李黃嬋英
埋在炭堆
一位女檢官早上7時至晚上6時在我家,看守著我們的一舉一動約有三星期。在晚間我們像賊一般,逐漸將家裡比較貴重的裁縫車、物件和布疋,由後門暗中搬出寄放在鄰居處。父母親有預感隨時會被抄家清算,所以父親很有智慧地將一生所積蓄的金塊、首飾和美元都藏在竹筒內,統統隱藏在廚房爐灶下的髒炭堆中才得以保存。
新經濟區
高壓煎熬的日子真不好過,父母親又經常在恐懼中度日,父親帶着我們五兄弟姊妹一起先搬到數公里外的舅父家裡暫住。因為當局政府要對付和逮捕的,首當其衝是註冊已久的生意雇主。當時大哥是在國家的樹膠園當勞工職員,母親和大哥能操流利的當地語言,所以他們兩人留守房屋及貨物。果然女檢官離開後的數日,在一個深夜裡,有一輛大貨車停在我們家的門口,有兩個警官佩帶著手槍及幾位運輸工人,像捕捉大賊一般湧進我們的家。據警官說:政府下令,所有商家要搬離城市到鄉下開拓「新經濟區」,在那裡要自力更生。這個新名詞聽過不陌生,但是不曉得是什麼意思,當今卻發生在我們家中,我們很快就嘗到其中的滋味。當時母親落淚求死與警官爭辯,央求他們手下留情都無效。當晚我們還是被強制搬離住了三十多年的房子。之前沒有預告;現在卻要搬到一個既不知名又沒住址的地方。
資產階級
父親和幾個子女每天在等待母親和大哥回來的消息,真是度日如年。當年沒有通訊聯絡方式,父親急得如熱鍋上螞蟻。每日渾噩遊蕩,無所事事,時勢危急,又怕連累到舅父一家。因為當日我們一家是被標籤為「打壓資產」階級,沒有人敢與我們接近,恐怕會被牽連受罪。
游蕩
父親每天不敢呆在舅父家太長時間。他日日一早出門去坐公巴,毫無目的地的,由上車坐到終點站,坐公巴發呆打發時間。後來發現身上的手錶和錢包被扒手偷走了都不知道。父親失魂落魄地四處遊蕩,毫無方向、前路茫茫、彷彿走到了人生的窮途末路。
寮屋
過了許多日之後,母親與大哥終於回來告知我們發生的經過和搬移過程。我們被迫搬遷,到距離家約45公里以外的西南面的龍安省(LongAn)的一個小鎮墟(ThuThua)。還要坐當地農民的小木艇半小時沿著小河才能到達,是一個荒原,既無人煙又沒有住屋的地方。一眼望去,只見到河岸邊有幾行排列的草寮屋,這就是所謂的開拓「新經濟區」。
內疚自責
後來,我們得到當局警官許可,回去舊居最後一次收拾東西。我們一家大小都回去幫忙收拾。眼見我大姐很氣忿地把鐵錘向上面的屋頂甩去,試圖打穿屋頂。我們既不能擁有這房子,也不願留下完整的房子給共官。只可惜鐵錘太小,很難打破房頂而作罷。另一幕見到的是父親跪在爺爺靈台前大聲哭泣,用潮語說:「我究竟做錯了什麼事啊!今天得到如此的下場。」這是我有記憶以來第一次看到父親哭泣到如此肝腸寸斷。當時父親傷心極了,我也非常難過地落淚,但是我年紀還小又幫不了忙。
自義與義人
父親未曾認識主耶穌之前,深受中國儒家思想影響,他是一個自義的人,又盡孝道,很自豪自己一直是憑著良心做人,從不做虧心事,何來罪也?但聖經上說:「因為世人都犯了罪,虧缺了神的榮耀。」(羅馬書3:23),就如經上所記:「沒有義人,連一個也沒有!」(羅馬書3:10)。「耶和華從天上垂看世人……他們都偏離正路,一同變為污穢;並沒有行善的,連一個也沒有!」(詩篇14:2-3)。
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】壓迫商家(二)〉《真理報》(美東版) (2023年11月)。
https://nystm.org/nytm1123-07/
李志成傳道 / 博士、李黃嬋英師母
作者/講者
¤ 李志成傳道/博士
▪︎前美國國家氣象局 NOAA 氣象預測科研組長
▪︎前紐約短宣中心拓展部主任
¤ 李黃嬋英師母
▪︎瑞典卡羅林斯卡醫學院社工學系畢業,曾任瑞典養老院護理工作
▪︎前紐約短宣中心義務同工
【小趣奇遇】返回都市 重操舊業
我父母親一直留守在龍安鄉鎮有數個月,以表示沒有抗衡政府的新政策,其實是有便衣公安一直在監控著我們⋯⋯
【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 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.
【小趣奇遇】壓迫商家(二)
一位女檢官早上7時至晚上6時在我家,看守著我們的一舉一動約有三星期⋯⋯
[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
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
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)
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】壓迫商家(一)
父母親在南越做了三十多年的布匹生意,由擺地攤起家到有自己的小店鋪門面。他們新婚之時住在小巷子裡的簡陋小木屋,節儉累積才買房搬出住在菜市街上,他們養育了六個孩子。
【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.