Fiction: Group 3
Gweilo
Yew Chung International School - Secondary, Tsui, Yik Ching - 14, Fiction: Group 3
Chapter one
ctober 1941
12 year-old Jamie Kershaw was almost content were it not because of his father's new job. His
father was a British medic on temporary leave from the army. However, taking holiday leaves
from the army of the biggest empire in the world, the empire on which the sun never sets, was not easy.
They were transported from London to a British Crown Colony in the Far East called Hong Kong. Even
there, his father was technically on active duty, so the King could call him to service at any time.
Jamie had fuzzy memories of his past; his father was all he had left. Father had told stories of the
past to him, about how Mother was from France and how they got together.
"Knowledge is power and ignorance is bliss," Father repeated countless times. However
contradicting it was, he was never able to fully understand it.
After some time, Jamie started to admire Hong Kong's ferry pier as much as the iconic Star Ferry,
which was definitely a star on its own, superior to London's aging paddle-steamers. The ferries and Chinese
junks dominated the ‘fragrant harbour’.
He lived on the mountain a bit removed from the city. Every day, he had to ride the peak tram to
the outside world and back home. His house overlooked the mountains of the island and the pale white dots
of the mainland.
Jamie's new life routinely progressed. He met various locals, some in pyramid and cone straw hats
and some in Chinese robes. There were yellow faces, yellow baskets; yellow everything.
Chinese signs, big and small, hung along the streets and silk banners were waved around. People
crossed the streets after waiting for the cars to pass, while hooded rickshaws were manned and passengers
carried around.
But the strangest of all was that he heard them talking about the foreigners, including him, and
pointing fingers towards him, muttering comments in their dialect. Wherever he tread, he formed an
invisible circle where no-one would walk in, as if the crowd was avoiding him. Sometimes, parents or
maids grabbed their children and carried them away when he came too close, or the children instinctually
ran away upon first sight of him. The word they kept using was ‘Gweilo.’ Jamie had no idea what that
meant.
Chapter two
15 November 1941
Long ago, Jamie was brought to the hospital once, and only once, by his father.
Upon entering, while looking at a room full of wounded veterans, his father said, “Look at all those
suffering soldiers. No matter if they are ours or the enemy's, we should help them. That's why I became a
doctor.”
His father arrived home from his brief desk job in the Royal Hong Kong Regiment, interrupting
Jamie’s reminiscence. He was a blond, clean-looking man who briefly served in the Royal army before
becoming a medic.
"Things haven’t been very good in the last few days,"
"What's happening?"
He looked away uncomfortably and scratched his head, "Well, Japan took Guangdong last year ...
and our watchmen observed more and more mobilising at the Chinese border."
"So Japan wants Hong Kong?"
"Seems believable, we don't have many soldiers."
"Why won't Britain send more?" Jamie questioned
"We -they- are already at war with Germany, and they need the best equipment in Europe,"
Father added, "This place isn't a huge priority for them."
Jamie's diary
28 November, 1941
O
