The Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-10-16, Page 122A 100pERIORSIONAJ, R, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1969
Tat OWE THUMB
BY G.MaaLEOD ROSS
▪ His full name was Ruing Fung
Hsiung and he was the faithful
'triennial maintenance contractor
for all the British buildings in
Tientsin and Peking. A triennial
contract is one which is let for a
3 -year period. At the end of the
period tenders were invited for
the further term and, explain it ,
how you will, from sometime
• around 1900 Mr. Fung was
always the successful low
tenderer.
In the early thirties, when I
acceded" to the appointment- of
Commander • Royal Engineers,
North China, 1V11'. Fung did not
appear on my first day in, the
office. His welcome was usually -
deferred until the -third or fourth
day of your tenure. Physically
Mr. Fung was immense. Six feet
or more tall, he appeared nearly
square in his great black tea -cosy
of a robe which fell to ; his
feet from his broad shoulders.
Of course all north Chinese are
big men and as such easily
distinguished from the
Cantonese or south Chinese, but
Mr. .Fung was lig, even for a
northerner. On his head he wore
the black mandarin skull cap, on
top of which was the red
mandarin button. One of the
crt_vria of a successful Chinese is
whether or not he requires two
coolies to pull his rickshaw.
Fung qualified easily and it is to
be "membered that great ,fat
men are much revered, so that to
achieve "face" or prestige, you
have to be colossal.
Since the office was in a
rented dwelling house, the
approach was up a long straight
flight of stairs. When the fourth
day dawned, there were sounds
as though heavy exhausted
grampuses were being forcibly
pushed up the stairs. And so it
transpired. Mr. Fung had to be
grossly assisted, back and front,
to .enable him -to reach the office
level. The harrowing nature of
this ascent, probably accounts
for his infrequent visits
hereafter.
On this state occasion his
propellants were his Number
One .Clerk of Works and an
interpreter, the latter bringing
up a large carton. When a seat of
the requisite dimensions had.
finally accepted Mr. Fung, and
when both he and the
interpreter had caught their
breath, the carton was opened
and from it was drawn out a
jumble of Christmas cards which
successive R. E. Officers had
sent Fung since the turn of the
century. 'Chronologically
- arr-anged, they would have -
presented the complete line" o''
R. E. succession in Tientsin. The
cards were examined and duly
admired and those from officers
known to me were especially
remarked upon. Certain favorites
would bring a huge smile to
Fung's usually expressionless
face.
•
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Next came the piece de
resistance. Wreathed now in
smiles, he dispensed with the
interpreter, and in a series of
grunts and gurgles which must
have been mandarin ehinese, he
produced an enormous gong of a
medal, struck at the time of
what he insisted on calling "the
Boxe,"° and bearing on its
embussed surface testimony to
his loyalty to the British. Then
came the parchment, rather
yellowed by this time, which
bore witness in detail to the
assistance he had rendered to the
Allied Forces during the Boxer
Rebellion. Being of a very
impressionable nature. I
managed a succession of gurgles
and outlandish syllables in my,
desperate effort to show my
admiration of such outstanding
service. When things quietened
down 'a bit, Mr. Fung kept
repeating --"the Boxe," to ensure
the message had got through my
thick head.
Following this occasion, you
might not meet Mr. Fung for
months, since all work oh the
battalion barracks in Tientsin
and on the Guard company
buildings in the embassy
compound in Peking were
carried out through his Number
One.
Tientsin in winter is as dry as
the Gobi desert; so dry that the
exposed skin cracks, and it is
painful to laugh. So dry that to
sleep at'night, it is customary to
swill a bucket of water over the
floor; all dry by morning and. no
plaster fallen from the ceiling
below. There is no spring, just a
sudden transformation into hot
humidity: This signalled another
visit from Mr. Fung. To alleviate
the climatic conditions in
•
Tientsin, the e battalion sent a
company at° a time to
Shanhaikuan, known to the
British Tommy affectionately as
"Shanner." This was, and
probably still is, a seaside
"resort" at a point in the Gulf,of
Chihili where the Great Wall of
China enters the sea. Mr. Fung's
cohorts were despatched, • in.
advance of the Troops' arrival,
to open .up .the huts and the few
cottages on tile. sea front. The
"occupation" of the settlement
of Tientsin being international
since the `Boxe,' the several
nations which survived, that is
the. British, French, Itatians_arlcj
Belgians (Germans and. Russians
had dropped out by 1930 and
the Americans used
Chinwangtao) .also ran summer
camps there. One of the articles
of the 1900 Protocol provided a
roadway for foreigners from
Peking to the sea. This followed
the railway to Shanhaikuan,
where the British built a metre
gauge troll'eyway to the camp
site. It was one mule power.
Thus in order to assert the
Supremacy, of the British Lion,
as having first right to traffic on
the trolleyway,' it had been
found over the long years that
the only sure token for Mr:
Fung's labor to display to ensure
sovereignty was to wear
miniature Union Jacks on their
Shirts. These were guarded like
diamonds, .,and no one but Mr..
Fung himself could possibly
request them, still less receive
them, for on the, job they
performed like the most potent
amulet in keeping other
nationals at bay.
