My grandmother’s scent

I was born in Taiwan and my upbringing there during the 1980s was very typical for the times, particularly when it came to matters of domestic discipline.

My mother bought a cane for me when I was just five years old. Prior to this, I had experienced a few informal smacked bottoms and legs but when I started school, I guess it was felt I was old enough for more formal punishments. Even so, it is of course too much to expect young children to be totally co-operative when they are being beaten – no child actually wants the cane!

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