Coming out soon: Swimming to Freedom - by Kent Wong

550 thousands, according to unofficial records, is the number of freedom swimmers who, during the Seventies in China, tried to cross the strait between mainland China (Guangdong Province) and Hong Kong in an attempt to reach freedom and a better future from the one the Maoist regime was shaping for them. 

The swimmers were mainly young people, youth who had been deprived of the right to an education by the Cultural Revolution, but who still had dreams. Because of those dreams, they decided to swim.

Swimming to Freedom by Kent Wong (Adams Press)
To be released in April, 2021

Kent Wong was one of them. Born in 1948, he has decided to tell his story now, after so many years. It was not an easy decision to take, but read the book and you will agree with me that it was the right one. His memoir, which talks about himself and his family, is also about a piece of Chinese history that few people know of. It is a tribute to those who made it but also to those who perished while trying. There are no records whatsoever of them. 

Kent tried twice before succeeding on his third attempt to escape mainland China and the regime. Some swimmers made it on the first attempt, some made it after several. Some, as I said, did not make it at all. Some swam, some other built rafts or looked for local fishermen's help. 

After getting safely to Hong Kong, Kent worked there for about one year before migrating to the United States, of which he is today a proud citizen. He was able to reunite all of his family there, in Seattle, but he has never forgotten his Chinese origins. 

"For us, America has become are new home, our only home where we have rooted our family trees. But we still love Cantonese food more than American food, still care about our parents, ad still drive our children to excel, often excessively. We just can't help it."

In this book, he recounts his youth on the background of Communist China in the making. He tells it from the point of view of a person whose life and family were deeply affected by what the government and the party were deciding for their people, experimenting on their people, hiding from their people. His temperament was quite nervous when young and for him it was difficult to accept the reality, the blind support and love given to Chairman Mao by so many Chinese. He tried to avoid conflict as much as possible, since after his father's forced exile, he was the only man in the house, left to watch over his Mommy and his 4 sisters. He was a witness of the Red Guards' rise and folly, of the fight between different factions and of how Mao's plan partly worked but somehow got out of his control. The way the Red Guards behaved brings to mind the kids in Lord of the Flies: leave a group of children without guide and they will probably get wild, not stopping, not even in front of death - until they are tired of their game and get on with a new one.

It is a very interesting reading, a book I do recommend, to all of those who have an interest in Chinese modern history but also to those who simply enjoy a good book, whatever its content.