Genes in Floating – The Immigration story by Pok-chi Lau

Curated by Xiaoyan Yang & Steven Dragonn

Pok-chi Lau’s story is worth listening to.

Pok-chi Lau is a Hong Kong man with a camera. For about half a century, he has believed in action. He believes in seeing, but not just words. More importantly, he observes and acts with his heart. One after another, what he sees are – specific individuals with flexibilities. He focuses on people from China who, for various reasons, live at the bottom of society . They have different unfortunate circumstances, but exhibit strong self-esteem. Their children have had varying experiences in their adopted cultures. I can’t forget the words he has said, the questions he has asked, the experience he has encountered, and the bleak, restrained expression he has displayed.

Here’s one of ten thousand stories he’s shared, from his book, “Dream Again, Golden Mountain”

“Min Ouyang is a mixed blood- half Chinese and half Mayan of Indian origin. He built a nursing home behind Sun Yat-sen memorial hall, where single elderly Chinese live for the rest of their lives. Among them, there is a more than 70-year-old man, lying on the bed and dying. Min Ouyang asked him if he wanted anything. The old man replied that he had never had sex with a woman and wanted to try. A prostitute from Mexico was called in for service. Although she was happy to help, the old man could not engage.. Finally, the three of them just held one another and cried.”

Floating genes, along with the collapse of traditional China, permeate in the grim process of globalization, and accumulate behind the spoken customs and visual memory of all Chinese from generation to generation.  This  powerfully shapes the world’s perception of today’s China. For a long time, floating genes have been covered by the obvious, bustling reality. Pok-chi Lau uses his camera to pursue the hidden interior to reveal eternal timeless image, allowing us the opportunity to watch, meditate, sigh, and awaken.

In fact, we have all come this way! We are the direct descendants of these floating genes, and we are closely intertwined with genes that are separated by generations, and regions. Now, we gather in the personal observation of Pok-chi Lau, and hold together to cry because we have seen the truth, and we are also living in the truth. 

It is fate that we must continue to float. The story of floating genes is long and enduring, from the distant past to the eternal future.

Xiaoyan Yang
2017/7/16, on my way to Vancouver