Fiction: Group 3
Home
Singapore International School, Hong Kong (Sec), Ow, Grace - 13, Fiction: Group 3
Home
here do you come from?” I have been asked this question a lot lately, by teachers and
friends alike. My answer would be, “I’m from Singapore.” This is a natural answer. It has
never occurred to me that there was any other place. This was where I spent my whole
life. This was-is still-my
home
.
Recently, my English teacher asked us to research our family trees. I found out that my family was from
Guangdong Province in China, in the heart of the Pearl River Delta. This is where my story begins.
The Pearl River flows through Southern China, sharing a common delta with Xi Jiang (West River), Bei
Jiang (North River) and Dong Jiang (East River) named the Pearl River Delta. This is where my paternal
great-grandfather lived, and his parents and grandparents before that. I wonder how it was for him to leave
the Pearl River Delta, the place that symbolised familiarity and comfort, for a foreign country. He and his
siblings left Shunde in 1940 for a better life. They travelled southwards, some stopping in Hong Kong,
others in Singapore and Indonesia. They eventually settled down in their respective countries, and the future
generations-including me-were all born in these places. This was the story of many born in that generation.
I am born in Singapore, and have lived there for my whole life of twelve years. These are my roots, and so
are those. I am anchored in the soil of both Singapore and the Pearl River Delta. Singapore means to me
what the Pearl River Delta had meant to my ancestors: memories of my homeland, familiarity and comfort-
all intangible, irreplaceable things. These are my roots, where I live, my own personal past. The memories of
the Pearl River Delta are my historical roots. It is the place where my family history lies. My personal roots
are in Singapore.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about where my home is. Is it Singapore, the place I have lived my whole
life, or is it Hong Kong, my current place of residence? I think I have come to this conclusion: both
countries are my home.
Home
, it is not just a place of residence, it is more than that, it has a sense of
belonging, of memories, it is where you can be yourself. In a strange way, I have come back to a place not
far from where my ancestors left years ago, in the Pearl River Delta. I have come full circle.
I have already told you where the story began, and while writing this, I had no idea where it was going to
end. Somehow, I feel that there is no end. I will keep searching for this place called
home
, whether it is the
Pearl River Delta, or Singapore, or somewhere else. Maybe it’s not even a place. Maybe it’s a person, or
inside of me. I will have to keep finding myself, my comfort zone, where and when I can be myself. This is
my journey of self-discovery. And I don’t know much, but I do at least know this: there are so many places
in the world where I found joy, care and respect in my life. Not too far from here, right in the heart of the
Pearl River Delta, is the place where my ancestors found these things in their lives, and I have already found
it here, in Hong Kong.
So many people are lucky to even find one place they can call
home
. I have found many.
“W
