This biography is about the life’s journey of the late Tam Kwong through the eyes of his children growing up in Hong Kong and Brisbane from the 1960s. It entailed the times and life of a seafarer’s journey sailing the seven sea from 1940s during the golden age in Shipping era and eventually settled in Brisbane in the 1970s.
The writer’s recollections of memories of his late father throughout different timelines at Pearl Sea (Zhuhai, Sanzao Dao, Guangzhou)/Hong Kong/Brisbane was turned to a collection of flashbacks, moments in time, portraying a historical account of a life lived through hard work, struggles and determination to succeed. The gallery of historical account was partly based on a manuscripts hand written by Tam Kwong in 1965 and skillfully built up to form the comprehensive account of a life that set the cornerstone to the foundation of the Tam’s Clan in Brisbane.
The book represents the culmination of years of research. Diligently researched over the years and densely informative. The author’s work is a biography in full, and particularly rich on his father’s character, personality, and his way of life. The writer paints a vast canvas of his father but still maintains a sharp focus on his character, his reactions to people and events around him.
Each chapter contains a wealth of fascinating historical Information. It is especially touching to read his description of his father to whom the writer here offers a gracious tribute. Perhaps the most poignant section of the book is a collection of essays and reviews about his father. He has turned his memory of his father, among many others, into a virtual reality by display of various miniature models for those younger generations to capture their interest and brought his father’s characteristic in exhaustive details. A wonderful sense of narrative pace and style, and surely a passion for his aim .The writer succeeds in portraying his parents come to life in this clearly written while entertaining and well-researched biography – an extraordinary piece of family historical account pieced together from scratches over the years.
Overall, the book is engaging. Interspersed throughout the book are little asides of easy reading. There may be sensitively written vignettes from the life of his late father that Cameron is writing about, autobiographical episodes from his own life, or fanciful stories or determination. In short, densely intertwined with tales makes it nearly impossible for readers, once drawn in, to lose interest, an uncommon achievement of both style and substance. The real stuff is in the writer’s individual pieces – passionate, thoughtful and, usually, enlightening …riveting. The historical context of his father was well described by the writer while the strength of the book lies in the way he conveys his father’s virtues and outlook on life, which are inspirational and educational for his children and progeny to follow.
I would recommend that anyone living in Brisbane should read the book if they want to add or share the writer’s memory (of course in a less than pedantic way) of the development history of Brisbane in the recent decades as witnessed by the writer over the years. Looking back, an account of the embryonic growth of Brisbane is particularly lively and informative from the perspective of an ordinary resident ever since living through his boyhood and growing up in this wonderful city.
There are many model displays of various scale for readers to visualize the scenes mentioned in the chapters and to capture readers’ attention on some history events/places to arouse their interest from a historical perspective. As dad’s grandchildren are all born in Australia, hopefully, the grandchildren and their progenies can get to know this mild mannered chef and pastry cook and learn how he shaped the family future in the land “Down Under” where “Women glow and Men thunder.”
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