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Chinese Cinderella - Me

Adeline is called home from boarding school by her father. She is filled with dread, wondering what she has done wrong. Her father proudly tells her that she has won first prize in an international writing competition, bringing him honor. Adeline is overjoyed, hoping this will gain her father's approval. However, when she asks to study literature in England, her father refuses, saying she will starve as a writer. Instead, he decides she will study medicine and become an obstetrician, having already planned out her career without her input. Adeline reluctantly agrees to please her father.

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862 views2 pages

Chinese Cinderella - Me

Adeline is called home from boarding school by her father. She is filled with dread, wondering what she has done wrong. Her father proudly tells her that she has won first prize in an international writing competition, bringing him honor. Adeline is overjoyed, hoping this will gain her father's approval. However, when she asks to study literature in England, her father refuses, saying she will starve as a writer. Instead, he decides she will study medicine and become an obstetrician, having already planned out her career without her input. Adeline reluctantly agrees to please her father.

Uploaded by

api-298120057
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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From Chinese Cinderella

Growing up in a wealthy family in 1950s Hong Kong, Adeline Yen Mah should have had
an enviable childhood, but she was rejected by her dominating stepmother and despised
by her brothers and sisters. She was sent to a boarding school and left there. In this
extract from her autobiography she relates one of the few occasions when she went
home.
Time went by relentlessly and it was Saturday again. Eight weeks more and it would be
the end of termin my case perhaps the end of school forever. Four of us were playing
Monopoly. My heart was not in it and I was losing steadily. Outside it was hot and there
was a warm wind blowing. The radio warned of a possible typhoon the next day. It was
my turn and I threw the dice. As I played, the thought of leaving school throbbed at the
back of my mind like a persistent toothache.
Adeline! Ma-mien Valentino was calling.
You cant go now, Mary protested. For once Im winning. One, two, three, four. Good!
Youve landed on my property. Thirty-five dollars, please. Oh, good afternoon, Mother
Valentino!
We all stood up and greeted her.
Adeline, didnt you hear me call you? Hurry up downstairs! Your chauffeur is waiting to
take you home!
Full of foreboding, I ran downstairs as in a nightmare, wondering who had died this time.
Fathers chauffeur assured me everyone was healthy.
Then why are you taking me home? I asked.
How should I know? he answered defensively, shrugging his shoulders. Your guess is
as good as mine. They give me the orders and I carry them out.
During the short drive home, my heart was full of dread and I wondered what I had done
wrong. Our car stopped at an elegant villa at mid-level, halfway up the hill between the
peak and the harbour.
Where are we? I asked foolishly.
Dont you know anything? the chauffeur replied rudely. This is your new home. Your
parents moved here a few months ago.
I had forgotten, I said as I got out.
Ah Gum opened the door. Inside it was quiet and cool.
Where is everyone?
Your mother is out playing bridge. Your two brothers and Little sister are sunbathing by
the swimming-pool. Your father is in his room and wants to see you as soon as you get
home.
See me in his room? I was overwhelmed by the thought that I had been summoned by
father to enter the Holy of Holies a place to which I had never been invited. Why?
Timidly, I knocked on the door. Father was alone, looking relaxed in his slippers and
bathrobe, reading a newspaper. He smiled as I entered and I saw he was in a happy
mood. I breathed a small sigh of relief at first but became uneasy when I wondered why
he was being so nice, thinking, Is this a giant ruse on his part to trick me? Dare I let my
guard down?
Sit down! Sit down! He pointed to a chair. Dont look so scared. Here, take a look at
this! Theyre writing about someone we both know, I think.
He handed me the days newspaper and there, in one corner, I saw my name ADELINE
YEN in capital letters prominently displayed.
It was announced today that 14-year old ADELINE JUN-LING YEN of Sacred Heart
Canossian School, Caine Road, Hong Kong, has won first prize in the international Play-

Comment [K1]: Education is valued


- she doesnt want school to end
reinforced by all the time words
Comment [K2]: Sense of despair,
also foreboding to create tension
Comment [K3]: Sense of despair
emphasised by short factual
sentences and tone of certainty
hopelessness - the communal game
shows that life is just happening
around her with no involvement
Comment [K4]: Pathetic fallacy
Comment [K5]: Physical pain
haunting and constantly nagging
Comment [K6]: The fact that Mary
wasnt mentioned shows how
unimportant the game is and how
isolated Adeline is
Comment [K7]: Tension built up
unexpected interruption
Comment [K8]: Cold, unemotional
relationship short sentences,
uncaring / offended tone foreshadows
relationship with the father

