I stood on the roof of my new abode in an up scale residential neighborhood in Taitung and looked out over the houses. There had just been a very loud exploding sound followed by a strong odor of LPG which hung in the air for 20 minutes. This prompted me to call the township. As I did, I was stopped by my spouse. “If you call, you'll make trouble for everybody.”
“How is that?”
“Everybody is doing something outside the law. It is all OK as long as nobody calls in a complaint.”
“But somebody could get killed. There is a large LPG leak somewhere.”
On the roof I located the source. The neighbor to the right has a very large lot and German Shepherd dogs to keep nosy neighbors away from his factory making dental appliances, mostly from semi-precious metals. This produces highly toxic chemical waste and uses very high temperature ovens both electric and gas. One of his tanks had busted a line.
My neighbor to the left, a Supervisor in the county construction roads department has a warehouse full of material and equipment for doing road repairs as a subcontractor, surely a conflict of interest. Two doors down a neighbor has a warehouse and carpentry shop in a designated residential neighborhood. To the rear, all of the neighbors have built additions onto their houses which are imposing on the fire access alley, all built without permits. Other have built steel and aluminum top floor additions on their houses without permits. And my friend Ah Ching was raising chickens in his additional bedroom.
And as for us, we ran a small language school out of our house which is legal as long as we don't exceed the limited number of students per class.
What a fragile and intricate web of deception we live in. It is just like the aboriginal peoples' chain dance with laced arms, except that instead of holding each other by the hands, we have each other by the balls.
I put down the phone as I saw all of these peoples lives tumbling like dominoes.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Business is business Puli, 2004
Big blue skies on that Monday morning. Yuri and I were the only pilots in the sky at 11.
After flying close to the ground for some time at Tigerhead mountain on the long slope, I decided that it would make a good take off zone. At the land office in Puli obtaining the title for the land was futile.
Back on the mountain top, the neighboring piece of land was being cultivated. I approached a man on a backhoe.
“Good afternoon, are you the landowner?”
“Yo dzema shr? ( What do you want?)“ , he parried.
I handed him my business card, “Please give this to the landowner. Maybe I can help him develop for tourism.”
A month later I received a phone call from a Mr. Hsiao who invited me to tea. I had been warned by local residents about Mr. Hsiao being a ruthless businessman. We chatted at length about the mountain, community, paragliding and life in general. He gave me the walking tour of his property,”Can you take off here? How about here?” Sadly, most of his land faced the wrong way and had already been covered with expensive trees.We got pretty drunk. Apparently satisfied with my character and conviction, he told me that he was not the owner of the land next door. But he would put me in touch with him, a Mr. Sure.
2 weeks later I was back at Mr. Hsiao's place to meet Mr. Eddie Sure. We sat and drank extensively while they told me the long history of the Heart of Taiwan. “You know the actual center point is not down there. It is here on THIS land. But because the government cannot buy the land from me, they put the marker down below.“
“The property is hard to do anything with right now because there is a running court battle about who shall pay for the cost of the road. The township wants us to pay 20 million ...”
“ not only that, more.”
“ Yes, more for the road. But we have a right to have the road built.“
“ The problem is that the previous mayor, the father of the current mayor, wanted this land. And there has been a family feud for nearly 2 decades. “
“ I see.“ I was pretty drunk, and trying to follow the convolutions and intrigue as they spilled faster than the whiskey.
I showed him a 12 page proposal for developing his property. I pulled out the land office maps of his property.” Whah! Where did you get that?”
The land office. “
“ Hahaha, pretty resourceful for a foreigner. Make a copy for me, OK?”
“Sure.”
He claimed that he only wanted to sell the property and didn't want to sink a lot of money into it.
“Well,” I declared, “developing it will make it that much more marketable, don't you think?”
“ Yes, I agree. So, what do you propose?”
