Ufrieda Ho

Ho Sing Kee was full of quiet hope for what lay ahead as he set foot on the Durban docks, but he would never lose the status of a second-class citizen. He was the geel gevaar, "the yellow peril" in apartheid South Africa, and he soon learned that the streets were not lined with gold. He could not afficher plus live where he chose and would not get the jobs reserved for whites. He became a "fahfee man" in South Africa's black townships, running the small-time illegal gambling operations that became his economic lifeline. Fahfee is a betting game based on numbers drawn from dreams, mysterious symbols, and life' unexpected coincidences. Perfectly suited to survive in the dark shadows of South Africa's policies of racial segregation, Ho Sing Kee always dodged the police, always looked to maximize his winnings, and always tried to ensure a better life for his wife and four South African-born children-until one night in April 1993 when tragedy struck. Ufrieda Ho is an award-winning journalist and one of the daughters of Ho Sing Kee. In this wonderfully textured memoir she explores her family's history and arrival in South Africa. Ho describes growing up with her siblings in a world in which she is too white for some and too black for others, and the question of "who belongs" haunts this evocative account. afficher moins