Day: March 28, 2022
‘EVERLASTING GRATITUDE TO OUR TEACHERS.’
Author’s note: Back in 2015, our author’s schoolmate had written this article ‘Everlasting Gratitude to our teachers’ in Chinese and asked him to translate into English. Our author just reedited the translation copy so that readers can read and understand easily because translation sometimes can be a difficult task. It is our author’s pleasure to post this translation copy on his website for the readers to view and he hopes that the translation copy is not too bad for readers to view. Thank you.
EVERLASTING GRATITUDE TO OUR TEACHERS
Written by Ninh Nhu Hua
Translated by Ken Hua (2,240 words)
After the 1954 Geneva Agreement, Vietnam was divided into two parts – The North belonged to the Communists and The South became a Republic Country. There were quite a lot of Chinese school teachers followed the exodus of refugees moving to the South. Because of that, Tho Nhon Chinese Junior High School in Danang, Central Vietnam was able to employ many excellent schoolteachers from the North that had made the teaching quality peaked and made Tho Nhon Chinese Junior High School become well-known in Vietnam.
After I had graduated from primary school in the neighboring city of Hoi An, I had the privilege to study in this well-known school. The three teachers I would like to mention in my Junior High School have consolidated my literature foundation and personal inner training that I would apply in my life.
I will always be grateful for them. These three benefactor teachers are Mr. La Phong 羅峰, Mr. Banh Suy Dan 彭垂民, and Mr. Alfred Tom 譚聖鵬.
Mr. La Phong was excellent in literature and sports. In addition to his specializing in basketball, his literature was said to be very profound and abundant. His writings in using the brush and fountain pen were second to none. He was excellent in all forms of Chinese calligraphy. He was the coach of the Tho Nhon basketball team that had won several times the championship of the Central Vietnam solidarity basketball tournament.
Tho Nhon lady basketball team coached by Mr. La Phong went to Saigon/Cholon for competitions with different lady basket teams there. It was Mr. La Phong using a special tactic to confuse the opponents so they became puzzled to defend; thus to lead the Tho Nhon team to victory. The Tho Nhon lady basketball players such as Lieu Suong Quyen 廖湘娟, Luu Nguyet Nga 劉月娥, Trinh Ngoc Lan 鄭玉蘭, Ly Bich Lien 李碧蓮, Le My Nhan 黎美颜 and Truong Thoai Lan 張瑞蘭 etc. were elegant and pretty that not only given good impression of Danang audiences but also the audiences of Saigon/Cholon areas.
However his main contributions to the students were his excellent teaching of literature/reading and his writing in fountain pen. His beautiful hand writing had initiated all the school students’ interesting to learn better hand writing and as a result, created many expert hand writing students such as Ngo Khai Khuong 吳啟康 in The Strength Class 強社, Giang Quoc Cuong 江國剛 in The Rising Class 昇社 and Quancy Chaau in The Green Class 青社.
By looking at their style of handwriting, we are able to recognize they are the students of teacher La Phong.
For the teaching of literature, in addition to the scheduled lessons, he had added some extra lessons to let the students have access to our Chinese ancient culture literature. Even today, now and then I am still able to recite some of the famous writings and other ancient Chinese poems 長恨歌, 瑟琵行, 圓圓曲. I also can recite quite a few poems of Tong and Sung dynasties 唐宋詩詞. l got these benefits were thanks to teacher La Phong’s outstanding teaching method.
Once he had used his Cantonese dialect to teach us to read the poem of a Chinese story of an ancient Chinese heroine Mulan 木蘭辭. Teacher La Phong was the teacher, who first introduced the beautiful essays of a great modern poet 徐志摩 to our vision. It was also teacher La Phong, who transformed the gentleness of modern poems to our mind. For example, the poem called ‘Coincidence’ ‘I’m a cloud in the sky and by accident I cast my shadow into the heart of your ripples.’ I love this poem and always recall it. From the beginning, it is set that you have your way and I have mine. Why I still let the genuine love nourish in the virgin land of our first love.
