大侠行天下日记 我见我闻我思 03/16

重返老家 回首旧事

昨天上午我和李雄兄陪同赫里斯郡第四区郡长卡格一行走访了休斯敦国际区内的普德精舍， 并承见曇法师及各位师兄师妹之热情接待 ，走遍了精舍内大小禪堂佛殿， 并由法师向访客细述多年来在休市推广之各项身心修行之工作， 為我们的社区带来了心灵和精神重建之巨大贡献。

当我再次回到自己奠基亲自督导兴建的两层旧楼时 ，多少旧事又再次涌上心头。

八十年代中期， 德州休斯敦正在席捲一阵金融风暴， 几乎所有大小银行都已关闭或正在进行重整之中 ，美国联邦政府把收回来的无数资產包括商塲 、办公大楼进行拍卖 ，有的甚至免费接收， 真是一片愁云惨雾 ，当时我们创办的美南新闻刚过六年， 但是， 华亚裔移民开始向德州不断移动 ，其中包括来自东南亚之华裔难民最為顕注。

八O年代初期， 有天我接受了前来休斯敦投资的华裔殷商王增达董事长之晚宴款待 ，我非常淸楚的记得他对我说，「李兄 ，我多次到美南地区考察 ，最后决定来投资兴建顶好商圈之原因，是看了你在休士顿和达拉斯出版的报纸， 已经有那麼多商家广告， 这给我有十足之信心。」这段对话也是促成我决心追随王董事长从城中搬到西南区参与新华埠之兴建， 其中最重要的工作就是筹建新的报社总部， 経过一年多的筹划， 一幢我们认為美崙美奐之媒体大楼 ，更是我们多年梦想之实现， 可是， 我们却遇上意想不到的困扰， 由于当时预算关係， 报社用地只有买到百利大道后半段， 正好是在一家油漆店后方， 当时那名白人店主来访要以每呎二十五元出售门前之土地， 否则他就加上铁栏， 这分明是敲诈行為，当然我们无法接受 ，不到一个月他果然在我们大门前建上围栏并把垃圾箱正放在大楼门口， 这是多麼令人髪指而又无奈之事， 我们进入印报厂的十轮大卡车只有勉强借用隔壁教会之停车塲， 我们等于被包围了。

从那天被围之后 ，我心中又急又气， 我们决定搬家， 有天来到不远的百利大道上看见一块六点二亩的空旷土地， 由於当时景气低迷 ，我们使尽全力买下了这块杂草丛生的荒芜之地 ，上天不负苦心人， 在好友赖大律师之相助下， 我们找到了中台禪寺普德精舍的新主人， 於是我们把这笔收入投资到新的计划中。

今天回盼过去艰辛岁月 ，我们接受过的挑战以及多少和我们共同奋斗过的同仁及支持者， 我们真是感恩再感恩。

普德精舍的禅堂传来阵阵的诵经祈福法会声， 今午再次回到老家， 心情澎湃和激动 ，同时也体会到俗语所说「因祸得褔」之道理。

Return To Our Old Office And Look Back Into The Past

Yesterday morning Kenneth Li and I accompanied by Commissioner R. Jack Cagle visited Joan Tan Shih Abbot of Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston in the International District.

We received a very warm welcome and saw the Zen Hall which serves the great spiritual needs in our community.

When I returned to this two-story building that we built in the mid -1980’s where we spent seventeen years in this location, I was filled with many memories from my life here.

In the early 1980’s, Texas was in a big recession. Many banks and saving and loans had been closed by the FDIC. Many buildings and shopping centers were auctioned off. The only thing new were the Asians. Many overseas immigrants were moving in here during that period of time.

I remembered that I had been invited to a dinner party by the developer, Mr. T.D. Wang. During the event he told me that, “Mr. Lee, the reason I am very confident is that when I read your newspapers in Houston and Dallas, I found out there are so many Asian and Chinese advertisements that it made me decide to build the Ding Ho shopping center on Bellaire Blvd.” 

I was so moved that our newspapers were such an important reason for him to invest in southwestern Houston, which later became the new Chinatown.

After one year, I decided to move our company to southwest Houston and located at 12129 Bellaire Blvd. Due to our limited budget, we could only afford to buy piece of land behind Bellaire Blvd. Later, after we built the two-story building and moved in late 1987, one day the owner of the paint store in front of me came to see me and asked me to pay $25 dollars per square foot for use of his land. It was blackmail, of course. I refused it. After a couple of months, he built an iron fence and put garbage tents in front of our main door. We felt very angry and anxious, but there was nothing we could do, because he had the right to do what he did. Since then, we decided that we must move out to a different location in order to have enough space to have the big trucks deliver our newspaper rolls. 

One day when I was traveling on Bellaire Blvd., I saw a for sale sign on 11122 Bellaire Blvd. I made up my mind to buy it and with the help from my good friend attorney Mr. Andy Lai, we were able to sell the building to Chung Tai Center. I used the funds to make the down payment to purchase the land at the new location.

Looking back, during the difficult years of my life, with great assistance from our colleagues and supporters, we were able to survive and make Southern. News Group a continuing service to our community.

As the old saying goes, it was worth the time to me, and the best time when I returned to my old home. I felt very moved and excited. We are so grateful this great land has given us so much opportunity.