[Cross-Strait] "A Letter to Grandma": The Era's Choice of "Why Leave the Country"
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The film "A Letter to Grandma," which is based on the Chaoshan culture of China, has ignited a public opinion war between Singapore and China after Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" viewed it as propaganda targeting overseas Chinese. The movie has already been released in Singapore and Malaysia, with sold-out screenings, audiences moved to tears, and theaters constantly applying for additional showtimes.
In Singapore, the ticketing system for the Chaoshan dialect version crashed due to an overwhelming number of purchases.
"A Letter to Grandma" depicts a tumultuous modern China, showcasing the integrity, loyalty, and righteousness of ordinary people in Southern China amidst lives beyond their control. As the lyrics go, "No score in my heart to play the pipa, asking the flowers under the moon, they do not respond," the original theme song "Moonlight Tea" features piano accompaniment and a solo female voice in the Chaoshan dialect, expressing irresistible joys and sorrows.
The Nanyang migration is an incredibly arduous chapter in modern Chinese history. For survival, for family, for clan, they toiled hard in Nanyang. After their struggles, those overseas Chinese in Nanyang who had achieved some stability began to ponder the question of "why leave the country." Thus, during the late Qing revolutionary movement, overseas Chinese in Nanyang became the "mother of revolution" in Sun Yat-sen's words, contributing both money and people. The birth of the Republic of China's flag, the Blue Sky with a White Sun over a Field of Red, in Singapore's Late Qing Garden was no mere coincidence.
During the Anti-Japanese War in the 20th century, the Japanese army occupied the Malay Peninsula, the Philippines, and Indonesia, causing untold suffering to the Chinese. On the Burma Road, trucks carrying foreign aid supplies to the rear for the front-line national army were driven by overseas Chinese. In the skies, many fighter pilots were also overseas Chinese.
From the day they migrated to Nanyang, the lives of countless Chinese have been marked with the imprint of "leaving the country." Their departure from their homeland was a choice made under the pressure of survival, war, poverty, political turmoil, and the misfortunes of the era. The choice to leave the country was a fear of the unknown and the future. While homesickness is moving, the struggle and decision-making, along with the courage shown when embarking on the path of leaving home, are perhaps more real and heavier than the later longing for and contemplation of home.
During the retreat of a million soldiers and civilians in the 38th year of the Republic of China (1949), many left without saying goodbye to their loved ones. The same was true for the later Thai-Burmese remnant troops and the refugees from Dachen Island; their displacement was initially accompanied by deep reluctance, but behind this "reluctance" lay a "necessity." Because there were more worthy goals to pursue behind this "necessity," they let go of the "reluctance" of homesickness. In modern China, at different times and for various reasons, countless people and families have written another history of "choice" through "separation." Some believe that page of history has been turned. But history is never just a few lines in a book that can be easily turned. History is an immortal tree, with the era as its soil, destiny as its roots, vibrant lives as its dense branches, and vivid true stories as its leaves.
A dish, a letter, a phone call, a text message, a video, or even the name of a street can evoke homesickness. Many cannot escape the internal struggle between "why leave the country" and "why feel homesick." Therefore, after leaving the country, putting down roots and living happily on the land they strive for themselves and their descendants becomes inevitable, as well as true happiness and well-being. And no matter where in the world, as long as there is one person leaving their country, the era is not perfect.
Author: Pei Sen, Film Critic.
Source Link: https://www.rti.org.tw/news?uid=3&pid=215310
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