Views of a China-Born Wife

Su-chen Christine Lim

At the heart of each man sits a teacher who likes to teach women. And because she'd shown timidity, Tuck Heng had encouraged and taught her the rudiments of running a business.

"The world is changing. Those who can't change won't survive. Clinging to tradition will make us lag forever behind the foreign devils. We have to aim high to help others."

How could she disagree with his noble sentiments? Tuck Heng was forward-looking in some ways and backward-looking in others. Like the fingers of her hand, his faults and virtues were of different lengths. A wife, if wise and patient, accepted her husband's hand and did not seek to cut off one of his fingers. Marital fidelity was not in the nature of man. Marriage was about mutual dependency, duty, loyalty and devotion.

-- A Bit of Earth (376).


Postcolonial Web Singapore OV Singaporean Literature Su-chen Christine Lim

Last Modified: 8 August 2002