“ I'm looking for a place where I can open the perfect take off zone, flight park, modeled after the European and American systems, completely operated by the local pilots. You see, there is no money in paragliding but there is money in the collateral businesses, cafe, souvenirs, food service, etc. I believe that these opportunities should go to the local pilots so that they are not exploited by the commercial sector. Let the pilots run the concession stands, food, drink, souvenirs. Also, some of the profits can go to upgrading equipment and safety. There have been far too many injuries and fatalities in the sport. One problem is the selection and management. I believe that this project can be a first step toward resolving the systemic problems in the sport. We need to change our attitudes.
“So, you propose to work with the Nantou Paragliding club?”
“I hope so, yes.”
“Well, I admire your concern for the pilot. But you must remember business is business. The local pilots and I have had a long time of conflict.”
“How is that?”
“They feel that they have a right to use my land. Once, years ago I put in a fence around the property. And that one coach came yelling at me. 'You can't do that,' and that the fence would tear their gliders. His tone was no respect. He barked at me like a mad dog. Then, they cut down my fence.”
“Later I planted trees on the property. They went up there with 4WD trucks and pushed over all the trees I had planted. This is my land. I have a right to do what I want with it. If they came to me politely and had a discussion like gentlemen, like we are, now, we can do anything.“
“I see.” I saw a can of worms opening up. So, I will have to deal with animosity from the Nantou club and from the city government, namely the mayor. Whoah, boy.
“ So, don't expect any cooperation from them.” I got the suspicion that I was being used as a front to do some probing into the local socio-political climate.
“ Well, when you do sell it, give me 3 percent of the sale price. “
“And, rent the land to me for 10 years, at a symbolic price. I will be caretaker and oversee the development. You will provide the seed money to open small business from which we will recycle the profits for the development. We will make the land available to Puli residents. Hopefully the pilots will take advantage of this. This way the pilots can benefit from the collateral sales.”
“OK. Come to my office and have my lawyer draw up the contract.”
“Where is your office?”
“Nanking Road, Taipei.”
I shook hands, smiled and turned to go .
“Hey, Ma Tai -i, remember Business is business.”
“Right”
I spent a long day in his office hammering out the contract with his lovely legal secretary. He was agreeable to all of my terms and conditions.
“Come to my house in DaKeng, Taichung tomorrow and we'll sign the contracts. “
“O.K. See you there. “
I had breakfast with Patrick on the way to Eddies House, who was kind enough to remind me,“Be careful. You now how contracts can be in Taiwan. What they hide is more interesting than what they reveal.”
“Well, as long as it covers my ass. I hate this part. You gotta bring chapstick and knee pads.”
“Just watch out when the rubber gloves and KY Jelly come out.”
I drove a scooter out to Eddie's, the highest house on the hill surrounded by smaller houses of the same project.
I met Eddie's family, signed the documents, had coffee and prepared to leave.
Eddie's parting words, “Just remember, business is business. And, I have something for you. Maybe you can use this on the work site.“
He handed me a large paper bag. Thanking him, I put it in the bike and didn't give it a thought.
When I got back to lunch with Patrick that same afternoon, I told him all about it. “ Oh, wait he gave me something. Let me see.” I pulled out the bag, opened it up and burst out laughing.
Patrick looked in and roared. Inside the bag were 2 large boxes of surgical gloves.
“What, no KY jelly?!?!”
“Business is business.”
After flying close to the ground for some time at Tigerhead mountain on the long slope, I decided that it would make a good take off zone. At the land office in Puli obtaining the title for the land was futile.
Back on the mountain top, the neighboring piece of land was being cultivated. I approached a man on a backhoe.
“Good afternoon, are you the landowner?”
“Yo dzema shr? ( What do you want?)“ , he parried.
I handed him my business card, “Please give this to the landowner. Maybe I can help him develop for tourism.”
A month later I received a phone call from a Mr. Hsiao who invited me to tea. I had been warned by local residents about Mr. Hsiao being a ruthless businessman. We chatted at length about the mountain, community, paragliding and life in general. He gave me the walking tour of his property,”Can you take off here? How about here?” Sadly, most of his land faced the wrong way and had already been covered with expensive trees.We got pretty drunk. Apparently satisfied with my character and conviction, he told me that he was not the owner of the land next door. But he would put me in touch with him, a Mr. Sure.
