My Family Who Is Running Around / 到處奔走的家人

Audio and Photography Installation 聲音及相片裝置

2018

My dad and his family were smuggled to Hong Kong from Guangzhou in the early years, and then some of them went to Germany, and later on, some of them came back to Hong Kong. My mother was a Malaysian Chinese, her siblings used to live in Germany, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia.

I came to Hong Kong with my family from Germany when I was seven years old, and after that we kept moving from place to place. Before I came back, I was so young to realise the ethnic difference of myself with others. I had no idea about country and migration, and certainly I did not realise I was a descendant of the migrant, the stowaway, and the refugee.

Although I am not a refugee, many of my family members have the background of migrating, human smuggling or taking refuge. I think most of the Hong Kong families have a similar background.

As I heard them talking about the past, I felt there was a big difference between the living style of that time and mine, yet there was a profound connection between us. When I looked at the old photos at my home, everything in the photos was strange to me, but it might be the usual thing they met every day.

The past that my family told me; the moment that was captured in the photos; my family who is near; and the collage of my imaginations; after all, how do I see these stowaways, migrants and refugees? Do I really see them?

我爸爸一家早年從廣州偷渡來港，後來很多家庭成員再到德國，當中部分人又回流香港生活。而媽媽是馬來西亞華僑，她的兄弟姐妹分別曾居於德國、澳洲、新加坡和馬來西亞。

我是七歲時隨家人由德國來港居住，及後不時也要搬家。來港前年紀小，沒有意識到周圍的人跟我種族不同，也沒有明白甚麼是國家，甚麼是移民，當然不理解自己就是移居者、偷渡者和難民的後代。

雖然我不是一個難民，但是家族中很多親人都經歷過偷渡、移居和有難民背景。我想香港大部分家庭也有類似背景。

聽著他們談起往事，覺得那時代的生活方式跟我差距很大，卻又跟我有著深刻的關連。看著家中的舊照片，照片中的每個物件都有點陌生，卻很可能是他們每天遇見的平凡事物。

家人對我憶述的往事、照片攝入的某刻時空、就在我身邊的家人，以及我拼湊而來的想像，我究竟是如何看這幾位偷渡者、移居者和難民？我有沒有看到他們呢？

Exhibited at "I’m Refugee““我都係” (Green Wave Art, Hong Kong)
展於 "I’m Refugee““我都係” (碧波押，香港)