A Chinese American Portrait: Mon W. "Fay" Fong

Mr. Fong served in the U.S. army air force during World War II. (Courtesy of Mon W. "Fay" Fong)

The Fong family (L to R): Fay, Natalie, Anna, and baby Steven in 1963. (Courtesy of Mon W. "Fay" Fong)

Etched in the memory of Mon W. "Fay" Fong, recollections of his childhood living amongst Chinese and other minorities in the early part of the twentieth century resonate in his mind to the present day. A son of immigrant parents, Fay was subsumed into the world of Chinese tradition and culture. Fay's story followed the path of many other second generation Chinese Americans of the time, yet diverged in particular viewpoints of Chinese American life.

Fay's father initially journeyed to Hawaii from China as a bookkeeper at a plantation. With the assistance of a matchmaker, he returned to China to marry, but was not reunited with his wife, Fay's mother, until a decade later when he relocated to the U.S. mainland. Fay's father utilized his knowledge combined with hands-on experience to open an herbal shop in Los Angeles. Fay, however, did not develop an affinity for his father's skill as he desired to pursue other professions that fascinated him.

Reflecting on his formative days, Fay felt that his parents were atypical of the ideal that America represented. American society in the first half of the twentieth century embraced affluence and extravagance, where copiousness was the epitome of the American Dream. Fay's parents were penurious in their existence, his father struggling to make ends meet for the family of five. As a young boy, Fay felt embarrassed by having to wear bargain basement and second-hand garments. He perceived his parents' frugality as a deviation from the American way of life, considering his father and mother ignorant of the American lifestyle.

During World War II, Fay served for three years in the U.S. army air force in Europe. Upon returning to Los Angeles in 1945, he attended the University of Southern California on the G.I. Bill. He married Anna Chun Fong and together they raised two children, Natalie and Steven.

During this time, Fay's parents' original intention of returning to China vanished when the Communist regime rose to power in their homeland. Fay was enormously aware of the realities of living in a country antagonistic to immigrants. This xenophobic sentiment was exemplified by the strong resistance of mainstream America to accepting, much less acknowledging, the tide of immigrants even in the post-World War II era. Fay came to the harsh realization that discrimination would erect a resolute barrier for upward mobility within American society. With this understanding, Fay pursued higher education, despite the reality that most minority college graduates would be relegated to jobs, such as produce market workers and laundrymen, no greater than those who did not have formal schooling. Fay understood what was required to establish himself and a family in America and he knew no other avenue for himself to follow but that of higher education. Culminating his studies with an engineering degree from U.S.C., Fay joined Douglas Aircraft and has now retired after forty-three years of service.

It was this persistence that gave Fay the advantage to surpass many of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles hindering other people of color from sharing in the ideals of the American Dream. Despite his early years, Fay considers himself very fortunate in that he was able to make great strides in his lifetime. From his meager beginnings, he created opportunities to advance himself and made strides for Chinese Americans within the context of American society.

A doctoral student in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego, Michelle Chung is conducting research on the historical intersections of race, gender, and class in the myriad versions of The King and I and Anna and the King.