking, it is called seasonal allergic rhinitis —- a provocation of the immune system to overreact to pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. Hay fever occurs mainly in the spring and fall when pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds are in the air.
Calmness after the War (Part I)
In the May issue we mentioned the civil war between North and South Vietnam. It finally ended on the so-called “Liberation Date” on April 30, 1975. The North united the country into a communist country.
滕張佳音博士
國宣創辦人
▪︎美國芝加哥三一福音神學院文學碩士(宣教)及教牧學博士(宣教學)
▪︎前建道神學院跨越文化研究部副教授
▪︎牧職神學院榮譽創院院長
▪︎國際短宣使團創辦人
![[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)](https://eresource.ifstms.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nytm2310p-71-580x420.jpg "[Interesting Adventures] The Oppressed Merchants (1)")
