A family history

Great grandpa hailed from Shanghai, who has lived in turbulent times through the Sino-Japanese war during his early years; while once have ventured to the city of Xiamen, he was forced back to Shanghai for good in the aftermath of the bombings that have destroyed the city. My grandpa, one of 5 brothers and sisters, was the only one with the daring spirit to venture out to Hong Kong to seek his fortune while the others left behind. Two years after his visit to Hong Kong, the outbreak of the Korean War has forced him to return home. Spirit remaining high, he went back to Hong Kong shortly after stability returned. As a seasoned tailor, he worked for the then prominent James Lee at one of its first branches at Jaffe Road. After his return came the birth of my father, who was the fourth of five children. Yet shortly, grandpa was sent to abroad to set up one of the first branches in Japan – at the American marine base in Yokohama. Bringing 5 lads to assist him, grandpa was the only one who has returned to Hong Kong while other have taken Japanese wives and have chosen to stay behind to seek their fortune. Having inherited the same entrepreneurial spirit, the two elder sons have ventured to Canada to seek their fortune, later taking the rest of the family there. My father followed suite after his university studies in Japan, yet have later returned to Hong Kong in the early 90s in view of the business opportunities. Good times did not last as we know the Asian financial crisis has hit the economy badly then; economic turbulence did not subside – then came SARS, and later the recent global financial crisis. Nearly 20 years later my grandpa has returned to Hong Kong at the age of 95, giving his first-hand account of the family history. Taking my grandpa for a stroll along his old home in Cameron Road and the old Shanghai restaurants have caught the old memories back despite everything has changed. The Shanghai retail business he worked for has gone to the lucrative property business and the streets have been taken over by Indian tailors instead; my grandpa sighed telling me the lost art of Shanghai-nese tailor craftmenship, not that it really mattered anymore to one who have witnessed a century of change.

House MD Quotes part II