Teacher La Phong was sometimes quite romantic. One day he wrote a poem on the blackboard and his handwritings were just fantastic. The poem went like this: ‘my mind is absorbed so deeply in the picturesque scenery; the lovers are under the sunset view, I can’t forget the beautiful moonlight and tranquil night with nice breeze. I also can’t forget the village folks near the red bridge. I have been roaming, the spring to summer, autumn to winter, year after year, however I am always still thinking of you…’ Some of the girl students asked teacher La Phong who was the lady he had mentioned and he shied away.
I must say that teacher La Phong that had taught us to fall in love with Chinese literature. I still remember clearly that he had given us an exciting lecture in the auditorium about the patriotic hero of Sung Dynasty 文天祥. ‘Since history no man does not die, but an honorable death posthumously shines.’ The good example of his heroism has reminded the Chinese younger generation to hold consistently patriotic attitude when facing dilemma. Teacher La Phong was the class teacher of Strength Class and all the students respected him.
Teacher La Phong later became the principle of Tho Nhon High School replacing the former principal Mr. Thai Thieu Ham 蔡紹涵. . In 1975 when the South Vietnamese Army lost the war to the Communists, teacher La Phong and his family lost their lives at sea during their journey to seek freedom. His nice personality and compassion will always be remembered. Thank you. Teacher La Phong, I will everlastingly be grateful to you for teaching me the Chinese literature.
Teacher Banh Say Danh was a very tall man. He was a very nice and talented person. He was an easy-going, down to earth person too. I don’t think even in my lifetime I can fully learn the good example of his being humble. Teacher Banh Say Danh taught us algebra and geometry and he taught and explained to the students very meticulously. I had learnt quite a lot from him and when I went to study in high school, I was able to deal with geometry and physics accordingly.
Because teacher Banh Say Danh usually kept in a low profile, not many people knew that he played well some kind of sport; which was ‘table tennis’. We learnt that when he was young, he was once the ‘Champion’ of the table tennis competition in Ha Noi City in North Vietnam. Once I had a delightful opportunity to watch a very exciting table tennis match between teacher La Phong and teacher Banh Say Danh.
We also fell in love with his music talent. Together he and his older brother, Banh Minh Tong, had produced many songs such as “Thinking of homeland.” “The ocean wind” “The wind in May.” “Your songs are still hanging around.” These many beautiful melodies were once floating around the campus.
Teacher Banh Say Danh recollected World War II during the time the Chinese fighting against the Japanese; he had eye-witnessed the difficult condition that the students on the move were facing in Quangxi and Yunam provinces. When he recollected the past event, he couldn’t hold back his tears. He also recollected during his school days, he had to leave his home city for further education, he loved an impressive patriotic song called “The love of Elo Lake.” and the song goes like this: “The beautiful Elo Lake, your elegant style is always in my mind. It is a regret those bastards made me leave you behind! Your beautiful sunset view of the green mountain and blue water can only be found in my dream.”
Teacher Banh Say Danh also taught us love songs at the rear line of the war, such as “The sky in the summer night is just like the ocean with uncountable stars facing me with a smile and I can’t express my thoughts of being separated with you. This beautiful lyric had created a lot of imagination for the young students like us. Teacher Banh also taught us western songs such as Franz Schubert’s “Serenade.” and the famous Johann Strauss’ The Blue Danube. He had taught his diligent students to learn care and compassion.
When the South Vietnamese government lost the war, a lot of people risked their lives to escape overseas. Teacher Banh and his family were settled in Austin City in America close to where I live. Tho Nhon students thus had close contacts with them. We often enjoyed potlucks, sometimes together we went to the concert and sometimes we joined in the cruise. We kept a very good relationship between each other. Teacher Banh’s family and my family were just like a family. I will never forget his nature of kindness and the characteristics of being humble.
In 2004 he was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in Austin, Texas, USA. It has been 11 year since your departure and now we are in different worlds. Teacher Banh, I have been missing you!
Teacher Alfred Tom is of medium build. As far as I can remember, his style of walking is steady and firm like a soldier. I remember roughly during the international political turmoil of those years, teacher Tom had made a speech in the auditorium on the topic ‘The Egyptian strongman fighting for independence and sovereignty.’ As a young student at that time, I could see his strong thoughts of the ideology of nationalism.
