从巴图卡加到斯喀

早年来英二三事

                                                                                                                  谢尤美娇

 

一九六二年，我以整一年工资向一意大利人购买船票，经一个月的海程从马来西亚抵伦敦。抵英后我注意到的第一件事就是英国人也做体力工作的。在马来西亚，英国人都是拿高薪做高官的。所以初次见到他们扫街或叫卖水果蔬菜时我真觉得有点奇怪。

 

正如其他六十年代的移民一样，我来英国也是为这个所谓充满机会之国度而来的（当然不是为其天气而来了）。作为护士，开始我并不觉得工作难找。反之，在马来西亚，找类似的工作要难多了。尽管那时我每星期的工资只有11英镑，但也能勉强维持生计。现在呢，不管你赚多少钱，总是觉得入不足出。

 

那时，移民与本土人的了解还不深，常有瞧不起我们的人。这些人往往给于少数民族不公之待遇。记得有一次我们要找房子，尽管双方已在电话上讲妥（我丈夫讲得一口地道英国口音），但当我们上门时，他们又改变了主意，拒绝出租。也许自放下电话赶上家门的那段时间里，那间房子真的被别人租去，但我们竟连听解释的机会也没给。

 

那个时候英国并没有这末多中国饭馆和外卖摊档，有些地方连一间也没有。那时中国人并不多，所以找中菜馆极不容易。连叉烧、芽菜、豆腐等中国食品也不易找。SAFEWAY或ASDA是唯一还可找到一点点中式杂物之处。但最终还是要去那条熟悉的GERRARD街 （现称唐人街）。不过邻近肉铺有时可以拾到店主扔掉的猪蹄、杂碎之类，拿回来做烫，或做炖焖等菜。

 

回想起来，我来此地一转眼已四十二年了，那时来英的目的是谋求新生活、高生活水平和好收入；但主要的还是寻求一个建立家庭的好环境。在一点上我算是做到了。

From Batu Gajah to Sidcup

 

My First Thoughts On England

                                                                                                            Maggy Chia

I arrived in London in1962, having handed over nearly a year’s wages to an Italian for the month long boat trip from Malaysia. The first thing I noticed when I got here was that English people too, had menial jobs. Back home, the expatriates would always have high pay jobs in high positions. So you can imagine, I wasn’t used to seeing them sweeping roads or selling fruit and vegetables in the market.

 

Like the other migrants arriving in the UK during the 1960s, I came to England, ’the land of opportunities’, for exactly that (and certainly not for the weather). Initially, starting out as a nurse, I found that work wasn’t hard to get. Back in Malaysia, you would have to fight hard to get a similar kind of job. And then even at £11 per week, this was quite enough to feed the mouth. Unlike today where no matter how much you earn, it always seems that you have nothing.

 

However, mutual understanding between immigrants and the host population was not on the menu. The pretty mask worn by this country snubbed us regularly, often displaying prejudices against the minority. I remember a time where my husband and I were looking for a place to stay. We were accepted over the phone (as my other half has quite an English accent) but as soon as we turned up at the door, we were turned away. Perhaps the place had gone to another couple in the hour or so it took to get there, but we weren’t in the position to kick up a fuss.

 

And as for Chinese restaurants or take-away shops, well, there weren’t many, or in some cases, any at all. I mean there were only a handful of Chinese people to start with, so asking for a flurry of restaurants was asking a little too much. This also meant that buying Chinese food, things like char siew, beansprouts or tofu, were all very difficult to get hold of. You couldn’t just pop down to Safeway’s or Asa and pick up all your Chinese necessaries. Invariably, a trip to the old favourite, Gerrard Street (China Town, for those not in the know) would be on the cards. However, from the local butcher’s, you sometimes could get trotters and pork ribs to make various stews, soups, or whatever, for free.

 

I came to this country 42 years ago to seek a new life, a better standard of living and improved earnings but more importantly, to start up a family in the best possible environment. This, I think, I have achieved.

 

 Translated by Cao Yuan