2 weeks later I was back at Mr. Hsiao's place to meet Mr. Eddie Sure. We sat and drank extensively while they told me the long history of the Heart of Taiwan. “You know the actual center point is not down there. It is here on THIS land. But because the government cannot buy the land from me, they put the marker down below.“
“The property is hard to do anything with right now because there is a running court battle about who shall pay for the cost of the road. The township wants us to pay 20 million ...”
“ not only that, more.”
“ Yes, more for the road. But we have a right to have the road built.“
“ The problem is that the previous mayor, the father of the current mayor, wanted this land. And there has been a family feud for nearly 2 decades. “
“ I see.“ I was pretty drunk, and trying to follow the convolutions and intrigue as they spilled faster than the whiskey.
I showed him a 12 page proposal for developing his property. I pulled out the land office maps of his property.” Whah! Where did you get that?”
The land office. “
“ Hahaha, pretty resourceful for a foreigner. Make a copy for me, OK?”
“Sure.”
He claimed that he only wanted to sell the property and didn't want to sink a lot of money into it.
“Well,” I declared, “developing it will make it that much more marketable, don't you think?”
“ Yes, I agree. So, what do you propose?”
“ I'm looking for a place where I can open the perfect take off zone, flight park, modeled after the European and American systems, completely operated by the local pilots. You see, there is no money in paragliding but there is money in the collateral businesses, cafe, souvenirs, food service, etc. I believe that these opportunities should go to the local pilots so that they are not exploited by the commercial sector. Let the pilots run the concession stands, food, drink, souvenirs. Also, some of the profits can go to upgrading equipment and safety. There have been far too many injuries and fatalities in the sport. One problem is the selection and management. I believe that this project can be a first step toward resolving the systemic problems in the sport. We need to change our attitudes.
“So, you propose to work with the Nantou Paragliding club?”
“I hope so, yes.”
“Well, I admire your concern for the pilot. But you must remember business is business. The local pilots and I have had a long time of conflict.”
“How is that?”
“They feel that they have a right to use my land. Once, years ago I put in a fence around the property. And that one coach came yelling at me. 'You can't do that,' and that the fence would tear their gliders. His tone was no respect. He barked at me like a mad dog. Then, they cut down my fence.”
“Later I planted trees on the property. They went up there with 4WD trucks and pushed over all the trees I had planted. This is my land. I have a right to do what I want with it. If they came to me politely and had a discussion like gentlemen, like we are, now, we can do anything.“
“I see.” I saw a can of worms opening up. So, I will have to deal with animosity from the Nantou club and from the city government, namely the mayor. Whoah, boy.
“ So, don't expect any cooperation from them.” I got the suspicion that I was being used as a front to do some probing into the local socio-political climate.
“ Well, when you do sell it, give me 3 percent of the sale price. “
“And, rent the land to me for 10 years, at a symbolic price. I will be caretaker and oversee the development. You will provide the seed money to open small business from which we will recycle the profits for the development. We will make the land available to Puli residents. Hopefully the pilots will take advantage of this. This way the pilots can benefit from the collateral sales.”
“OK. Come to my office and have my lawyer draw up the contract.”
“Where is your office?”
“Nanking Road, Taipei.”
I shook hands, smiled and turned to go .
“Hey, Ma Tai -i, remember Business is business.”
“Right”
I spent a long day in his office hammering out the contract with his lovely legal secretary. He was agreeable to all of my terms and conditions.
“Come to my house in DaKeng, Taichung tomorrow and we'll sign the contracts. “
“O.K. See you there. “
I had breakfast with Patrick on the way to Eddies House, who was kind enough to remind me,“Be careful. You now how contracts can be in Taiwan. What they hide is more interesting than what they reveal.”
“Well, as long as it covers my ass. I hate this part. You gotta bring chapstick and knee pads.”
“Just watch out when the rubber gloves and KY Jelly come out.”
