DOUBLE DOUBLE
A Holly Lee and Lee Ka-sing online magazine
Published on Fridays since January 2019
李家昇黃楚喬網上雜誌，逢星期五出版
Writings/ Photographs/ Poetry/ Archives
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FAMILY TREE
Family Tree
written by Holly Lee
I am always envious of people who, from their ancestry records, could build up a relatively large genealogical tree, showing a clear and analytical structure of blood and non direct-line relatives. My family tree is embarrassingly small. This small plantlet only consists of my grandmother, my aunt, my mother, me, my brother and my three cousins. This feels awkwardly lean considering the paternal side of my family is big, and my grandfather has at least eighteen siblings. Who is to blame but myself, that I am not able to sketch a bigger ancestral tree, that I know so little history of my grandfather and grandmother, that I know even less of my own father, that I was never interested nor asked. The small tree I manage to draw holds the family close and together; with my grandmother as the root, the centre. I thought that was enough - until I put something about myself together, I found many blank pages and question marks. I attempted to write my own story years ago, rescuing few memories and fragments gathered from the past, and recreated some others. Starting my memoir from the year 1953, the year I was born, while I could guesstimate the earlier history of my family I had difficulty in continuing the narrative, for I remember very little of the first ten years of my childhood, and now, regrettably there is no one else I could ask. Instead of growth my family tree has dwindled and leaves behind only four members: my brother, myself, one elder cousin and his youngest sister.
1953
自從幾個月前給兩個童犯偷走ipad後，我的故事真是一籌莫展。那剛是個開始啊，卻令我驟然止步。但怎可以讓這點小銼折磨走我一生僅存的記憶呢？我是個記性極差的人，加上從來也沒有把家庭的歷史記掛在心上，在外婆和母親仍在世的時候也沒有怎麼提問，對自己的根源所知乏善可陳，幾近空白。當今想來真的覺得有點悔之已晚。
在我小小的世界裏，我的家庭算是簡單的。這話說來也頗為漠視了我部份大家庭的背景，因為外婆的外家有近乎二十兄弟姊妹，記憶中的有十二丈公、十三叔公、十五叔公和十八姑婆。經常因生日飲𨯧而聚會於酒樓，或農歷新年在十五叔公家裏團拜。但在我的心靈裏最親愛的祇有外婆、母親和阿姨，那家庭也衹意味著她們，和我們這下一代幾個小孩。
我真的不明白，為何從來也沒有向外婆問及她的往事。依稀記得她說過生於日本，經歷過一塲大地震。她懂日語，後來到了香港還替日本人打工。在最近整理東西的時候我發現還保留了她的一本香港居民証明護照，出生填了1905年，地點在日本。但這祇是個推敲的年份，並沒有證明文件。於是我便猜想她曾經歷過1923年的日本關東大地震，那天是9月1日，時間11時58分32秒，7點9級，延續了4至10分鐘，失蹤人數達四萬，死亡人數達十四萬二千八百之多。
從外婆的香港居民証明護照我驚喜地發現了外公的名字！是用手寫的英語大楷 LEE CHE KWONG。翻譯過來可能是李慈光，李哲廣，或者是李志剛？旁邊還註有（已故) (deceased) 。我對外公的印象僅賴於一張上半身舊照片，似乎是拍攝於三十年代，樣貌俊彥。身穿淺灰色直幼綫條子西裝，內套深色背心，白襯衫結上闊斜紋間色領呔，頭髮分中，眼戴黑邊圓形鏡，面露笑容三分，一派民國才子風範。近日我鍾情於民國事物，想他必然是和徐志摩郁達夫等同時代的人，不免添加了幾分兒傳奇和浪漫。
回頭再來看最近找到外婆年輕時的一張大頭照片。一直以來，對外婆的印象總是停留在她四丶五十歳時的光景，也無從追憶她年青時的容貌。這幀發了黃並且有人手描繪的舊照片，印證了方過去不久的一個年代裏的傳統女性。竟有「兩灣似蹙非蹙罥煙眉，一雙似喜非喜含情目」，鵝蛋臉胚子，光亮烏黑未及至肩的細髮，黑綢立領大襟衫，一種精緻柔情的氣質。雖然都是奉父母之命成親，想他們新婚時也曾兩情相悅，孕育出兩個美麗的女兒 - 這對年幼便失去父親的姊妹花。
雖然我可以從母親和阿姨的舊照片中假想出一連串的事件，但畢竟這是我的故事，得從自己說起。1953我出生的那年，世界究竟有多少大事發生了呢？這年香港普天同慶，剛加冕成為英女皇的伊麗莎伯二世乘坐鍍金馬車，在民眾的歡呼聲中取道回白金漢宮。在亞洲，中美簽署朝鮮停戰協議，從此南北家分，同年斯大林在莫斯科去世。1953年 Watson and Crick 發現了DNA 的雙螺旋結構，人類基因終於被解碼。在歐洲，這年的1月31日發生了北海大洪水，受株連的有英國、荷蘭及比利時。1953年彩色電視機正式在美國面世，而香港的無線電視也在1970年踏進彩色廣播的第一步。(2013)
Family Album
Lee Ka-sing
Ka-sing's mother and father, Hong Kong
Ka-sing and his parents, Hong Kong
Ka-sing, Guangzhou
Ka-sing, Guangzhou
Ka-sing and his aunt, Guangzhou
Father's elder brother and his wife, Guangzhou
Father's elder brother and his wife, China
Holly and Ka-sing, Hong Kong (from Holly's album)
Holly and Ka-sing, New York City (a photograph by David Clarke)
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DOUBLE DOUBLE
Issue 1022-2021
A Holly Lee and Lee Ka-sing online magazine. Published on Fridays since January 2019. Published by OCEAN POUNDS and archived at oceanpounds.com
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Holly and Ka-sing currently live in Toronto with their daughter Iris, and their cat Sukimoto. Contact with email at - mail@leekasing.com / holly@xpecial.com
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