Book
Broken Mirror: Inside a Chinese Marriage
By Aurora Teo Mei Ling and Coylee Gamboa
By Zsarlene B. Chua
While the title — Broken Mirror — might give the impression that the biography would be highly depressing (and in some ways it is), at its core it’s a story of how one woman continually picked up the pieces and tried to find a better life despite how many times she had been broken.
Written by Coylee Gamboa, Broken Mirror tells the story of Aurora Teo Mei Ling, a Chinese Filipina who was born in La Union, the daughter of a Chinese father and his Filipina mistress. Aurora’s mother died tragically when she was young and her father brought her to live with his legal wife in Hong Kong. Understandably, the wife didn’t take too kindly to raising her husband’s bastard and thus abused Aurora — almost killing her in one incident.
“There was nothing fictional about the story. It was hard, you know, and the story grew by accretion — it didn’t happen that she dictated it to me — it came in little bits and pieces and we put it together,” said Ms. Gamboa during a press conference on Feb. 14 in Fully Booked, Bonifacio Global City.
The book is the result of more than 20 interviews done in the course of 14 months.
Ms. Gamboa noted that the names in the book were changed for both her and Aurora’s protection as Aurora’s husband did not know about the book.
The dysfunctional upbringing — an absentee father coupled with an abusive stepmother — led Aurora to look for love elsewhere, often in relationships that would turn abusive. It didn’t help that she was sexually harassed by her Hong Kong neighbors when she was younger.
Aurora went on to marry Roberto Teo Kai Lung, a Chinese taipan, and found herself living through yet another abusive relationship, which broke her so badly she attempted suicide.
Aurora described the antiquated practices of a Chinese marriage where women are treated like possessions and are supposed to obey their husband’s orders, maintain a household and suffer in silence when the man strays.
Her husband put such importance on maintaining the façade of a happy marriage so as not to lose face in front of his peers that he repeatedly denied Aurora’s request for annulment. He went to the extent of bringing her back to the house after her suicide attempt instead of rushing her to the hospital.
But despite everything, the book — and Aurora — remain hopeful. Now 50 years old, “she’s doing very well. She still hopes for love,” said Ms. Gamboa.
“Any abused woman who has been through the crucible of a shattered marriage will know what I’m talking about when I say I’m just starting to reestablish my core… Now is my time. A time to heal, to get strong, to become what I can be, and to be hopeful about the future,” says Aurora in the final chapter of the book.
Many might be moved to pity Aurora — she has, at times, noted that her life hasn’t been happy except for a few years, here and there — because of her circumstances, but her life as it told on the pages of the book shows a woman with a backbone of steel.
“What do I hope for in my future? Freedom. A tranquil life. Inner peace. Someone (who understand and accepts me) to fall in love with and share my life with. And the blossoming of my true self. There is still so much that I can, so much that I can do and so much that I long to do,” Aurora says in the epilogue.
Broken Mirror: Inside a Chinese Marriage is available in Fully Booked in both soft-bound and hard-bound copies.
