Pow Jun Kai is a cultural historian, producer and translator. His research interests lie in gender, media and technology in twentieth-century South East Asia. He is published in South East Asia Research, Transgender Studies Quarterly and Trans Asia Photography. His translation of Soon Ai Ling’s short stories are forthcoming in Chinese Literature and Thought Today and Quarterly Literary Review Singapore.
Lilac (1988) – Soon Ai Ling
If I were to see her again, I must keep her here!
The sun was setting as she walked me to the main road and sent me off. Orchard Road in Singapore was such a pretty street: multiple buildings with departmental stores; hotels interspersed among the thick shadows of tall trees; the purplish thin evening sky and its imminent darkness with a glimpse of sunlight. The street lights had yet to come on. Even though she had seen me getting onto the taxi she stood on the pavement and did not leave. The traffic light was on red and the vehicle was not moving. It was then when I noticed that she had on a turquoise belt hanging loosely on her waist over a goose yellow dress. She waved back at me sending me off with her gaze.
Her name is Lilac Yee. Her father is Yee Wenjue, a prolific master in jewelry design.
Ten years ago, my family used to run a jewelry business in Hong Kong. My father was addicted to gambling. We eventually went bankrupt and had to dismiss all of our employees. Yee Wenjue was then invited over to Singapore by Swee Heng Jewelry. As for my father, he became rather carefree–going for breakfast with a birdcage in hand, having a game of mahjong after lunch–all the while bragging about his glorious past.
I took over his brand and started all over again. Instead of real jewelry, I produced handmade jewelry. My brand name was Treasure Room.
Handmade jewelry relied on design and craftsmanship to attract customers. I therefore needed the best jewelry designers. I travelled from Hong Kong to Singapore this time around to find Yee Wenjue hoping that he would on account of our old ties lend me some support. But he declined. Obviously, why would he agree to making fake jewelry?
But I was not disappointed. I sat in his living room, staring blankly.
A while later, Yee became concerned and eventually brought out some designs, some of which piqued my interests.
These drawings were all imitations of the jewelry designs from each ancient Chinese dynasty, but they definitely did not belong to Yee’s personal style. He revealed, “these were created by Lilac. She was merely doing this for fun. She often liked to read books on ancient jewelry and so she drew these based on her own ideas. What do you think?”
“They look absolutely amazing. Where is she? I want to see her!”
After waiting for two whole hours, I finally got to meet her. She said, “Hello, Tang Shunzu.”
I proposed my ideas to her and immediately discussed her drawings with her. She stared at me with a smile in her eye and spoke without stopping, “The Dunhuang colors are most spectacular … Carving skills will definitely be popular once again and the images can be modelled after the antiquities … Transform the style of the hair pins and shape them into necklaces and bracelets … There must be a breakthrough in the cloisonné patterns. Look at this sample. We can attach stalks of lotus-like gardens on the golden cup using a series of colors: a red series, a purple series, or a blue series. Add a layer of colorful glaze and gold-plate the edges of the figures. The coloring must be done quickly and the craftsmanship must be meticulous … This is the headdress of an aristocratic woman from the Northern Zhou dynasty. I drew it out according to historical records. Don’t you think transforming it into a necklet would look great? … This earring belonged supposedly to Xie Ah Man, a court dancer from the Tang dynasty. We can just imitate it directly. What do you think?”
As I listened to her, I became perturbed. After idling for so many years, why did these inspirations appear only at this moment?
I told Lilac, “I want all of these pictures. I will sign a contract with you … I still have some decent master craftsmen in Hong Kong and they will definitely help me produce good results … I will definitely not rush through the job and seek quick success; I know art … I don’t have that much capital, but I have the budget to convert your designs into handmade jewelry… I have access to the markets in Japan and Europe and they are ordering the goods from me … These days, every girl is wearing accessories … How many people can afford to own branded jewelry? Except for the royalties or shipping tycoons, some of whom are also not wearing real ones … Our jewelry needs to have a prominent Oriental flavor. I want to make use of the jewelry advertising methods of the Western Europeans by recounting the history of jewelry in the East. It is akin to what you have told me. In the year 439 in the imperial courts of the Northern Zhou dynasty, there was a royalty with the surname Yu-Wen. His favorite concubine loved to wear this headwear that complemented her face in a classical and elegant manner, thereby becoming the court favorite her whole life … There will be a handmade jewelry exposition next year in Florence, Italy. I want to bring your jewelry designs to showcase.”
Later, she saw me off to the door and onto the car. I could not describe how she looked. As someone born with a silver spoon, I did not notice her ten years ago. She was still rather young as well. At our hasty meeting today, I also did not observe her closely. However, if I were to see her again, with or without make-up or in a dark corner, I would still recognize her. I am sure I can!
◊ ◊ ◊
When I brought the design portfolio back to the few master craftsmen in Hong Kong, especially Old Yu, they cried out aloud, “We have been imitating the foreigners these days. Why didn’t we turn around and look at our own national treasures? We are utterly useless. Useless! … What? These are designed by Old Yee’s daughter? The Yee family, their blood is thicker than ours! … The heavens cannot stop Treasure Room. I must produce all of these even if I were to grind until my eyes are both blind.”