I drove a scooter out to Eddie's, the highest house on the hill surrounded by smaller houses of the same project.
I met Eddie's family, signed the documents, had coffee and prepared to leave.
Eddie's parting words, “Just remember, business is business. And, I have something for you. Maybe you can use this on the work site.“
He handed me a large paper bag. Thanking him, I put it in the bike and didn't give it a thought.
When I got back to lunch with Patrick that same afternoon, I told him all about it. “ Oh, wait he gave me something. Let me see.” I pulled out the bag, opened it up and burst out laughing.
Patrick looked in and roared. Inside the bag were 2 large boxes of surgical gloves.
“What, no KY jelly?!?!”
“Business is business.”
Friday, April 15, 2011
War of the lotus - by Ma Tai-i 1987, Kaohsiung
1987, Kaohsiung
War of the lotus - by Ma Tai-i
Having recently moved to Kaohsiung, into what was known among foreigners as the MTV building overlooking the park, I became increasingly curious about the various events in both locations.
I took a short cut through the indoor stadium which was unusually elaborately decorated, like the inside of a temple. All the gods were there. Buddha, Ma Dzu Shou Xing (寿星 , Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝) and a wholly host of frightful looking demons with big eyes and beards. It didn't occur to me that with long brown hair, a full face beard, in fact the only beard besides the idols, I might have fit right in.
The seating faced a stage like a performance center. The crowd was mostly older people, agrarian type, not the usual city rabble, and people with far too many tattoos. I walked up the aisle and asked one who looked reasonably educated hoping that he spoke English. “ Excuse me sir, what religion is this activity?”
All eyes were upon us. What's this foreigner doing at this activity? He looks like Jesus.
He stammered in English,” Confucius.”
2 seats away another man countered,” Buddha”
And another, interjected with all too familiar vulgar expressions, “$@#%@#@ Madzu!”
Others rose up and offered less than polite corrections.
I was reminded of a barroom arguing about the football teams and I got the hell out of there as the noise levels rose too high.
War of the lotus - by Ma Tai-i
Having recently moved to Kaohsiung, into what was known among foreigners as the MTV building overlooking the park, I became increasingly curious about the various events in both locations.
I took a short cut through the indoor stadium which was unusually elaborately decorated, like the inside of a temple. All the gods were there. Buddha, Ma Dzu Shou Xing (寿星 , Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝) and a wholly host of frightful looking demons with big eyes and beards. It didn't occur to me that with long brown hair, a full face beard, in fact the only beard besides the idols, I might have fit right in.
The seating faced a stage like a performance center. The crowd was mostly older people, agrarian type, not the usual city rabble, and people with far too many tattoos. I walked up the aisle and asked one who looked reasonably educated hoping that he spoke English. “ Excuse me sir, what religion is this activity?”
All eyes were upon us. What's this foreigner doing at this activity? He looks like Jesus.
He stammered in English,” Confucius.”
2 seats away another man countered,” Buddha”
And another, interjected with all too familiar vulgar expressions, “$@#%@#@ Madzu!”
Others rose up and offered less than polite corrections.
I was reminded of a barroom arguing about the football teams and I got the hell out of there as the noise levels rose too high.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Good Neighbors 2003 Taitung
Good Neighbors 2003 Taitung
Living in the Carp Mountain village in Taitung was almost idyllic. The entire neighborhood was occupied by people who owned their home. So, everybody was committed to long term relationships. Nobody openly defied the 'residential neighborhood ' designation by running a small factory in their house. The residents were all educated, government employees, public school teachers or owned their own business. Except for the gossip mongers, there was only one drawback. On the corner across from my house w as a unkempt house with newspaper taped to the windows. The residents were unemployed, gathered recyclables for sustenance. From the house early in the morning a rooster crowed. Late at night was the sound of Majong tiles rattling, breaking glass, fighting, swearing, screaming. And “ Peiwon, you stupid thing. You will ever amount to anything! Ah Ching, discipline your child or I'll do it for you.” followed by a sharp WHACK and a small creature wailing.