When I studied in Tho Nhon school, the school only had up to junior high level. Teacher Tom was the instructor of the scouts of the school. Once he led all the students riding on bicycles bravely on excursion to Marble Mountain. When Tho Nhon was upgraded to high school, teacher Tom had established the musical marching band. The marching band under his guidance was said to be very extraordinary and had received a lot of compliments. The marching band had made the Central Vietnam solidarity basketball tournament more colourful and attractive. Teacher Tom also was an outstanding Director of school student affairs of Tho Nhon High School. Under his supervision with over one thousand students, there was not any drug problem in the school. It only happened once when a student was got hooked on drug, teacher Tom dealt with the student accordingly and the student quitted smoking and from then on there was not any drug problem in the school.
Did you know the history of Tho Nhon High School symbol? The symbol was designed by teachers Alfred Tom, Truong Van Vien and La Phong. Teacher La Phong suggested using the big round wheel of time, however teacher Tom preferred the triangle. So teacher Truong drew a round wheel in the middle of a triangle. After painting the triangle in three colours, the Tho Nhon 樹人 two characters were written on it, and after the approval of our principal, Thai Thieu Ham蔡紹涵, the school symbol was established.
Teacher Tom was very good in English and he usually had the task of welcoming foreign guests. My English has been put in good use throughout my life under his teaching. It was a regret that I have to mention that during the period of school year 7 and year 8, my English level was very poor. Dissatisfied with the English teacher, Mr. Hoang who discharged one of my classmates. I put the hatred in my mind and I did not want to study English and during the English exam in year 8, I accomplished with another classmate called Banh to boycott the exam by turning in blank papers. As result, teacher Hoang labeled me as ‘skinny monkey’. Afterwards teacher Hoang’ family moved to Saigon and he resigned, his vacancy was taken over by teacher Tom.
Teacher Tom had a very good method to teach and after only a few weeks, I suddenly discovered the critical, important part of English grammar and had gained significant progress. Even Teacher Tom himself was surprised about my progress. He gave me compliment and encouragement. It was under his guidance, my English level has been consolidated. Afterwards I went to attend Tri Dung High School in Saigon and finally graduated from Free Pacific English Academy.
After graduation, the War in Vietnam escalated and I was in the age of military conscription. I had chosen to work with the American Military Advisory Group and was assigned to work as an interpreter for the Vietnamese amphibious diver Sea Commandos. The instructors of the Vietnamese commandos were U.S Navy SEAL soldiers. These U.S. Navy SEALs were outstanding brave military men full of guts. I accompanied them, worked with them either in training or in battle, parachuting or night shore landings as a combat interpreter for the Vietnamese sea commandos.
After six years, I was transferred to Naval Headquarters to translate orders of military operations and important military documents. In 1975, the South Vietnamese government lost the war and surrendered, I escaped to United States. In the defense of South Vietnam I have made some contributions. In 1970 and 1971 I had the honor to receive two military citations of achievement from South Vietnamese Defense Ministry, the Army and the Navy. When my family and I were settled in America, I was able to make a good living and studied at college at night without any language barrier. Everything has been going smoothly with me thanks to the teaching of teacher Tom.
It was eighteen years ago, I travelled to teacher Tom’ area and was led by my classmate Nhan Vi Co to pay a visit to teacher Tom and his wife and we felt honored to enjoy meal with them. It was three years ago; I was told that my 90-year-old teacher Tom would come to Los Angeles to attend the Tho Nhon High School New Year Festival. I was very excited and I made special trip traveling from Houston to Los Angeles to meet teacher Tom. It was a regret that teacher Tom could not attend the event because he was not feeling well. Recently I was able to speak with teacher Tom by phone through the help of my classmate Le My Nhan. I was very thrilled to hear his voice and I was burst into tears.
I do hope that teacher Tom would be able to read this special writing from his seventy some years old student expressing my appreciation to him.
I wish teacher Tom and his wife ‘Happiness & Longevity’
Written in Texas, May 2015
Thanks to Le My Nhan for providing information.
‘MR. CHAIRMAN, WELCOME TO THO NHON HIGH SCHOOL REUNION AT HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA!’
‘MR. CHAIRMAN, WELCOME TO THO NHON REUNION AT HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA’
(1,542 words) Written by Ken Hua
Sunday, 27th March 2016
‘Mr. Chairman, welcome to the Tho Nhon High School Reunion at Houston, Texas, USA!’
