41、初回集美（下）
·［新加坡］陈佩仪/文 卢梵/译
但最有历史意义的是通往纪念碑的石阶，每一级石阶都代表阿公人生的某一阶段。然而更耐人寻味的则是环绕鳌园的灰色围墙和上文提到的长廊两侧石壁。这些地方有上千幅石刻，每一幅都像画册上的图一样，有的描绘十九世纪晚期至二十世纪上半叶中国动荡的岁月，有的刻画阿公在马来亚和新加坡的人生历程中的场景，有典型的橡胶和菠萝种植业、加工工厂、大米加工厂和米行、药行。如果我没记错的话，甚至还有一辆福特牌的T型老爷车。
我特别感兴趣的是阿公在国内的生活场景和学校的教室，其中有一幅刻的是孩子们在上卫生常识课。还有诸如花草树木等石刻所展现的包含植物学在内的现代科学。欣赏墙上石刻，就像步入卷轶浩繁的百科全书。阿公说过，建造这些石雕墙，是教中国人提高生活质量的一种方法，也是让他们了解世界其他地方人们的生活方式的方法，因为很多中国人没有机会去国外亲身体会学习。
虽然我们都知道阿公倾资兴学，但我们中没有几个人知道办学之初他是多么艰难。二十世纪初，对贫穷的村民来说，他们要考虑的头等大事根本不是上学。他们的孩子没人管顾，成天赌博，光着屁股，到处乱跑。我婶婆（二校主陈敬贤夫人——译注）只能挨家挨户地敲门，动员村民把自己没规没矩的孩子送去读书，甚至还得给家家户户贴钱，送猪腿。
我爸爸把集美比作柔佛峇鲁（马来半岛最南端一座小城，毗邻新加坡），他觉得厦门像新加坡，而鼓浪屿像圣淘沙。集美与厦门岛之间有一道海堤，这更加深了我阿爸的这个想法，因为柔佛峇鲁和新加坡也有一道海堤相连。因此，集美独立成区，在许多方面由辖区行政部门管辖。毫无疑问，生活在集美就像生活在大城市之外的一座学府小镇。
故居的外观像一座滨海别墅，略带地中海的风格。我的第一印象是，室内陈设极其简朴，我也很惊讶阿公人生最后十二年生活在中国，其生活用品竟少得如此可怜。但是，就在那时，谁都知道他生活十分俭朴，拒绝任何昂贵和不必要的东西。故居里立着一个大玻璃橱，里面展出一个大得吓人的针头，以及药箱和医用器械，这都是病魔缠身的患者离不开的。这些藏品说明，阿公晚年身患顽疾，他试图自己调治。
后来，我再次到集美，在钟楼附近的一座大楼里，他们让我看了大量的手写卷宗。这些资料看起来像账本，存放在橱柜里。我惊奇地发现，这些资料的字都写得非常工整，详细开列出了采购和消耗各项。这些材料的纸页看起来还很新，仿佛昨天刚写的一样。我想这是阿公的笔迹，要不就是他手下雇员写的。我一直暗自思忖，这么详细的记账方式，在我们先人那一代一定都是这样的，甚至是非如此不可的。这种行事方式真的已经浸透了我们华人的心灵了吗？
南薰楼所在的位置应该是闽南这一带最好的地段之一。矗立在小山上，面朝大海，大楼本身就是一尊雄伟的雕像，作为背景，烘托了龙舟池的风光。南薰楼的旁边是鳌园和嘉庚公园。南薰楼是1953年兴建的建筑之一，此楼采用中心结构，主体是一塔式建筑，设有一电梯井。有趣的是，上世纪五十年代初,集美兴建了一大批校舍，其中包括南薰楼，那时，中国并没有电梯安装服务机构。身边人把这情况告诉我阿公，我阿公说，他可以等，总有一天会有的，我们把电梯井留着，到时可用。有备无患，他老人家的科学预见，这又是一例。
集美建筑的另一特色是，这里的建筑多处借鉴地中海风格，有明显的地中海风格的影响，但其屋顶是鲜明的东方的建筑特色。我阿公是故意这么设计的，因为他希望各取其长，做到中西合璧。集美学校的建筑应该有欧洲风味，比如外观纹饰，门窗结构，偏暖色调，但最终还要冠以中式屋顶，这是典型的闽南特色。屋顶的瓦片必须实用，能在炎热的盛夏尽可能多地反射太阳光，以保持室内清凉，在寒冷的冬天，能吸收、保持热量，给屋里的人保暖。为达到这个目的，阿公亲自设计制造一种砖瓦，不久，当地人便把这种瓦片称为“嘉庚瓦”（作者注：在2016年毁灭性的台风莫兰蒂中，大树从地上被连根拔起，许多建筑严重损坏，然而几乎所有的嘉庚瓦都经受住了超强台风的考验，完好无损。这仅是冥冥之中的侥幸，还是阿公陈嘉庚的发明天赋的再次印证？）
老实说，我的第一次集美之行在某种意义上是回归故里，此行为我和那些说着同一种语言（闽南话）、吃着同样熟悉的“油炸鬼”（油条）的人之间建立了更紧密的联系纽带。集美是我艰难的中国之行的最后一站，这次中国之行给我带来许多惊喜。
我带着各种印象回到新加坡，五彩缤纷，如同万花筒一般。高超管理、正点高效的铁路系统，整齐清洁街道上的自行车潮，身着一色的蓝布衣裳、吃的是健康的五谷杂粮、热情友善、精力充沛的人民，装配着西安制造的推进器的飞机和英姿飒爽的机组人员，肩扛手拉着重得叫人难以置信的行李的赶路人……这个国家比任何国家都有更多的“蛀书虫”，年轻人渴望学习管理学理论。能在中国的经济、社会火箭般腾飞之前，观察到这一切，我感到非常荣幸。同时，我也明白，在中国南方的这一角落，在这名闻遐迩的集美学村，年轻的一代机会无限，享有辉煌的未来。
2017年6月27日
My first Visit to Jimei （Part II）
By Tan Poey Gee Peggy
But what is of great historical interest are the stone steps leading up to the cenotaph, with each step marking a period of his life. But what is rather fascinating are the grey walls surrounding the entire Aoyuan, as well as along the passage walkway. Here are to be found hundreds of wall carvings, in stone, with each piece presented like a page from a picture book, some depicting the turbulent period of
China
in the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. Some also contain scenes from his life in Malaya and
Singapore
, featuring rubber and pineapple estates, processing factories, rice milling/rice shops, medical halls, and even a Model T-Ford, if I am not mistaken.
