tofuwatch.com

Third graders honor 83-year-old Chinese American author – by performing opera

At a time when many people think today’s kids just don’t understand elders in the United States, a touching moment unfolded Monday at Peralta Elementary School in Oakland, Calif.

Li Keng Wong, my 83-year-old aunt and an author, was at the center of this moment. And she couldn’t have been any happier.

As part of a project, third-grade students taught by Elizabeth Bandy read my aunt’s memoir, Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain.

The book is about my relatives’ voyage in the 1930s from the Taishan area in China’s Guangdong province to the San Francisco Bay Area – and their stay at the immigration station on Angel Island.

With help from the San Francisco Opera educational program, they honored her voice, work and story by performing parts as a mini-opera.

Yes, these students wrote their own lyrics.

“Amy Tan has nothing on Li Keng!!”, Bill Wong, my uncle who is an author, freelance writer and former journalist, joked when he kicked off the news in an email blast to relatives.

He was referring to the well-known author, whose “The Bonesetter’s Daughter” was performed last year by the San Francisco Opera.

My uncle said:

The children were troupers, dressed in Chinese attire and sang with gusto the scenes drawn from Li Keng’s journey across the Pacific Ocean and on Angel Island. …Li Keng, whose back has been troubling her, was beaming throughout and she told the students that this felt like her Oscar moment.

Throughout the day, other relatives – mainly from the San Francisco Bay Area – chimed in with congratulatory email notes.

My aunt’s daughter, Karen, sent a dispatch about how the students at this multiracial school were “star-struck” by seeing the author at school.

A little African American boy ran up to my mom and said, ‘I play your baba!’ as he gave my mom a big hug. They wanted to take pictures with her. They wanted her to sign scraps of paper.

My aunt told the students to guess who Uncle Bill was, Karen wrote. Hoots and hollers erupted after they learned his identity.

In a quick phone conversation, Uncle Bill pointed out that Aunt Li is old enough to be a grandmother or great-grandmother to the students.

He also explained the connection between these students and my aunt’s book. Bandy’s mother is my aunt’s friend and helped with the book, he said.

“They chose an art form that 9-year-olds aren’t completely familiar with,” he added.

In the end, it turned out to be a strong creative outlet. It bridged a gap – even if just a bit – between kids who are about a decade old and an octogenarian.

My aunt was born in rural China when instability was common. She worked as a teacher in the United States. Today, she is a grandmother and tells incredible stories about her life. 

If you followed Monday’s news about the bankruptcy proceedings of General Motors, you knew there was much to be worried about for the automotive giant, its workers and the economy.

But when you realize how many intellectual and emotional sparks went off at that elementary school, you knew there was an educational connection.

Yes, it paled in comparison to the day’s national news.

But I’m sure my aunt and all the teachers at that school hope that moment of learning – and of excitement – will stay with those kids forever. I was happy to read all those emails.

* I should note that I have dozens of relatives. So, comments are always welcome.