韩素音记述林语堂

Excerpt from "My House Has Two Doors"(Jonathan Cape, London, 1980)

Now the Board of Directors of Nanyang University had to find a chancellor or university president who would pick out staff, professors, lecturers. Within the Board was a strong pro-Kuomintang wing, which had the blessing of the American Consulate. The Americans thought the British weak-kneed, and the important pro-Chiang Kaishek lobby in America also became interested in Nanyang University. An anti-communist Chinese university in Singapore might not be a bad thing. It might offset the appeal of the jungle guerrillas; it might also, in the long run, offset Malay 'leftist' tendencies influenced by the Communist Party of Indonesia. For despite the sedulous repetition of the 'loyal Malay' theme(loyal to what?), none knew better than the British that the Malays were also nationalists, sharing a common culture, language and script with Indonesia; and that the Islamic world, from Algeria to the Philippines, was effervescent. There were fears of pan-Arab, pan-Islamic movements affecting Malaya. Utusan Melayu, the Malay newspaper, reported favourably on upsurges against colonial domination in Iraq, Syria and Algeria, and Egypt's Nasser was immensely popular.

The choice of an anti-communist chancellor for Nanyang University fell upon Lin Yutang, author of My Country and My People. Lin Yutang had lived in America for a little over two decades. A two weeks' trip to Chungking during the Sino-Japanese war had been his only wartime excursion in Asia, but he was in Taiwan in 1953, actively denouncing Communist China, and participating in the formation of an Anti-Communist League which had the backing of Chiang Kaishek, and of course of the C.I.A.

Tan Laksai was none too pleased with the choice. Lin Yutang arrived in Singapore with his family; his daughters and son-in-law were also given jobs in Nanyang University. The Lins were provided with a bungalow by the sea and a Cadillac or two. Lin Yutang then started to recruit staff, and I received a little note from him, asking me to drop in for a talk.

There was a mat with WELCOME written on it at the front door and in the cool living room orchids hung from the ceiling in fenestrated pots. There was some extravagant carved furniture and jades, kindly loaned by the Tiger Balm king's daughter, Aw Hsiang. Her father, Aw Boon Haw, had mansions filled with priceless jades both in Singapore and in Hong Kong, and I had visited them with proper clucking awe. Rotund and charmingly effusive, Mrs Lin greeted me; Lin Yutang had impish bespectacled eyes and in spite of his small size was truculent. 'Now I want you to tell me all about the situation here in twenty minutes,' he commanded. I began to speak, but Lin's attention span was short. That creeping glaze, that fixity of face which denotes a mind turned off, already astride another subject ... I cut my exposé down to five minutes, and he nodded sagely. 'Mummy,' said he, turning to his wife, 'we must get around to see something of Malaya.' 'If it's safe,' said Mrs Lin. I assured her it was, and mimicked Ah Mui, my former maid. 'Only bad people get killed, people like police officers.' They looked stunned. 'Will you have some cawfee?' said Mrs Lin.

We then talked of the book Dr Lin would write about South East Asia, of the bastion that Nanyang University would prove against communism ... Lin Yutang had already announced this as his intention. He then asked me to be Professor of English Literature at Nanyang. I shook my head. I did not know anything about English literature. 'But you write English,' he exclaimed. 'Not English literature.' I did not want to teach Dickens and Thackeray, worthy though they might be. 'I'd rather be the college health physician; all the students admitted to the University should have a medical examination.' He agreed, but when I had gone summoned a press conference and told them, 'Han Suyin has accepted the post of Professor of English Literature at Nanyang University.' This appeared in the Straits Times the next day. I wrote to the Straits Times to deny it, and to explain that all I could do at the moment was to offer my services as college health physician.

My denial led to another interview with Lin Yutang. He was a bit ruffled. 'Why don't you give up medicine?' As a professor I would have ample time to write. 'We'll see to it that you don't have more than six hours a week of teaching.' I tried to explain my idea of literature; that we must create an Asian type of literature; we needed something other than nineteenth-century English writers ... but his mind wandered again, and I left.

