She was formally known as Ng Muk-kah, but no one ever called her that. With black trousers, white smock and hair in a bun, 'Jenny' was a fixture on the Tamar jetty for decades, where she ran Jenny's 'side party'.
Side parties were groups of women who would clean the vessels, chip off rust and repaint their sides, wash and iron laundry, and take on other ship husbandry tasks. At their height, between the 1930s and 1950s, as many as 70 women were involved in side parties.
Jenny's side party was one of the more famous. Known for her big smile and kind demeanour, Jenny is fondly remembered by generations of sailors. She received countless certificates and some medals for her work over the decades from naval officers, the government and British royalty. She died in February.
'She was an institution,' said Christopher Hammerbeck, a retired brigadier who was deputy commander of the British Forces Hong Kong, and is the current chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong. 'Everyone knew her. She was always there, so much so that she formed part of the background.'
When the ships belonging to the British, Commonwealth and American navies came in to dock, Jenny and the other side party leaders - Mary and Suzie - would each take a team of women and set about cleaning the sides of the ships, chipping off rust and repainting them.
Each side party had its own territory. Mary dealt largely with US Navy ships. It would take her party of women 10 days working 10 hours a day to repaint the sides of an aircraft carrier. Suzie took charge of the boats of the locally enlisted personnel of the Royal Navy alongside the Tamar jetty.