[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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The Marginal

26/28

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The Cacarola’s terrace had two tables, one large and one small. Yet, even with fewer than ten people, it felt crowded, as if the night’s patrons were relishing this lively atmosphere. “The in-place is definitely the Marginal University, far from the city. The farther from the city; the more experimental. The more traffic, the more marginal,” Lily began with zest. “Strike it rich!” A sparrow chirped from outside. “What’s so special about being marginal?” Kwong asked, her voice tinged with the curiosity of someone just entering the academic sphere. “Why this sudden interest in feminism?” “I want to think about my past,” Kwong responded, with a touch of melancholy in her voice. Lily got it, “Did you break up with Director Ming?” The conversation bounced between them. Meanwhile, I savoured my garlic shrimp appetiser alone. At the next table, there was a lively debate about why Cantonese people ate so little rabbit.

“We should approach this on two levels,” Lily declared in an analytical tone. “Firstly, Ming has no talent. Losing him is no great loss. But you shouldn’t contemplate women’s issues just because of a failed relationship. It’s like becoming a nun after a breakup.” Kwong was momentarily stumped by her logic. “But I’m only now realising this. I can’t change the facts or suppress my thoughts.” Suddenly, a male voice interjected, “We cannot suppress ourselves… you’re too suppressed.” He was addressing another man, but Lily, with her back to him, thought he was responding to her. “So, by your logic, we should never exercise self-control or introspection?” she retorted. The man accused of suppression was quietly enjoying his duck rice and paid no heed to this person who was regaling his romantic exploits. He simply asked, “Who wants more duck rice?” Another man reached for it but was interrupted by a challenging question from a woman at the neighbouring table and turned away. Seeing this, the other man shared his duck rice with a foreign woman instead. “What?” the first man finally asked, turning back to find the duck rice gone and his appetite suppressed. Lily launched into a lesson on gender theories, but he was already distracted by another dish of blood sausage rice, caught between fraternal duty and lost romantic intent. The other man, free from suppression, moved onto another bottle of wine, illustrating the benefits of occupying a marginal seat.

How to cite: Song, Chris and Mary Wong. “The Marginal.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 20 Oct. 2023, chajournal.blog/2023/10/20/marginal.

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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