[Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997:
All Entries]

TH: Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997, in 28 sections, was written originally in Chinese by Mary Wong and serialised in Ming Pao 明報 in 1997. The pieces, translated into English by Chris Song, are serialised in Cha beginning from Monday 25 September 2023.

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Adieu

24/28

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It was one o’clock in the morning when we managed to heave the boss onto the couch. We were desperate to leave. Though the house was adorned with valuable objects, it was imbued with a sense of desolation—hidden, perhaps, in the spaces between these objects, waiting for you to discover them. Should you happen to doze off on that very couch, with the air turning chilly around you, you might feel like you’re lost in a wild, unkempt landscape. Waking up would feel like surviving some kind of trial. As we reached for the door to leave, we glanced back at the boss. He was sleeping deeply, snoring, completely vulnerable. The five stars in red and the white sun in blue hung on the wall had seen better days. They were hung stiffly, weather-beaten like dresses on a line, but devoid of human form—gazing down at us, two young women trying to escape, with a mixture of arrogance, coldness, and emptiness.

Adieu, I thought I wouldn’t be back. Kwong has been through two shocks in one night; she must have been physically and emotionally exhausted. We needed to leave this place as quickly as possible and start anew.

The next day was Sunday. Kwong got up early, walked to a nearby 7-Eleven, and bought a box of lemon-scented washing powder. Back in the flat, she washed all her old clothes. Some people bought new clothes or got a new hairstyle to signify a new phase of their life; she chose to do laundry. When I got up, I saw she had hung the laundry up all over the flat. Whether it was light or dark outside, I could only glimpse it through the gaps between the garments.

“I’m thinking of talking to Lily about continuing my education. I believe it’s time for a change,” she said. “I haven’t sat down and read a book for myself in years; I’m either typing for the boss or worrying about boyfriends. It’s like I haven’t thought about my own needs at all.” I opened the newspaper to find that those two controversial dresses had been pulled from the exhibition. While the designs might not have been to my taste, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “Look, even fashion is problematic these days. The world is changing; I need to read more to understand society,” she said, earnestly. I told her Lily had invited us to dinner in Macau tomorrow and she could discuss the details with her then. I asked, “What would you like to study?” Kwong looked me squarely in the eyes and said, “Feminism!”

How to cite: Song, Chris and Mary Wong. “Adieu.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 18 Oct. 2023, chajournal.blog/2023/10/18/adieu.

Mary Shuk-Han Wong 黃淑嫻 (author) is a Hong Kong writer. Her short story collection Surviving Central (中環人; 2013) received the “25th Secondary School Students’ Best Ten Books Award.” Her essay collections include How to Live the Sad Days (悲傷的日子如何過; 2021), Against the Grain (亂世破讀; 2017), and From Kafka (理性的遊藝：從卡夫卡談起; 2015). She has also published an online poetry collection, Cave Whispers (絕地抒情; 2022), in collaboration with Hong Kong composer and photographer. She was the co-producer and literary advisor of two literary documentaries: 1918: Liu Yichang (1918：劉以鬯紀錄片; 2015) and Boundary: Leung Ping Kwan (東西：也斯紀錄片; 2015).

Chris Song (translator) is a poet, editor, and translator from Hong Kong, and is an assistant professor in English and Chinese translation at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He won the “Extraordinary Mention” of the 2013 Nosside International Poetry Prize in Italy and the Award for Young Artist (Literary Arts) of the 2017 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. In 2019, he won the 5th Haizi Poetry Award. He is a founding councilor of the Hong Kong Poetry Festival Foundation, executive director of the International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong, and editor-in-chief of Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine. He also serves as an advisor to various literary organisations.

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