Aw Boon Haw's Thought

 

An Exploratory Study Of Aw                 Boon Haw's Thought

    By John S.N. Chan  陈星南 

          INTRODUCTION

Aw Boon-han' ( 1882-1954, a house-hold name in his life time, has long remained a controversial figure. A merc mention of his namc would invoke the memory of his relationship with the Japanese occupation forces in Hong Kong and his trip to Tokyo. It still remains a touchy subject despite Ave's historic benevolent contribution to society in the past.

Nevertheless, recent research in China has thrown light on the unknown parts of his life from different angles, but still have not put the historical aspects in perspective. To complement what have been achieved, this paper will attempt at examining the life and thoughts of Aw in the changing environment, and his idea of dualism with respect to benevolence-oriented profit making. It will also show how he had been influenced by the traditional Chinese cultural environment and how he adapted himself to the chaouc situation he intended to rectify. Effort has also been made to trace the influences of

 

construction plan in Fujian Province, and his unhappy relationship with the Communist Administration in Guangzhou eventually leading to his departure from China.

CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT

Mr. Aw , called the Tiger at home, was an entrepreneur, a self-made man in his own right. He was born in 18821 to an emigrant family from Yongding (7k Z ), Fujian province. His father, Hu Zi-qing (  was driven abroad by the hard life at home. Tormented by unrest and war he sought his fortune in Burma, which was annexed by Britain on 29 November 1886. Luckily enough, being well versed in traditional Chinese medicine, he had no difficulty in making a decent living there. He managed to set up a Yong An Tang Medical Hall  where the Chinese, in particular those with lower income, could shop for traditional Chinese remedies to cure minor illness, or where they could also get medical help, as the Hall was providing medical treatment as well. Later, he married a young woman ofChaozhou ( ) origin who was a devoted Buddhist. It was quite possible that Zi-qing embraced the Buddhist faith in Burma as there is no mention of his religious inclination at all before leaving China. According to the Tiger, his father was a Buddhist?

Rangoon was not Yongding. It had been opened to Western influence and it was where Aw Boon Haw had spent his childhood before leaving for Yongding at the age of ten.• In Rangoon, he and his younger brother, Boon Par, attended an English school. Boon Haw was not interested in schooling at all. Not much is known about his childhood in Rangoon. All we know is that he always skipped classes playing around and mixing with bad elements. He went wild and was up to all sorts of mischievous tricks such as harassing passers-by. Aw proved himself a fierce little fighting tiger. In street fight he never stopped punching until blood was seen4. Quite often, he returned home with his body coveted in bruises.

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Author is a professional librarian at the Chinese Library of The National University of Singapore. 

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An Exploratory Study Ot Aw Boon flow's Thought

 

To escape punishment from his father, or for fear waking up his parent"? he took cjt,cwfjcrc ojlc,n passing his night outsidc in thc opcn air, One day, he beat up a teacher and wji% cxpcJjcd from school.6 Hu Zi-qing was so disappointed that hc dccldcd to send him to Zhongchuon ( 中川) village in Yongding where. hc believed, the little Tiger could have touch better chance to lcnrn thc tradifjonaj value of Chinese culture.

 environment of Yongding is much different. It is a place imbued with //akka tradition and values, an essence of the heritage of Chinese Civilization. In particular. the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine is commonplacc among the old folks. The Little Tiger learned much about herbal medicine from the elderly who could tell with case the medicinal properties of plants or flowers abundant in the area. Roaming in the wild countryside while learning to identify various plants was really great fun and relaxation after the hard work of reciting the lessons of Chinese classics , He was often brought to see traditional Chinese operas based on the popular novels such as The Three Kingdoms, Water Margin. and A Journey to the West or Monkey King ( ne kind of strategy and military wisdom, expounded in Sun Zi's Art of War, or demonstrated in The Three Kingdoms is extremely useful for businessmen. Aw might have drawn his inspiration as well from the sophistication of the Monkey King who was always faithful and respectful to his master for a common noble goal and capable of changing into different objects such as a woman or an insect while encountering difficulties and dangers.

  Perhaps, this was what Aw understood as yew bian ( ) in Hakka dialect. He highly valued the benevolent deed of Song Jiang ( ), a hero in Water Margin. Song Jiang received a lot of support because he was generous, the Little Tiger thought? Indeed, there was no lack of the similar kind of Robin Hood's spirit in the themes of street opera which had really helped inculcate in his young mind the value of righteousness, i.e. yi ( ) in Chinese. One aspect of the traditional core values is the relationship between 'gentleman' and 'righteousness' , or jun zi ( )and yi in Chinese The Little Tiger was greatly influenced by it, and he was quick to uphold righteousness whenever his young friends were treated unjustly. 10

Research in child psychology has shown that "With increased contacts with others, the child's moral concepts change. final content of a particular child's superego will vary not only according to the content of the evaluative systems of his parents, but also with those of other identification 

In addition, he was also open to the teachings and influence of Confucianism in private tuition!2 The tenets of the teaching, zhong ( ) or loyalty to one's motherland, an emperor, a feudal lord or a superior in the modern sense,xiao ( % ) or filial piety to parents, ren ( ) or compassion with broad connotation such as 'brotherhood', 'self-denial' ( ) in Chinese, 'universal love' (

 ) of which Dr. Sun shared the definition with Han Yu ( righteousness or yi (X) in Chinese, are the essence of Confucianism. One must subscribe to these values or risk not being considered a gentlemen, orjun zi ( l$-f) These ethical values were acquired by Aw in his early age and became the moral force behind his actions throughout.

To Aw. zhong meant to be loyal to the motherland. With regard toxiao, Ave's record was somewhat blemished. As a child, he was very wilful, naughty and mischievous, giving much trouble to his parents. However, when he was a matured adult, he treated his mother with great respect and eatv, providing her with a comfortable life. Repending and seeking pardons from his parents. he never parted with their photos which he always carried with him wherever he went. According to the account of Hu Zhi -fei ( Aw's subordinate, who visited him at his residence regularly between 1951 and June 1954 in Hong Kong, Aw would wake up at four in the morning, and before washing his he would walk up the little hill to make three bows to the porcelain portraits of his paxents on a tower at the middle of the hill in the Hong Kong Tiger Balm Gardcn!S Xiao was also the ethical value he practised as his concern for the elderly was expressed in his contributions to old folk homes. As regatds ret', derived from it the moral strength in putting into practice his idea of benevolence-oriented profit nu)king. As for

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