Comment [K9]: Is this because she


is so nervous
Comment [K10]: Foreshadows the
poor relationship lack of love
Comment [K11]: Solitary activities

Comment [K12]: Sacred, never


entered shows awe and a certain
kind of distance
Comment [K13]: Short sentences
and lots of energetic punctuation
attempt to create tension
Comment [K14]: Tension eased
but the sensitivity to these things
suggests their relationship is not
usually good and she is often afraid
Comment [K15]: Shows the level of
mistrust that exists between them
Comment [K16]: Double imperative
Comment [K17]: False attempt to
be inclusive

writing Competition held in London, England, for the 1951-52 school year. It is the first
time that any local Chinese student from Hong Kong has won such a prestigious event.
Besides a medal, the prize comes with a cash reward of FIFTY ENGLISH POUNDS. Our
sincere congratulations, ADELINE YEN, for bringing honour to Hong Kong. We are
proud of you.
Is it possible? Am I dreaming? Me, the winner?
I was going up the lift this morning with my friend C.Y. Tung when he showed me this
article and asked me, Is the winner Adeline Jun-Ling Yen related to you?
The two of you have the same uncommon last name. Now C.Y. himself has a few
children about your age but so far none of them has won an international literary prize,
as far as I know. So I was quite pleased to tell him that you are my daughter. Well done!
He looked radiant. For once, he was proud of me. In front of his revered colleague, C.Y.
Tung, a prominent fellow businessman also from Shanghai, I had given him face. I
thought, Is this the big moment I have been waiting for? My whole being vibrated with all
the joy in the world. I only had to stretch out my hand to reach the stars.
Tell me, how did you do it? he continued. How come you won?
Well, the rules and regulations were so very complicated. One really has to be
dedicated just to understand what they really want. Perhaps I was the only one
determined enough to enter and there were no other competitors!
He laughed approvingly. I doubt it very much but thats a good answer.
Please, Father, I asked boldly, thinking it was now or never. May I go to university in
England too, just like my brothers?
I do believe you have potential. Tell me, what would you study?
My heart gave a giant lurch as it dawned on me that he was agreeing to let me go. How
marvellous it was simply to be alive! Study? I thought. Going to England is like entering
heaven. Does it matter what you do after you go to heaven?
But Father was expecting an answer. What about creative writing? After all, I had just
won first prize in an international writing competition!
I plan to study literature. Ill be a writer.
Writer! he scoffed. You are going to starve! What language are you going to write in
and who is going to read your writing? Though you may think youre an expert in both
Chinese and English, your Chinese is actually rather elementary. As for your English,
dont you think the native English speakers can write better than you?
I waited in silence. I did not wish to contradict him.
You will go to England with Third Brother this summer and you will go to medical school.
After you graduate, you will specialise in obstetrics. Women will always be having
babies. Women patients prefer women doctors. You will learn to deliver their babies.
Thats a foolproof profession for you. Dont you agree?
Agree? Of course I agreed. Apparently, he had it all planned out. As long as he let me
go to university in England, I would study anything he wished. How did that line go in
Wordsworths poem? Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive.
Father I shall go to medical school in England and become a doctor. Thank you very,
very much.

Adeline Yen Mah

Comment [K18]: Importance of


honour and face
Comment [K19]: Short sentences
and short punctuation create a sense
of excitement transition from
tension to release and excitement.
Also a sense of isolation how did
she not know she had won / how
come she didnt tell her family she
entered the competition
Comment [K20]: Lack of a close
relationship emphasised by the fact
that he is only pleased because she
gave him face
Comment [K21]: Hyperbole used to
show excitement combined with
questions
Comment [K22]: Sense of surprise,
but also he didnt know about it
Comment [K23]: Related to the
idea of face is the idea of humility
Comment [K24]: Sense that we are
seeing a rare side to her father
approvingly is interested because he
is not happy but pleased that she has
answered correctly even this
question was a test for her
Comment [K25]: No recognition of
her talend
Comment [K26]: Hyperbole and
questions show her bewilderment
Comment [K27]: This is his name
sign of respect, there is no sign of
ownership My Father
Comment [K28]: Sense of certainty
decisiveness, joy and expectation
Comment [K29]: Clearly he does
not care about her desires
Comment [K30]: Brutal criticism
factually delivered
Comment [K31]: Series of
imperatives, regardless of her desires
Comment [K32]: Not really a
question highlights how she has no
choice but to agree
Comment [K33]: Such a formal
ending, and thanks, even though its
not what she wants reinforces the
sense of control but also her
excitement

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