Uncle Ng Comes to America, edited by Bell Yung, Eleanor Yung
What would a 69-year-old Chinese immigrant, without a word of English, do after arriving in New York?
edited by Bell Yung, Eleanor Yung
MCCM Creations
4 stars
Oliver Chou
What would a 69-year-old Chinese immigrant, without a word of English, do after arriving in New York? For Ng Sheung-chi, aka Uncle Ng, he did what he and his fellow men did back home in Toisan in South China. "Singing was very popular; everyone sang … When I sang, even the birds would fly down to listen to my singing" is what he recalled of his faraway homeland and past.
From his arrival in 1979 until his death in 2002, Ng did his singing at a community park in New York City's Chinatown. With or without an audience, he would tell his stories through songs, sung with body movements that synchronised with the lyrics he wrote - and in so doing, he was bringing to America the time-honoured muk'yu (wooden fish) singing, or narrative songs, in its most authentic form.
After 13 years of street performances, Ng, at age 82, received the highest honour, the National Heritage Fellowship, conferred by then president George Bush Snr.
To express his appreciation, he wrote Fellowship Acceptance Song, Washington DC and delivered it in his native Toisan dialect at the ceremony. The line, "Repeated thanks to the chairperson and other officials, may you all advance in office", drew laughter from the audience.
That happy tune is one of eight songs featured in this multi-media package, which includes a DVD of Ng performing his songs, and the texts in original Chinese with English translation. They are, as the book's subtitle indicates, "Chinese Narrative Songs of Immigration and Love".