Throughout the rest of l954, while Nanyang University was a-building, I did not approach him again. Lin Yutang made pronouncements, called press conferences, gave talks revealing a blithe unconsciousness of the situation in Malaya. He declared a university a place of leisure, with time to smoke a pipe and to browse. To the rickshaw puller who had gone hungry, sacrificing three days of earnings to build Nanyang, this was fury-rousing. People began to dislike him intensely; and the students of the Chinese high schools mounted campaigns against him and called upon the Board of Directors to force him out. In this Lin helped them greatly. For his idea was to start with a budget of incommensurate dimension, more in keeping with the requirements of a wealthy American university than one funded by the people of Malaya. He offered his recruited professors transport by air for themselves and their families, and transport for their household goods. He demanded luxurious bungalows for them.

The Hokkien Club was holding meetings in great perturbation. They contemplated in baffled silence the bills which Lin Yutang kept sending in. They received protest delegations from the students. By December, Lin's relations with the Board were very strained. He then took action in ways considered un-Chinese, and above all discourteous. Thus he summoned a press conference of Western newsmen(Chinese journalists were absent) to make his disagreement known to the English newspapers; to them he complained that the financial outlays provided were insufficient. This was considered gross betrayal by the Chinese, who in Malaya as elsewhere prefer to settle all disputes within their own community, without resort to the press, especially a foreign press. When questioned by a journalist, Lin said that Malaya and Singapore were 'outposts of civilization', hardship areas calling for increased financial recompense. By publicizing the quarrel before the Board had finalized its meetings, Lin Yutang had made his sponsors, and in particular Tan Laksai, lose face. In early 1955 Lin Yutang and his family were quietly paid a very large indemnity by Tan Laksai personally, and returned to America.

---

陈德彰 林克美译（《韩素音自传——吾宅双门》，中国华侨出版公司，1991年12月）

这时南洋大学董事会需要物色一名校长，由校长选择职员、教授、讲师。董事会里有一股很强的亲国民党势力，并得到了美国领事的支持。美国人认为英国人优柔寡断，美国重要的亲蒋游说团对南洋大学也发生了兴趣。在新加坡有一所反共的华文大学也许不是一件坏事。它可能会抵销森林游击队的吸引力，从长远看，还可能抵销受印尼共产党影响的马来“左”派的倾向。因为，除了一再重复“效忠的马来人”(忠诚于什么?)这一主题外，谁也没有英国人更清楚，马来人也是民族主义者，和印尼有着共同的文化、语言和文学，从阿尔及利亚到菲律宾，整个回教世界都在翻腾。当局担心泛阿拉伯运动和泛回教运动会影响马来亚。马来文报纸《马来前锋报》对伊拉克、叙利亚和阿尔及利亚反对殖民统治的斗争的高涨的报导是赞同的。埃及的纳赛深得人心。

南洋大学的反共校长的职位结果落在林语堂(《吾国与吾民》一书的作者)的身上。林语堂在美国生活了二十多年，抗日战争期间只到过亚洲一次，即去重庆两个星期。可是1953年时他却在台湾，卖力地谴责共产党的中国，参与建立了受到蒋介石，当然还有美国中央情报局支持的反共联盟。

对于这一人选陈六使并不满意。林语堂带着一家子来到了新加坡，他的女儿、女婿也都在南洋大学安排了工作。学校为林家提供了海边的一幢平房。还有一辆卡迪拉克小轿车。林语堂随即着手招聘教职工。我收到他一张条子，要我顺便去谈谈。