‘Henry & Johnny, I am glad to be here. What a big crowd you got here. I am very drilled to be here. Don’t you worry about me; continue that you are doing, mates. I will grab a seat and I will be looking for people that I might know.
Talking about Tho Nhon High School in Danang, the home city where our respectable Chairman and his family lived since 1954. When Vietnam was divided into two parts, the North belonged to the Communists and the South became a Republic country. Danang was also the home city of Tho Nhon Middle School and High School graduates.
Tho Nhon Middle High school and High School was quite renowned in Vietnam. In the school, Tho Nhon Middle High School & High School students had to attend 10-11 hours of Vietnamese class and as a result the school graduates can speak Mandarin and Vietnamese very fluently and also 5 hours of English lessons were taught weekly. Some of the school graduates could speak, understand and read English reasonably well. After finished completed Tho Nhon High School, some of the students went to Saigon to attend English High School there and our respectable Chairman was one of them that was in the early 60’s, more than half a century ago.
It is worthwhile to mention that the Chinese Vietnamese living in Vietnam and they have to carry out the military conscription just like other Vietnamese. Some of the Tho Nhon graduates continued to study in Vietnamese High School, obtained a Vietnamese High School certificate before they were permitted to attend universities in Saigon, There were quite a few Tho Nhon High School graduates and other Chinese Vietnamese High School students in Saigon attended Vietnamese universities in Saigon after they successfully obtained a Vietnamese High School certificate. Some of them obtained a bachelor degree in doctor, pharmacist, solicitor, architect etc.
Since there was no Chinese University in Saigon, some of the well off Tho Nhon graduates went to Taiwan to attend university and some of them even went a little further, they went to America for further study and some of them obtained Master Degrees and some Ph. D just like some other Chinese Vietnamese attending Vietnamese university and obtained university degrees in Saigon.
On the other hand, young people in military conscription age, if students had a Vietnamese Year 10 High School Certificate, they would enlist in Non-Commissioned Officers School while with Year 12 High School Certificate, they would enlist in the Officers Academy
When the Communists took over South Vietnam in 1975, life of the ordinary Vietnamese people including Chinese Vietnamese was turned upside down. There was no freedom of religion or speech, trade and people must have a travel permit to move from one place to another and no group gathering. In the previous old regime, people were allowed to trade freely, there were freedom of religion, speech and travel etc. In addition, the Communists intended to change the education system and the authorities always keep an eye on their citizens including people attending the mass.
From 1975 to 1979 when my family and I lived in Danang, our home city in Central Vietnam, the Communist government had changed the currency twice and the government only gave the citizens certain amount of money and the government will keep the remainders of your money on your behalf. If people needed to withdraw money, they needed to lodge in an application. The government also targeted the rich people whose real estate and property were confiscated by the government and send them to the so-called re-education camps for hard labor. They had to work very hard to make ends meet. The Communist authorities had treated the former South Vietnamese Officers and high-ranking officials very badly and never gave enough food to eat and some of them could not survive the ordeal.
Since there was no employment in the big cities and regional centres, people had no choice but move to the country to do the farming. The city people had not done the farm work however they had to accept the reality to survive. Our older son and our only daughter were born in the old regime, so that they had the quality import milk powder to drink however our youngest son was born after the Communists took over South Vietnam and there was no milk powder available at that time.
When the South Vietnamese Government lost the War in Vietnam to the Communists, there was no freedom of speech and religion. Private trading was forbidden and people must have a permit to travel around. As the saying goes, ‘one would rather die if there is no freedom.’ Life under Communists’ rule was getting harder and harder, so there were a lot of people had risked their lives by traveling by boat to seek freedom in a western country and most people have chosen America to become their newly adopted country. Some other people had chosen England, Germany, France etc. and some other countries to start their new life while our family had chosen Australia to be our new home.
Most of the Tho Nhon High School graduates had settled in America and once they settled, they had established the contact network to keep in touch and every year they hold the Annual School Reunion mostly held in California. In February this year I went to Houston, Texas to attend the Tho Nhon High School Annual School Union and I was so thrilled to see a lot of schoolmates and classmates whom I haven’t seen for ages. My older sister from San Diego came along to attend The High School Reunion although she did not attend Tho Nhon High School in Danang. She attended Chinese junior and high school in Saigon and it was a good chance to catch up with her schoolmates and classmates who have settled in Houston, Texas.
