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  • Nelson Mandela died (5/12/2013)

    From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 7 09:47:16 2024
    His Xhosa first name was Rolihlahla.
    He was often addressed as Madiba (his clan name) as a sign of respect.

    "On my first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name, and said that thenceforth that was the name we would
    answer to in school....[She] told me that my new name was Nelson..."

    This reminded me of the story of Yat Hang Mew. When I was growing up in Vancouver, we knew him as Angus Leung, proprietor of Varsity Produce,
    the local greengrocer. He came to Canada from south China in the 1920s,
    aged 15. Laws respecting Chinese immigration were getting more
    restrictive, so he had to pretend to be the son of a family friend who
    was already resident, and assumed his surname (Leung). He was sent to an English language class. "I wanted to learn English...so I took the first
    seat in the first row, right up front....[The teacher said] 'I'm going
    to put a list of English names on the board, and I want each of you to
    pick one, then you'll have a name English people can remember.'...I
    thought 'I'm in the first seat in the first row, so I'll take the first
    name. Which was "Angus"."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Aidan Kehoe@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 7 15:08:33 2024
    Ar an seachtú lá de mí na Nollaig, scríobh Ross Clark:

    [...] This reminded me of the story of Yat Hang Mew. When I was growing up in Vancouver, we knew him as Angus Leung, proprietor of Varsity Produce, the local greengrocer. He came to Canada from south China in the 1920s, aged 15. Laws respecting Chinese immigration were getting more restrictive, so he had to pretend to be the son of a family friend who was already resident, and assumed his surname (Leung). He was sent to an English language class. "I wanted to learn English...so I took the first seat in the first row, right up front....[The teacher said] 'I'm going to put a list of English names on the board, and I want each of you to pick one, then you'll have a name English people can remember.'...I thought 'I'm in the first seat in the first row, so I'll take the first name. Which was "Angus"."

    There is no shortage of Angus Leungs in Google results today, many of them Hong Kongers, unshockingly. And mostly fairly accomplished. I can’t seem to find yours.

    --
    ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
    How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
    (C. Moore)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to Aidan Kehoe on Sun Dec 8 13:12:37 2024
    On 8/12/2024 4:08 a.m., Aidan Kehoe wrote:

    Ar an seachtú lá de mí na Nollaig, scríobh Ross Clark:

    > [...] This reminded me of the story of Yat Hang Mew. When I was growing up
    > in Vancouver, we knew him as Angus Leung, proprietor of Varsity Produce, the
    > local greengrocer. He came to Canada from south China in the 1920s, aged 15.
    > Laws respecting Chinese immigration were getting more restrictive, so he had
    > to pretend to be the son of a family friend who was already resident, and
    > assumed his surname (Leung). He was sent to an English language class. "I
    > wanted to learn English...so I took the first seat in the first row, right
    > up front....[The teacher said] 'I'm going to put a list of English names on
    > the board, and I want each of you to pick one, then you'll have a name
    > English people can remember.'...I thought 'I'm in the first seat in the
    > first row, so I'll take the first name. Which was "Angus"."

    There is no shortage of Angus Leungs in Google results today, many of them Hong
    Kongers, unshockingly. And mostly fairly accomplished. I can’t seem to find yours.

    I wouldn't have expected him to show up. Apart from my dim recollection
    of him and his shop from childhood, everything I know comes from a piece
    about him written by Silver Donald Cameron, who grew up in the same neighbourhood. Angus sold the business in 1968, dabbled in real estate
    for a few years, but as of 1975 was well and truly retired, enjoying his
    family and still attending the same church I used to go to. Never more
    than a local celebrity, and perhaps didn't even survive into the
    Internet Age.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)