大门口的蹭鞋垫上写有“欢迎”的字样，凉爽的客厅里的梁上挂着种在有孔花盆中的吊兰。屋里有一些精致的雕刻家具和玉器，那是万金油大王的女儿胡仙借给他们的。胡仙的父亲胡文虎在新加坡和香港都有许多房子，里面摆满了无价的玉器，我曾十分敬佩地拜访过。圆圆胖胖、热情好客的林太太对我表示欢迎。林语堂长着一双叫人捉摸不定的眼睛，戴着眼镜，个头不高，却很傲慢。他命令说：“现在我要你用二十分钟讲一下这儿的情况。”我开始讲起来。可是他只注意听了一会儿。他的眼神慢慢发呆，脸上没有表情，表明他的思想已转到了另外一个题目……我把我的叙述压缩到五分钟，他道貌岸然地点了点头。他转过身对他太太说：“妈妈，我们必须出去看看马来亚。”林太大答道：“如果安全的话。”我对她说肯定安全，并且学着我原来的女佣阿梅的口气说：“只有坏人才会被打死，像警官一类人。”他们楞住了。林太太问我：“你要喝点咖啡吗?”

然后我们谈到了林博士将要写的关于东南亚的书，南洋大学将成为反共堡垒……林语堂已经宣布这将是他的宗旨。接着他请我担任南洋大学的英国文学教授。我摇了摇头，对于英国文学我一窍不通。“可是你用英文写作啊，”他惊叫道。我说：“可不是英国文学。”我不想教狄更斯和萨克雷，尽管那很值得教。“我宁可担任学校的保健医生。所有被录取的学生都要进行身体检查。”他同意了。可是我走了以后，他却举行了一次记者招待会，对他们说：“韩素音接受了南洋大学英国文学教授的职务。”这条消息登在第二天的《海峡时报》上。我给《海峡时报》写了一封信，澄清说目前我所能做的只是担任学校的保健医生。

这一否认导致了和林语堂的另一次会晤。他有点不高兴。“你为什么不放弃从医？”作为一名教授我会有充裕的时间进行写作。“我们会安排让你每周的课时不超过六节。”我试图向他解释我对于文学的看法，即我们必须创造一种亚洲式的文学，我们需要的不是十九世纪的英国作家……可是他又走神了，我只好告辞。

1954年剩下的时间，南洋大学在建设中，我没有再去找过他。林语堂发表了许多公告，举行了一系列记者招待会，并多次发表讲话，看来他对马来亚局势显然太不了解。他把大学说成是个悠闲的地方，有时间可以抽抽烟斗，翻翻书报杂志。这可激怒了那些饿着肚子一星期捐献三天收入的三轮车夫们。人们很快开始讨厌他，各华文中学开展了反对他的运动，要求董事会勒令他辞职。从这一点来说，他大大帮了他们的忙。他的想法一开始就要一个无比庞大的预算，完全像一所有钱的美国大学那样而不是马来亚华人集资办的大学。他要给所有聘用的教授和他们的家属提供机票，并出钱将他们家里用的东西运来。他还要给他们安排十分讲究的房子。

丹戎禺俱乐部感到担忧，于是召开了会议。他们闷闷不乐地思忖着林语堂不断送来的帐单。他们接见学生们派来的抗议代表团。到了十二月，林和董事会的关系已很紧张。于是他采取了不像中国人行事的、很无礼的行动。他召集了一次西方记者的记者招待会(没有华人记者出席)，把他与董事会的不一致告诉了各家英文报纸。他对他们埋怨说提供的经费不够。在华人看来，这是赤裸裸的背叛。在马来亚也好，在别处也好，华人喜欢自己内部解决各种分歧，而不通过报界，尤其是外国的报纸。在答复一位记者提问时，林说道，马来亚和新加坡是“文明的前哨”，属于困难地区，需要增加财政报酬。由于林语堂在董事会最后作出决定之前就将争端公诸于众，使他的资助者们，尤其是陈六使丢了面子。1955年初林语堂和他家里人收到了陈六使亲自私下送来的一大笔赔偿费，回美国去了。