After Tho Nhon High School schoolmates have settled in America for some time and they have set up a fund to help build primary schools in some of the remote areas in China for the poor students to have a chance to go to school to study. So far they have built seven schools for the poor students in China. We were very thrilled to see the happy faces of the primary school students with their new uniforms smiling and looking happy ready to go to school. We can imagine that they must feel happy and thrilled that they are able to attend school. We should give compliments to their contribution to help build primary schools in China. Without their contribution, those poor children in some remote areas in China still did not have a chance to go to school. We should give those people involved in this project a thump’s up for their outstanding performance and great efforts.
It is worthwhile to mention that Tho Nhon Chinese High School in Danang, my home city in Vietnam was the only school involved in this special program to set up primary schools for the poor students in the remote area in China. Without the funding of those people involved and their efforts, those poor students in the remote area in China still don’t have a chance to go to school for their basic education. I admire that most of Tho Nhon Chinese High School schoolmates and classmates in Danang were settled in America because most of the school union held there every year was in America while they are only a handful of Tho Nhon High schoolmates and classmates were settled in Australia, thousands and thousand miles away from America. Tho Nhon has initiated building the elementary schools for the poor students in the remote area in China
Talking about building elementary schools in the remote areas in China for the poor students, we have to mention the couples Binh Diep and her husband Ly Quang Mau who have a business in Florida and they have set up a monetary foundation called Foundation which does the charity works when natural disasters or pro education. Our Tho Nhon alumni donated to her fund the BD Foundation to build Tho Nhon elementary schools in the remote areas for poor students in China. Most of the donation came from the couples Binh Diep and her husband Ly Quang Mau and. We think that the couples must have a good heart towards those poor students in China by doing this kind of charity work. ‘Helping people in need is their source of happiness. Congratulations and well done! Their donation was still not enough to build the schools in China, as the saying goes, ‘every cent it counts.’ so there was donation from other alumni making this historic great project done. Let’s salute those people involved in this special project!
They have built seven to eight schools for the poor students in the remote area in China and their target is to reach ten schools in 2018 in China. What an outstanding performance for those people involved!
I am very glad that I was able to attend the Tho Nhon High School reunion held in Houston, Texas, USA February this year with my older sister although she did not attend Tho Nhon High School in Danang. After the School Reunion, some of our schoolmates and classmates including my sister and me joined the 6-day cruise to Jamaica and we had a very fabulous time.I was happy that I was able to catch up with some of schoolmates and classmates some of them I haven’t seen for years.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank those people involved in organizing the Tho Nhon High School reunion in Houston, Texas, USA in February this year and the 6-day cruise to Jamaica. It was my very first time that I attended the Tho Nhon High School reunion held in America because my family and I live in Australia. Most my family members live in Los Angeles and San Diego, California. If opportunity allowed, I am sure I will visit America again first to see my family members then you guys. ‘One stone hits two birds!’
Happy New Year to you and your family! As the Lunar New Year is around the corner, my family and I would like to wish all of you and family a very prosperous Lunar New Year! It has been Ken Hua reporting from Sydney, Australia. May God bless you all!
Written by Ken Hua
Sunday, 27th March 2016
Revised 1st January 2017
‘MR. CHAIRMAN, PLEASE HELP! (REAL LIFE STORY)
“MR. CHAIRMAN, PLEASE HELP! PLEASE HELP!’
(REAL LIFE STORY)
(859 words) Sunday, 20th August 2006
Revised 18th December 2014
***Author’s special note: the Diamond Boy has done it again. It is about half an hour ago at 8.20pm, Sunday, 30-10-2016, he called Mr. Chairman this time intimating a man’s voice and the Diamond Boy and our Chairman had an intimate chat for about eight minutes. Throughout the conversation our old fragile Chairman could not recognize the Diamond Boy’s voice at all. As a matter of fact, the Diamond Boy can only cheat our old fragile Chairman but not any people.
