State of the Arts Episode 81: The Father's Day Special just published! This week I am joined by my mother Caroline Osborne as we pay homage to my grandfather Sing Leung Lam. His unsung heroism during World War II, his breathtaking talent for calligraphy, his dedication to his career as a corporate executive in the British shipping industry, his knack for captivating storytelling, his respectful consideration towards all human beings and his touching devotion to his family will forever be etched into our family's hearts. Going way back into his family history, he descended from a long line of high ranking Chinese military officers. His father, my great-grandfather Lam, was an engineer in Hong Kong who designed luxury ocean liners. His mother was a lovely heiress who sadly passed away when my grandfather was only four years old. Growing up around a father with such an exquisite talent for design, my grandfather quickly picked up the craft of calligraphy. Extremely intelligent in all subjects and boldly artistic, he excelled in school. Right before World War II broke out, he graduated from Kings College with a degree in education. With a compassionate heart, he happily accepted a position as a teacher in an orphanage. This was where he met my grandmother, who was also a teacher there. During World War II, my grandparents fled with their orphan students, escaping the Japanese Imperial Army, one step at a time. They hid on mountains, in small towns and in the wilderness of mainland China. Kind-hearted locals provided them with food. There were some frightening close-calls. But, my grandparents managed to keep all of the children in their care alive and safe. At one point when my grandfather knew that his co-workers and his students were in an extremely safe location. So, he left them briefly to rush to a family matter. He received word that his stepmother, out of desperation, fear of the enemy and of starvation, made the horrific choice of selling his two sisters as child brides. Immediately he hurried to the farming village where they were forced to go to wed their much older husbands. On the way towards his rescue mission, he was kidnapped by Imperial soldiers and forced into excruciating manual labor for three days. In the darkness of a fateful evening, he managed to bribe a greedy soldier with his expensive watch to gain his freedom. Ultimately he reached his two enslaved sisters and snuck them away from their abusers. In two giant wicker baskets he smuggled the young girls out of the farming village to safety. He was eager to rejoin his coworkers and students. At one point an Imperial plane flew over his head. He had two possible places to take cover. In a split-second decision, he dove into one of them. The location he did not choose was the one that was bombed. After all this turmoil, terror and sheer hell-on-earth was over, he proposed to his courageous colleague, my grandmother Pak Sau Lam. Thoroughly impressed with him, a British shipping company, of both cruise and cargo ships, offered him a position in management. He ascended to be the highest ranking Chinese senior executive in the entire company. By the time he was retired many of his sons and daughters had moved to the United States. He and my grandmother joined them eventually. I'll never forget the outrageous stories he told of mystical creatures from Chinese folklore. I can still recite an ancient Chinese poem he taught me and sing the chorus from classic Chinese songs. When I have to multiply something I can only do it in Cantonese. He played two spoons as instruments while he sang the times table to help me learn. He set a great example. He would treat a custodian with the same respect he would treat a CEO. He imparted to me the value of believing in myself. Courageous, caring, organized, intelligent, patient, wise, resilient and encouraging. My hero, my role model. My grandfather.
