Although Christian in upbringing with all the conservative ideology and the speaking of truth and reading of Bible, I could not help but be drawn into the folklore of the long ago Chinese who fought against evil feudal lords, corrupt officials and so on and so forth.
My friends and I share a great love for reading. And part of our reading was those very character forming comics which we could rent at ten cents per book from the corner shop. Because we were very ardent readers, the shop keeper (a Mr. Yong) allowed us more comics for the small sum we paid. And because we were very voracious readers, we could finish as many as three or four per day, and this drove our mothers up the wall. We could never "hear" their calls!! Sometimes in order to get a free reading of one whole comic book, we would sit on a stool on the five foot way. And for an hour or so, we would drift into the a fantasy land of Ancient Chinese swordsmen and swordswomen.
I believe now, more than ever, that my knowledge of Chinese language came from my reading of those Chinese comics published in Hong Kong.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Following the Footsteps of the Kung Fu Heroes
Memoir by I Am Sarawakiana at 10:14 AM
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2 memories:
What about losing track of time staying in those shops reading the rented comic books!
I have on many occasions been reprimanded by my mother for forgetting to come home for lunch and sometimes dinner.
Ouch!
Boys were quite well treated. Many of my girl friends were actually badly beaten by our fathers for coming home just a few minutes later.
So what my sister and I did to avoid being reprimanded by our parents was to borrow a whole stack of comic books from our neighbour, Mrs.Lau who was very generous. She was really God sent.
We did however have our share of reading of the comic books outside those comic shops along the five foot way.
Needless to say, I will always treasure the five foot way as our childhood playgrounds. Necessity is the mother of invention. Today there are many playgrounds which are very dilapidated, and in fact, some are considered dangerous grounds where there are lots of predators.
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