Due to the abovementioned event, our author would like to post the following article for the readers to enjoy on his website again. The article was a completely humorous true story. During the dialogue, our author’s youngest son Diamond Boy) imitating an Australian lady’s voice named Lucy to speak with our Chairman throughout the dialogue. The author hopes you will enjoy this writing as he has enjoyed writing this particular article that he had written some time ago. Thank you.
“Good morning, Diamond Boy. How are you doing?”
“Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I am not the Diamond Boy. I am an old and fragile lady who needs your help.”
“Excuse me for a sec. lady. Did I dial the right number? Why on earth is an old fragile lady living in my son’s house?”
“Mr. Chairman, your son does not live here. I am the only woman living in this house.”
“You must be kidding! It is impossible! I am sure I dialed the right number. Anyway, I think I am going to hang up and check with my phone book and dial again to see what happens.”
Our Master was quite upset and frustrated too. It was the very first time that he dialed the Diamond Boy’s telephone number yet it was an old fragile lady answered the phone. He was thinking to himself: How could something like that happen, besides he needed to get a hold of the Diamond Boy for something urgent. He checked his phone book again and dialed the number carefully.
“Hi, Diamond Boy. It is me, the Chairman here.’
“Hello, Mr. Chairman. It is you again. My name is Lucy. It is nice that you called again.”
“Of course, it is I. By any chance did you and your friends break into my son’s house and lock him in the garage perhaps.”
“I told you before that I am the only woman living in this house.”
“It is impossible! Totally impossible! Okay, let me ask you one more time, please listen to me very carefully, is that you and your friends who broke into my son’s house about an hour ago.”
“Mr. Chairman, I am a good citizen and I have not done anything against the law in the past and will not do so in the future.”
“Lucy, I checked my phone book twice and carefully dialed the number and I am sure it is my son’s number. What have you done with my son?”
“Mr. Chairman, your son does not live here. I told you before that I am a good citizen and I will not do anything against my conscience. I am the only woman in this house.”
After the conversation, our Master woke the Lady of the House to witness him to dial the telephone number and she was talking on the phone.
“Hello, Diamond Boy, is that you? It is Mum here. I think something must be wrong with the telephone.”
“No, Diamond Boy does not live here, I am sorry. I am the only woman living in this house.”
“Oh, who the hell are you and how dare you stay in my son’s house?”
“I think I told the Chairman that I am the owner of the house.”
The Lady of the House was very upset and she urged our Master to call the police for help. She was worried to death because she was extremely concerned about her son’s safety. But before he called the police, he dialed again to see if there was any luck this time and he was thinking that the phone line might have been playing up and he too was very worried about his son’s safety.
“Hello, Diamond Boy, is that you?”
“Oh, Mr. Chairman, please help…please help!”
“Oh no, not that bloody lady again! (Our Master tried to take a deep breath and tried to control his anger) Is there something wrong, lady? Please take it easy and tell me what happened.”
“There are a couple of young fellows shabbily dressed trying to break into the house and I am getting very scared.”
“Just stay calm please. I will call the police squad straight away and they will be there in minutes.”
“Please hurry, Mr. Chairman. Once the thieves break in, they might kill me.”
“Lady, try to hide inside the wardrobe and stay still and you will be all right.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very scared. Please help me…”
“Oh, please give me your correct address. Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, I am. I live in the Wild, Wild West.’
“Lady, are you nuts? Are you out of your mind? I think I will call the police to get you right now and put you in custody in seconds. If my son gets hurt, I will break you into pieces, you, bloody idiot!”
“Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Hold on for a second.Please don’t just callthe police yet. This has been theDiamond Boypretending the lady,Lucy’s voicespeaking from his private residence, the Wild, Wild West.”
Oh, what a trickyDiamond Boywho has really scared the old fragileChairman of Country Cottage and the Lady of the House to death!
Written by Ken Hua 20th August 2006
Revised 18th December 2014
“MR. CHAIRMAN, PLEASE HELP! PLEASE HELP!’
