sARAH
BORn
Kent, England
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My mum came from Mauritius when she was 17 years old during the late 60s because the UK was recruiting nurses. Her parents were from Mainland China and quite a lot of people emigrated to Mauritius to get away from the Communist Party. The tricky and interesting part is that they spoke Hakka but when they arrived in Mauritius, nobody spoke Hakka. They spoke French or Creole. When the family name was transcribed in Mauritius, it wasn’t done in any Chinese characters, instead it was someone hearing what they heard and just writing it down, that’s gone onto become the family name. My mum was one of nine siblings and she had a close relationship with her dad and who was liberal and he gave her the opportunity to do her O-Levels and to come to the UK.
My object relates to a memory of my grandad and my first visit to Mauritius. It was the first time I had been away. I was about two and a half years old, it’s one of my first memories. At my grandparent's house in Mauritius, there are tropical temperatures. They had settees with wooden bamboo handles and legs. I had a nap there and my grandad came and covered me with this panda towel.
It was his gesture that really stuck in my memory, which I strongly identify with that part of my heritage and family. I didn't speak any language a part from baby English and my grandad didn’t speak any English but you still manage to have a relationship. I felt his sense of care. Even though my grandma was alive longer, I feel a strong link with my grandad. I don't know why that was. My mum said my grandad was very kind and very open.
This object is linked to that feeling of openness on my first trip. In being mixed race, that sense of openness is something I see as a common thread between me, my grandad and my mother. Despite living in different countries, speaking different languages and experiencing different eras, openness is a common trait for us all. We were only in Mauritius for a week and this object is a metaphor for how I viewed my grandad as a person, even though I only met him for a tiny portion of time.
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60年代晚期英國招募護士，我17歲的母親當時從毛里求斯來到英國。她的父母來自中國大陸，有很多人為了躲避共產黨移民到毛里求斯。有趣的是，他們本來說客家語。但到了毛里求斯，沒有人說客家語。他們說法語和克里奧爾語。在毛里求斯，他們的姓氏不是按漢字翻譯的，而是有人聽他們說了之後寫下來。這就成了他們的姓氏。我母親有兄弟姐妹9個。她和她的父親關係很親。他思想開放，讓我母親讀了O-Levels的課程并來到英國。
我的物品和我的外公以及去毛里求斯的第一次旅途有關。這是我第一次離開英國。我當時差不多兩歲半，是我最早的記憶之一。在毛里求斯我外公的家里是熱帶氣候。他們家有帶竹製扶手和凳腳的中式沙發。我在上面午睡的時候，我外公來給我蓋上了熊貓毛毯。
他當時的動作一直保留在我的記憶中，讓我覺得有很強的身份和家族認同感。除了嬰兒說的英語，我不會任何其他語言。而我外公完全不會英語，但我們仍然能建立聯繫。我能感受到他的關懷。儘管我外婆壽命更長，但我覺得和外公之間有很強的聯繫。我不知道緣由。我母親說外公人很善良，開放。
這件物品和我在第一次旅途中感受到的開放相關。作為一個混血，在我看來，開放是維繫我，我外公和我母親之間的紐帶。即便生活在不同國家，說不同語言，經歷不同的時代，開放是我們身上的共性。我們只在毛里求斯待了一個禮拜。這個物品寓意著我如何看待我外公，雖然我見他的時間很短暫。