Two doors down from there was a companion house of pretty much the same description but without so much violence. This was the home of a large tattooed fellow whom I came to know, as “Huh-ma”, Hippopotamus.
The house in between them belong to my dear friend Michael Yi, his wife Rose and their lively inventive son, Kyle. Rose had been a school teacher, her father a school principal. She had kindly referred many students to our small house school. Michael and I were always sharing tools and parts for DIY projects.
Ah Ching lived with his mother, his daughter, and his sister who soon moved out, and his brother who was worn out and burned out from drugs and drug rehabilitation. Ah Ching's wife had left him a few weeks after Peiwon was born.
Ah Ching and Huh-ma were good friends from school years and continued in the mischievous pattern that had developed then. When I asked the neighbors about these social misfits, I was told lurid tales of drug addiction, alcohol, crime and gangs.
It was the hardest thing for me to sleep at night with the noise. It was even harder to hear them hit the little girl. Between the Majong all night and the rooster at 5 am, I was losing sleep. And, I feared that it would affect my own children.
I went to the neighbors, one by one and asked what could be done. They all gave me the standard Taiwan answer that we hear all to often,” Mayo Ban-fa!” Nothing can be done. Impossible!
I had a good mind to go over and tell them to shut the hell up. I wanted to tell them that they were going to raise that girl to be a hell child, that they would do well to sell their house(s) and move to a neighborhood more conducive to their lifestyle.
I prayed.
On my roof one night, amidst the night noise, I had a chat with God. “ Look, if there is anything that I can do to help remedy this situation to help them to raise their child better, to stop drinking, to get work, to be more considerate, by all means let me know and I will do it.
I started walking on their side of the street,” Ni how!” Hello. Good morning. Good afternoon. I looked for a chance to bum a smoke, to borrow hand tools. And gradually I built a simple greeting relationship.
I sat around their house and had a beer. I taught Peiwon how to write, how to ride a bicycle, how to find programs other than horror films and bad Chinese romance on TV; Telli tubbies, Captain Planet, National Geographic and such. I know that it piqued the Granny that I was changing her favorite program but she quickly got with the program.
“Hey, Peiwon, my TV is broken and it's time for my favorite program can I watch your TV?” As I took the remote from Granny and switched to Cartoon Network or Disney.
Peiwon would take a small tea cup from the Chinese tea set on the table and pour a cup for me which triggered Granny to bark, “ Peiwon! I told you don't touch that!” and here came the whack.
And just before it did, I said, “ Well, thank you Peiwon, You are the perfect little hostess. You are so polite.“ as I pulled her out of harms way.
I knew that I was really overstepping the boundaries of propriety here. But if I was gonna make the change, it would require desperate and novel tactics. I knew that as a Taiwanese I would never get away with this. My foreigner status gave me carte blanche.
My big break came when I had to install an a/c unit in one of the classrooms. It wasn't really too heavy for me. But sometimes there is more to be gained in feigning inferiority than in asserting superiority. I trudged over to Huh-ma's house, dirty and sweaty .” Can you help me move my a/c unit?
“ Sure. “ Huh-ma was a mountain of a man. And he looked fierce with all those tattoos. But he was gentle as a kitten.
I could see an expression of fear creep over Kat's face as I led the sweaty big fella up the stairs to the second floor. I could read the thoughts in her head, 'Is he gonna case the house so he can rob us when we are not home? Why are you bringing this lug into our house?'
I can't imagine what the other neighbors thought when they saw me going about with these guys. It was an important step in building. Just how much building we would later find out.
I tried to explain to Granny that she needed to be more encouraging and rewarding to Peiwon rather than constantly punishing and criticizing. Try to find something to reward her for every day. Anything. I used a little balance scale for a model. One one side put I rewards. On the other side I put punishments. At the end of the day, which way will the scale tip? I explained to her how the child will become what Granny says that she is. So, if Granny says that he is stupid, she is likely to become stupid. If Granny says that she is smart, then Peiwon would become smart.