(859 words) Sunday, 20th August 2006
Revised 18th December 2014
***Author’s special note: the Diamond Boy has done it again. It is about half an hour ago at 8.20pm, Sunday, 30-10-2016. (This article will be posted on my website at 9.00pm the same day.) He called Mr. Chairman this time intimating a man’s voice and the Diamond Boy and our Chairman had an intimate chat for about eight minutes. Throughout the conversation our old fragile Chairman could not recognize the Diamond Boy’s voice at all. As a matter of fact, the Diamond Boy can only cheat our old fragile Chairman but not any people.
Due to the abovementioned event, our author would like to post the following article for the readers to enjoy on his website again. The article was a completely humorous true story. During the dialogue, our author’s youngest son Diamond Boy) imitating an Australian lady’s voice named Lucy to speak with our Chairman throughout the dialogue. The author hopes you will enjoy this writing as he has enjoyed writing this particular article that he had written some time ago. Thank you.
“Good morning, Diamond Boy. How are you doing?”
“Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I am not the Diamond Boy. I am an old and fragile lady who needs your help.”
“Excuse me for a sec. lady. Did I dial the right number? Why on earth is an old fragile lady living in my son’s house?”
“Mr. Chairman, your son does not live here. I am the only woman living in this house.”
“You must be kidding! It is impossible! I am sure I dialed the right number. Anyway, I think I am going to hang up and check with my phone book and dial again to see what happens.”
Our Master was quite upset and frustrated too. It was the very first time that he dialed the Diamond Boy’s telephone number yet it was an old fragile lady answered the phone. He was thinking to himself: How could something like that happen, besides he needed to get a hold of the Diamond Boy for something urgent. He checked his phone book again and dialed the number carefully.
“Hi, Diamond Boy. It is me, the Chairman here.’
“Hello, Mr. Chairman. It is you again. My name is Lucy. It is nice that you called again.”
“Of course, it is I. By any chance did you and your friends break into my son’s house and lock him in the garage perhaps.”
“I told you before that I am the only woman living in this house.”
“It is impossible! Totally impossible! Okay, let me ask you one more time, please listen to me very carefully, is that you and your friends who broke into my son’s house about an hour ago.”
“Mr. Chairman, I am a good citizen and I have not done anything against the law in the past and will not do so in the future.”
“Lucy, I checked my phone book twice and carefully dialed the number and I am sure it is my son’s number. What have you done with my son?”
“Mr. Chairman, your son does not live here. I told you before that I am a good citizen and I will not do anything against my conscience. I am the only woman in this house.”
After the conversation, our Master woke the Lady of the House to witness him to dial the telephone number and she was talking on the phone.
“Hello, Diamond Boy, is that you? It is Mum here. I think something must be wrong with the telephone.”
“No, Diamond Boy does not live here, I am sorry. I am the only woman living in this house.”
“Oh, who the hell are you and how dare you stay in my son’s house?”
“I think I told the Chairman that I am the owner of the house.”
The Lady of the House was very upset and she urged our Master to call the police for help. She was worried to death because she was extremely concerned about her son’s safety. But before he called the police, he dialed again to see if there was any luck this time and he was thinking that the phone line might have been playing up and he too was very worried about his son’s safety.
“Hello, Diamond Boy, is that you?”
“Oh, Mr. Chairman, please help…please help!”
“Oh no, not that bloody lady again! (Our Master tried to take a deep breath and tried to control his anger) Is there something wrong, lady? Please take it easy and tell me what happened.”
“There are a couple of young fellows shabbily dressed trying to break into the house and I am getting very scared.”
“Just stay calm please. I will call the police squad straight away and they will be there in minutes.”
“Please hurry, Mr. Chairman. Once the thieves break in, they might kill me.”
“Lady, try to hide inside the wardrobe and stay still and you will be all right.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very scared. Please help me…”
“Oh, please give me your correct address. Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, I am. I live in the Wild, Wild West.’
“Lady, are you nuts? Are you out of your mind? I think I will call the police to get you right now and put you in custody in seconds. If my son gets hurt, I will break you into pieces, you, bloody idiot!”
“Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Hold on for a second.Please don’t just callthe police yet. This has been theDiamond Boypretending the lady,Lucy’s voicespeaking from his private residence, the Wild, Wild West.”
Oh, what a trickyDiamond Boywho has really scared the old fragileChairman of Country Cottage and the Lady of the House to death!
Written by Ken Hua 20th August 2006
Revised 18th December 2014
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