The first batch of jewelry were manufactured. When the commercials were aired on television, they immediately became the rage in the market. The newspapers came to interview me. I knew the answers to some of their questions, but I did not reply. They probed, “these designs will sooner or later be copied by your competitors, how will you deal with it?” I flashed a smile without giving them an answer. I totally did not need to deal with this problem; experts can tell the difference.
“Your price is set in the range between the real and fake jewelry on the more expensive end. Will there be the possibility of a discount?” I had even wanted to increase the price instead.
“It is rumored that your designer is in Singapore. How do you send the design images to Hong Kong? Using a bodyguard?” Lilac used surface mail. Sometimes she only drew graphics on napkins that bear faint patterns.
“Where did your designer study? In addition to the ancient jewelry, does she know much about Chinese history? How old is your designer, more than half a century old?” God knows. She had only completed her secondary education and was 25 years old that year.
After receiving Lilac’s seventy-second blueprint, she stopped sending anything to me. I got very agitated. My father stared at me through the corners of his eyes and then walked away. I bore a certain hatred toward my father, toward Treasure Room, toward myself, feeling rather unhappy.
I wrote Lilac a few letters and finally received her reply. She had only written four words, “talent and devotion diminished”.
I showed the letter to my father, who was practicing calligraphy in the study room. Upon seeing it, he looked up and laughed out aloud. He then wrote another four words for me, “be satisfied and stop”.
I then became ashamed. What did I treat Lilac as? Damn it!
Father took out a few books from the bookshelf, including dramas, stories, legends and so on. I held up the dictionary and was surprised. My father said, “I see that many of Lilac’s drawings are derived from the texts of these dramas and stories written about the dressing of Madams and Misses … You shouldn’t underestimate this dictionary. Take a look at the entries on gold, silver, pearls and jades. Their explanations will be an eye-opener for you.”
Indeed, I flipped open the dictionary and checked the entry on “jade coin”: a beautiful, round piece of jade with wide sides and a small hole. I remembered Lilac had done a drawing in the form of a necklet. The pendant in the middle had broad sides and a small opening. With the lace passing smoothly through the aperture, the pendant was adorned with cloisonné patterns and Dunhuang vibrancy. It was round and big. When placed on the front of the neck and matched with a low-cut black dress, it appeared wild but pretty.
Then I checked the entry on “penannular jade ring”: like a ring but lacking; it is also a jade pendant, one with something lacking. I remembered Lilac had made a drawing, the style of which was the omission of a big slice. When Old Yu saw the picture, he took a while to grasp its meaning before creating a set of chain, bracelet, earrings and ring. Precisely because of the lack in one section, it appeared unique and novel.
I returned to my room and whispered to Lilac in the dark.
Comparing myself to my father, Yee Wenjue and even Lilac, I am the number one idiot.
Only then did I realize why Yee Wenjue, Old Yu and even Lilac had treated me so well. This was all because of my father. What virtue and capability do I have? Even the little accomplishments that I had were under the auspices of my father. Although he did not have anything left, his proud and upright demeanor as a jeweler remained. When I was young, I used to be oblivious to his career, thinking that it was outdated and short-lived. Therefore, I chose to study English literature. I did not care about him when he was on the decline. However he silently imbue me with the spirit rightful of a jewelry dynasty. No wonder he refused to pass the business on to others.
The next day, I approached Old Yu. I asked him a few questions because I was in Europe when my father sold the business. Old Yu said, “Yee Wenjue has been with your family for the longest time. You also know that he and your father are like brothers, one handling the designing and the other dealing with the marketing, creating a famous brand out of the Treasure Room at one time … When your father lost the business, Yee Wenjue was at his angriest. Your father kept on apologizing to him, but he ignored your father … It was inevitable since Yee Wenjue was sincere about Treasure Room. Your father was rather muddle-headed. Let me tell you, men cannot take a wrong step. Just one wrong step and everything will be ruined … When Yee Wenjue left Hong Kong that year, he didn’t inform anyone. He left without a word. That showed how angry he was.”
After that, I wrote to Lilac every day, telling her some of my trivial matters, telling her where I saw the inklings from her pictures.
Finally she replied and I heaved a sigh of relief!
When I brought along a batch of exquisite jewelry onto the plane toward Florence, I only thought about her on the way there. For this exhibition I dispatched some people to Europe to advertise the products two months beforehand. The orders were beginning to trickle in and everything had been organized accordingly. I also sent Lilac the air tickets, with which she would depart from Singapore. We had arranged to see each other in Florence. I told her that was Dante’s birthplace.
Lilac wanted me to recite a paragraph from the Divine Comedy at Dante’s former residence for her. She knew that I graduated from the English Faculty at Hong Kong University. I prepared a section but would not be narrating it in English. Instead I would be using Italian, something that she did not expect. A long time ago, I was awarded a scholarship by the Italian government to travel to Florence to research on Dante. I could recite it thoroughly even in my dreams; how difficult could it be?
It is now my turn to return the favor. Ah, my beloved Lilac! If I were to see her again, I must keep her here!
“Lilac” is reproduced with permission from Ren Ye Nu Ye by Soon Ai Ling, Copyright, 2007, Global Publishing Co. Pte Ltd.