It took some time, but after a couple of months of modeling and gentle leading, Granny changed her tone of voice when speaking to Peiwon. She whacked her less often. Some of my fondest memories of life in that neighbor hood were there in Ah Ching and Peiwon's house.
After a time, quite naturally, Ah Ching and his next door neighbor Michael began to chat, share tools and stories.
The time came for us to buy a house. It was a mess. It was across the street from Ah Ching. It had not been cleaned in decades. It needed a complete remodeling inside and out and had to be done on a budget.
I had to do it myself and I had to find a work crew. I asked Ah Ching and Huh-ma to work with me one day , just to try them out. They did a good days work. Ah Ching had experience in every aspect of construction. He had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve. Huh-ma was a good muscle man. So, Ah Ching handled the more delicate tasks, laying cable, mixing and setting cement, while Huh-ma worked along side him to do the more laborious tasks, carry the bags upstairs, pull the cable through the conduit. We worked together for a good 4 months, peeling the tile from the inside and outside of the house, knocking out the bathrooms completely and rebuilding them at new locations, tearing out walls, cutting holes for bigger windows. It was very satisfying work. Peiwon, now 6 years old, would bring tea, cigarettes, betel-nut and Whis-bih for her father, her boney little legs and shorts that hung too loose, slippers that couldn't stay on her feet, round face and big ears, she was a little work site imp.
The job site was always alight with music, laughter and joy. At times I wished it would never end. But it did. The screaming and fighting diminished . The drinking tapered off. The rooster never stopped crowing . The sound of the Majong tiles never fully ceased. But it was whole lot easier to live with. And when each of us looked across the street we could say, look what I helped build.
Living in the Carp Mountain village in Taitung was almost idyllic. The entire neighborhood was occupied by people who owned their home. So, everybody was committed to long term relationships. Nobody openly defied the 'residential neighborhood ' designation by running a small factory in their house. The residents were all educated, government employees, public school teachers or owned their own business. Except for the gossip mongers, there was only one drawback. On the corner across from my house w as a unkempt house with newspaper taped to the windows. The residents were unemployed, gathered recyclables for sustenance. From the house early in the morning a rooster crowed. Late at night was the sound of Majong tiles rattling, breaking glass, fighting, swearing, screaming. And “ Peiwon, you stupid thing. You will ever amount to anything! Ah Ching, discipline your child or I'll do it for you.” followed by a sharp WHACK and a small creature wailing.
Two doors down from there was a companion house of pretty much the same description but without so much violence. This was the home of a large tattooed fellow whom I came to know, as “Huh-ma”, Hippopotamus.
The house in between them belong to my dear friend Michael Yi, his wife Rose and their lively inventive son, Kyle. Rose had been a school teacher, her father a school principal. She had kindly referred many students to our small house school. Michael and I were always sharing tools and parts for DIY projects.
Ah Ching lived with his mother, his daughter, and his sister who soon moved out, and his brother who was worn out and burned out from drugs and drug rehabilitation. Ah Ching's wife had left him a few weeks after Peiwon was born.
Ah Ching and Huh-ma were good friends from school years and continued in the mischievous pattern that had developed then. When I asked the neighbors about these social misfits, I was told lurid tales of drug addiction, alcohol, crime and gangs.
It was the hardest thing for me to sleep at night with the noise. It was even harder to hear them hit the little girl. Between the Majong all night and the rooster at 5 am, I was losing sleep. And, I feared that it would affect my own children.
I went to the neighbors, one by one and asked what could be done. They all gave me the standard Taiwan answer that we hear all to often,” Mayo Ban-fa!” Nothing can be done. Impossible!
I had a good mind to go over and tell them to shut the hell up. I wanted to tell them that they were going to raise that girl to be a hell child, that they would do well to sell their house(s) and move to a neighborhood more conducive to their lifestyle.
I prayed.
On my roof one night, amidst the night noise, I had a chat with God. “ Look, if there is anything that I can do to help remedy this situation to help them to raise their child better, to stop drinking, to get work, to be more considerate, by all means let me know and I will do it.