Of particular interest to me are scenes of domestic life, and school classrooms, including one where children are taught basic hygiene. Illustrations such as plants & flowers showcase the modern sciences, including botany. The experience of viewing the wall sculptures must have been similar to stepping into the pages of an encyclopaedia. Grandfather said that constructing these picture walls was the only way to teach the Chinese how to improve their lives, and to let them know how the rest of the world was living, since the Chinese would not have the opportunity to travel overseas to learn first hand.
Though we all know that grandfather committed all his wealth into building schools, few of us knew how hard it was for him to even start classes. To the poor villagers at the turn of the century school was never a priority, and my grandaunt had to knock on every door to persuade the villagers to send their unruly children – who were gambling and running naked and unsupervised through the streets – to school, sometimes bribing each family with money, and even giving them a kati of pork!
My father compared Jimei to Johor Bahru (a town at the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia, closest to
Singapore
) whilst Xiamen is like
Singapore
, and Gulangyu like Sentosa. The fact that there is a causeway linking Jimei to Xiamen reinforces this thinking, since JB is also linked to
Singapore
via a causeway. So, Jimei has its own district and jurisdiction in many ways, and no doubt life is similar to a school town that is located outside a big city.
The Gu Ju has the facade of a seaside villa, with some Mediterranean influence. My first impression was that the rooms were very simply furnished, and I was surprised at how few possessions grandfather had, in his last 12 years in
China
. But then he had been known to be very frugal, and would not accept anything expensive or unnecessary. What stood out was a glass cabinet containing a formidably large syringe, medicine containers and medical tools normally associated with a sick patient. This collection explained the fact that he tried to cure himself of certain ailments that beset him later in life.
On another visit to Jimei, I was shown a huge collection of handwritten notes, stored in cabinets, in a building near the clock tower. They looked like book-keeping ledgers and I was struck by the fact that the writing was very orderly, listing out in great detail material purchased, consumed, etc. The pages looked very fresh, as if it was written only yesterday. I think it was in grandfather’s handwriting, or else his clerks. I am constantly reminded that this form of detailed record keeping must be pervasive, or even compulsive, to our ancestors. Could it be truly embedded in our Chinese psyche?
The site of the administration building must be one of the best in this part of Fujian. Set on a hill and facing the sea, it cuts an imposing stature, forming a picturesque background to the dragon boat lake, and besides it, the Aoyuan gardens and Memorial Park. One of the first buildings to be constructed in 1953, this structure has a central feature, which is actually a tower column that houses the lift chamber. One interesting fact is that in the early 1950th, when a number of school buildings, including this Nanxun building, were built in Jimei, there were no lift machinery service available in China, and when people pointed this out to grandfather he said he could wait, one day such services would come, and he was just getting the space ready for it! Here is an example of how his prescience paid off.
Another area of architectural interest is the fact that although the buildings borrowed heavily from the Mediterranean influence, the roofs are distinctly oriental. This is also deliberate, as grandfather said he wanted his buildings to be a combination of the best of East and West. The Jimei village schools should assume a European flavor – in the facade tiling, window features and warm colours – and yet be topped off with a Chinese roof – which would have a distinctively mingnan feature. The roof tiles also had to be practical – on hot summer days, it had to cool the rooms inside by reflecting as much heat as possible, and on chilly winter days, it had to trap and distribute heat to those working inside. To this extent, he took it upon himself to design and manufacture the tiles, and soon the locals referred to them as ‘jiageng wa’. (note: in the destructive 2016 typhoons, when huge trees were ripped off the ground and many buildings badly damaged, almost all the jiageng wa withstood gale-force winds to emerge intact. Is this just plain lucky or is this a testimony to the inventive talents of Tan Kah Kee?)
I can honestly say that my first trip to Jimei was a homecoming of sorts, forming a close bonding with people who spoke my language – hokkien (or mingnan hua) and eating familiar food like youcharkuei (youtiao). Jimei was my last stop after some hard travelling through a
China
that had many surprises for a newbie.
I went home with mixed impressions as diverse as the wonders of a superbly run on-time railway system, waves of bikes on well-kept streets, friendly energetic people wearing a uniform blue and eating healthy staple fare, Xian-made propeller aeroplanes with smartly-dressed pilots, men lugging and pulling impossible loads on their backs - a country that had far more bookworms than most, and whose youth was anxious to learn management theories (???樰?), I felt privileged to observe all this before the economy and society of
China
took off like a rocket. And to know that somehow, in this corner of southern
China
, in this remarkable school village/town, the younger generations also had every chance to also enjoy a glorious future.
P.T. 27 June 2017
