This British director’s surprising connection to Southeast Asian war history
- British director and producer Tom St John Gray has come full circle: his latest docus take him back to his dad’s old stamping ground of Southeast Asia, where he is giving a voice to those long silenced
“A bloody disgrace!” exclaims Peter Foo, on the coast at Liverpool, England. The Liverpudlian is relating the story of his father, one of 2,300 Chinese seamen secretly deported from Britain – in his case to Singapore – after helping the Allies win World War II. Like hundreds of other children from suddenly shattered families, Foo grew up believing his father had inexcusably “done a runner”.
In Melbourne, Australia, teacher Kerry Ang is explaining to pupils the intricacies of the White Australia policy, a nakedly racist government strategy to keep out non-white immigrants and eject “undesirable” coloured elements already in the country.
Although implemented in 1901, it didn’t stop Canberra recruiting resident Chinese war refugees to the Australian Army – among them Ang’s father, Tony, possibly a Hong Kong native (records are unclear), who had arrived in 1942.
Foo and Ang are speaking in The Exiles, parts one and two, respectively. Relatives lost forever, splintered relationships, official cover-ups lasting decades and dispiriting DNA test results are the heart-rending diet, at times, of documentary filmmaker Tom St John Gray. The director and producer is known for his work with Singapore-based CNA/Mediacorp, which is responsible for The Exiles as well as some of his other films.
One wonders if deeply affecting content exacts an emotional toll.