I started walking on their side of the street,” Ni how!” Hello. Good morning. Good afternoon. I looked for a chance to bum a smoke, to borrow hand tools. And gradually I built a simple greeting relationship.
I sat around their house and had a beer. I taught Peiwon how to write, how to ride a bicycle, how to find programs other than horror films and bad Chinese romance on TV; Telli tubbies, Captain Planet, National Geographic and such. I know that it piqued the Granny that I was changing her favorite program but she quickly got with the program.
“Hey, Peiwon, my TV is broken and it's time for my favorite program can I watch your TV?” As I took the remote from Granny and switched to Cartoon Network or Disney.
Peiwon would take a small tea cup from the Chinese tea set on the table and pour a cup for me which triggered Granny to bark, “ Peiwon! I told you don't touch that!” and here came the whack.
And just before it did, I said, “ Well, thank you Peiwon, You are the perfect little hostess. You are so polite.“ as I pulled her out of harms way.
I knew that I was really overstepping the boundaries of propriety here. But if I was gonna make the change, it would require desperate and novel tactics. I knew that as a Taiwanese I would never get away with this. My foreigner status gave me carte blanche.
My big break came when I had to install an a/c unit in one of the classrooms. It wasn't really too heavy for me. But sometimes there is more to be gained in feigning inferiority than in asserting superiority. I trudged over to Huh-ma's house, dirty and sweaty .” Can you help me move my a/c unit?
“ Sure. “ Huh-ma was a mountain of a man. And he looked fierce with all those tattoos. But he was gentle as a kitten.
I could see an expression of fear creep over Kat's face as I led the sweaty big fella up the stairs to the second floor. I could read the thoughts in her head, 'Is he gonna case the house so he can rob us when we are not home? Why are you bringing this lug into our house?'
I can't imagine what the other neighbors thought when they saw me going about with these guys. It was an important step in building. Just how much building we would later find out.
I tried to explain to Granny that she needed to be more encouraging and rewarding to Peiwon rather than constantly punishing and criticizing. Try to find something to reward her for every day. Anything. I used a little balance scale for a model. One one side put I rewards. On the other side I put punishments. At the end of the day, which way will the scale tip? I explained to her how the child will become what Granny says that she is. So, if Granny says that he is stupid, she is likely to become stupid. If Granny says that she is smart, then Peiwon would become smart.
It took some time, but after a couple of months of modeling and gentle leading, Granny changed her tone of voice when speaking to Peiwon. She whacked her less often. Some of my fondest memories of life in that neighbor hood were there in Ah Ching and Peiwon's house.
After a time, quite naturally, Ah Ching and his next door neighbor Michael began to chat, share tools and stories.
The time came for us to buy a house. It was a mess. It was across the street from Ah Ching. It had not been cleaned in decades. It needed a complete remodeling inside and out and had to be done on a budget.
I had to do it myself and I had to find a work crew. I asked Ah Ching and Huh-ma to work with me one day , just to try them out. They did a good days work. Ah Ching had experience in every aspect of construction. He had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve. Huh-ma was a good muscle man. So, Ah Ching handled the more delicate tasks, laying cable, mixing and setting cement, while Huh-ma worked along side him to do the more laborious tasks, carry the bags upstairs, pull the cable through the conduit. We worked together for a good 4 months, peeling the tile from the inside and outside of the house, knocking out the bathrooms completely and rebuilding them at new locations, tearing out walls, cutting holes for bigger windows. It was very satisfying work. Peiwon, now 6 years old, would bring tea, cigarettes, betel-nut and Whis-bih for her father, her boney little legs and shorts that hung too loose, slippers that couldn't stay on her feet, round face and big ears, she was a little work site imp.
The job site was always alight with music, laughter and joy. At times I wished it would never end. But it did. The screaming and fighting diminished . The drinking tapered off. The rooster never stopped crowing . The sound of the Majong tiles never fully ceased. But it was whole lot easier to live with. And when each of us looked across the street we could say, look what I helped build.
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