Chau baak

Here's Chau Pak's story.

I first met him in San Po Kong Magistracy when he was squatting in the passage outside all the different courtrooms. He seemed to know exactly when to go in, and he was playing cards.

Then the magistrate asked him, "認唔認 (Guilty or not guilty)?" "認 (Guilty)!" he says, very happily through his toothless smile. "Okay," says the magistrate, "how many previous convictions?" "Oh, it was 70-something!" "認 (Guilty)," says Chau Pak, grinning happily. "Oh well," says the magistrate.

Because opium was taken quite lightly in those days, and he'd got 70-something convictions, so he said, "Okay, one day jail or a $100 fine." And Chau Pak looked very happy.

And so, later on I found that he was an "actor"—a jou hei (做戲)—meaning it was his job to get arrested. Even though the police were not supposed to be in Walled City, they used to phone the opium den when they were going to make a raid. And they closed the den and left Grandpa Chau outside to be arrested. Everybody's happy: the police got their arrest, Chau Pak gets paid for his fine, and an extra payment of $100 or $200, and the opium den can go on doing business.

So over the years, he had to switch to heroin, because opium was getting too detectable, and heroin was much more expensive. And he didn't do very well.

And one day I found him in the streets, looking very cross. They always look cross when they're sick, as if it's my fault! "Oh," he says, "my daughter, my daughter! You, where have you been?" And I said, "Well..." "Well," he said—and I looked at his leg, which was poisoned.

Now, I'd tried to tell him about Jesus, but he'd always previously said, "我拜神 (I worship idols), I'm an idol worshipper. I can't believe in Jesus." But this time, I thought, I'll take him to a friend's hospital, because he was going to have to come off drugs if he went into the hospital to see about his poisoned legs, which was a bad injection.

So on the way to the hospital, I said, "Chau Pak, Chau Pak, when you're going through drug withdrawal, call on Jesus." "有無搞錯 (You must be joking)!" he said. And I had another brother riding with me in the taxi, and he said, "No, no, it's true! I called on Jesus, and I got off drugs miraculously. Try!"

So we took him to the Haven of Hope Hospital. And he was admitted. A week later, he's out, and he comes to see me, very happy! "I called on Jesus, and I had no pain, and I got off drugs fine! And I didn't need extra drugs in the hospital!"

Well, he was living in a cage—I mean a cage—in the road just by the Airport Hotel, and I didn't think that was a very good place to start a new life. So we invited him to come to Hang Fook Camp, which is where he lived with us.

And he got a little bit of old-age money from the government, and every month when he got it, he used to buy me bananas and sweet soup, neither of which I like! But of course I had to receive it, because he'd bought it for me. He called me his daughter. We all called him Grandpa Chau.

And later on, I got to know his real daughter, who was in the Mainland. And she came to Hong Kong, and she believed in Jesus. And her son, who was working in a hotel on a Pacific island, he came to know Jesus, and they all said, "Thank you, thank you!" because Jesus had changed their father's life and their grandfather's life.

And when I got married, Chau Pak walked me down the aisle.

周伯的故事

這是我第一次遇見周伯的情景。那是在新蒲崗裁判法院，他當時正蹲在各個法庭外的走廊裏。他似乎很清楚什麼時候該進去，當時他正在那裏打牌。

裁判官問他：「認唔認罪？」 周伯露出沒有牙齒的笑臉，非常高興地喊道：「認！」 「好，」裁判官問，「過去有多少次判罪紀錄？」 「噢，有七十幾次了！」 「認！」周伯樂呵呵地笑著說。 「好吧，」裁判官說。

在那個年代，吸食鴉片並不被視為重罪，加上他已有七十多次紀錄，裁判官便判他：「坐監一天，或罰款一百元。」周伯聽了顯得十分高興。

後來我才知道，他其實是個「演員」——也就是俗稱的「做戲」。他的工作就是替人頂罪被捕。雖然警察按例不能進入城寨，但他們每次去突擊搜查前都會先打電話通知。煙館會暫時關門，把周伯留在大門外等著被捕。這樣一來，人人高興：警察交到了差，周伯不僅有人替他付罰款，還能拿到一兩百元的額外酬勞，而鴉片煙館則可以繼續營業。

歲月流逝，後來因為鴉片煙味太容易被察覺，周伯不得不改吸海洛因（白粉）。海洛因昂貴得多，他的日子也越過越艱難。

有一天，我在街上碰到他，他看起來非常生氣。每當他們身子不適時總是滿臉怒容，彷彿一切都是我的錯似的！ 「噢，」他衝著我喊，「我個女啊！我個女！你到底去咗邊呀？」 我說：「呃……」 「哎呀，」他說——這時我注意到他的腿，因為注射感染而嚴重發炎潰爛。

其實我以前多次嘗試向他傳福音，但他總是說：「我拜神㗎，我係拜偶像嘅，信唔到耶穌。」但這一次，我想：我得帶他去朋友開的醫院。因為如果他要進醫院治療那條因打針感染而潰爛的腿，他就必須在院裡戒毒。

在去醫院的路上，我對他說：「周伯，周伯，等你毒癮發作受不了的時候，你就求告耶穌的名。」 「有無搞錯啊！」他嚷道。 當時同車坐在計程車裏的還有另一位兄弟，他也對周伯說：「真的！這是真的！我以前就是求告耶穌，奇蹟般地把毒給戒掉的。你試試看吧！」

於是我們把他送到了靈實醫院，他辦理了入院。一星期後，他出院了，興高采烈地跑前來找我： 「我求告耶穌了！我一點都不痛，順順利利就把毒戒掉了！在醫院裏我連戒毒藥都不用多吃啊！」

那時他住在機場酒店附近馬路邊的一個籠屋裡——真的是個狹小的鐵籠。我覺得那絕不是展開新生活的理想之地，於是我們邀請他來到幸福營，和我們住在一起。

他每月能領到政府的一點高齡津貼。每次一領到錢，他就會買香蕉和糖水給我——其實這兩樣我都不喜歡吃！但我當然得欣然接受，因為這是他專門買給我的。他一直叫我「我個女」。而我們所有人，都親切地稱呼他為「周伯」。

再後來，我認識了他遠在大陸的親生女兒。她來到香港後，也信了耶穌。還有她的兒子——當時在太平洋一座島嶼的酒店裏工作——後來也認識了耶穌。他們全家人都充滿感激地說：「謝謝你們，謝謝你們！」因為耶穌徹底改變了他們父親和外公的一生。

當我結婚的那一天，是周伯挽著我的手臂，親自把我送上了紅毯的另一端。