Miser Fung
Naturally there were other
appearances. For instance when
that by_now, well worn farce of
opening the tenders for a further
triennial contract was enacted.
This gigantic hoax appealed
greatly to Mr. Fung's sense of
the ludicrous, as was proved
when the "rival" tenders were
opened, only to be underbid by
Fung to the tune of about fifty
percent or so. But it was all a
delightful bit of pantomime, so
dear to the.. heart . of the
westerner, yet so fantastically
simple forte the .east to
circumvent.
Inspite of this superficially
Veiled subterfuge, the work
which Fung and his merry men
carried out was invariably
satisfactory. Fung was satisfied
and so were we, yet sometimes
there would be a leak of secret
goings on. For example all the
old zinc guttering from the
barracks in Tientsin was beaten
out flat and bundled before
being sent by rail to Peking for
sale in the bazaar. Liquor bottles'
too were broken up and
collected into sacks, also for
Peking, where they reappeared
as dessert plates, lamp shades,
even soup and tea cups. Always
in either Haig amber, or poison
bottle green or violet.
I always felt that although'
Fung was forever in the
shadows, • so to speak,
nevertheless his influence was
there, all pervading, to make my
life easy, pleasant, even
soporific. For no tittle of
evidence ever arose to suggest to
you the reason why you had no
servant troubles, whilst all
around, wealthy boxwallahs
were in varying stages of
paralysis .with their domestics.
Was the subtle Fugnat work?
Even the Fathers of the Societe
des Lazaristes, who rented you
your house on Racecourse Road
(Ma Fung Lou to you) were ever
at your beck and call, day or
night. When Wang, the Number
one "boy" (he must have been
70 if a day) carne rushing up
from the ,basement with -news
regarding the dastardly central
heating furnace, that
"everything all go Pop -inside," a
phone call and a Father would
arrive breathless on bicycle, in
flowing soutain and topi „and
presto, •disaster would be
averted. It was much the sable
when • . the ,;:louse cooly,
particularly" distOsteft{ly,piece df
work, was discovered asleep on
the kitchen table, topless and
with his head on the meat
cutting board for a- pillow. The
fear of God was administered by
parties unknown.
When the recreation officer of
the Queen's Regiment asked me
to build the battalion a
swimming pool from canteen
funds, it was Mr. Fung who
volunteered to do it for a price
which was farcical. It was to
Olympic standards and- was all
poured in a continuous
operation lasting some 24 hours.
You could hardly see .the
concrete for coolies and when
Mr. Fung appeared in person, he
was attired in European dress,
with a white topi, a cane and
gloves. After a few pleasantries
he broke off and proceeded to
emit a se'ries of the most blood
curdling yells to encourage the
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labor to even greater efforts.
However, in the end he made
one faux pas. When 1 was
peremptorily ordered home to
weapon design at Woolwich
Arsenal, it must be admitted a
rather clumsy attempt was made
to subvert me. Usually at
Christmas a selection of dwarf
apple trees, alt in full blossom
and no leaves, would arrive from
Mr. Fung, grown, no doubt, in
one of the many paper -covered
and charcoal heated greenhouses
which abounded.
But with departure in the air,
two of Fung's henchmen were
spied arriving on bicycles -in the
back alley. Strapped to the rear
carriers were large wooden
boxes. Immediately I sensed
what I believed would be the`
worst. Then from below deck
arose sounds of suppressed
excitement among the
sock -footed servants. Even Dar
Jewar, (meaning "great master")
the cook, was enticed from his
dungeon. Somehow-- 'the
suspicious boxes were shuffled
into the living room, where
Fung's emissaries began to open
them, closely watched by Wang
and the cooly. Finally Wang was
despatched to lead me to the
presentation, which involved
huge leers and much
handshaking. Then' the party
-retired and I was alone to
examine the contents in
seclusion, broken only by a
constant gliding in and out by
Wang, anxious to record my
reactions. The "gift" turned out
to be the most amazing tired
out, scratched, and • useless
collection of hotel plate. Not
every day articles of use, but
plated fittings, such as flower
holders, to fit hotel furnishings.
Crude and unlovely as was the
whole collection, the worst and
most embarrassing aspect was
that every piece, and there were
over a hundred, was very badly -
engraved with a "Grenade" and
the motto "Ubique" under it.
Not the Royal Engineer grenade
either, but the Gunner grenade.
Someone had blundered in more
ways • than one! You will
understand that I did not have
the least compunction in
WIDE RANGE OF
WORK SHOES
OVERSHOES
RUBBER
FOOTWEAR
refusing the gift and ordering
WiiTgliab get the awful junk lack
whence it had come. Needless to
say this unfortunate incident
was politely ignored by both
parties. But now, 40 years on, ag,,
I ponder this same ghastly
cumshhw, I cannot help but
wonder' whether it had not a
long pedigree of refusal by my
predecessors.
Mr. Fung has gone to rest
with his ancestors long since and ,
the International Settlement in
both Tientsin and Pelting have
also reverted to Red China.
Perhaps my appreciation of
China is too vividly colored by
memories of Mr. Fung, but 1
cannot but believe there are still
other Fungs ready to play
amusing games with the west.
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