I was born in Hong Kong, the third of five children. My father owned a barber shop in Yau Ma Tei, but he died when I was seven and my mother lost the shop, because no one wanted to work for a female boss. I went to the Tung Wah Hospital school in Yau Ma Tei. It provided free schooling and I was very lucky because we were very poor and it wasn't easy to get in. I did well and was allowed to jump classes. Unfortunately, I never finished. My schooling was cut short by the Japanese invasion. My mother took us to China once war broke out. We spent from late 1941 to 1943 in a village in Guangdong, but life was too difficult and we came back. When we got back, we found lots of people ate peanut husks to keep alive. We ate the skins of green beans. What rice we could get was used to maximum advantage. A good meal consisted of potato skins and chopped leaves all cooked together. Just a little rice thrown into the pot expanded to make a substantial meal. Whenever we could, the leftovers were shared with our neighbours, who did the same when they had food.
I remember seeing people picking through rubbish looking for food. Conditions were desperate, and I don't really know whether I should say this, but people ate human flesh. No one ever admitted doing it, but everyone knew someone who had done it.
After the Japanese left, the British troops came back and little by little they were able to save the situation. I started working at the age of 16 in a friend's store, selling tin goods. Later my younger brother started selling cloth in Li Yuen Street East in Central and I helped him. Like many people in those days, I went from one thing to another, making a few dollars here and a few dollars there until I got into the tailoring business in 1954. I didn't have an instructor. I learnt by watching and trying. I stayed in tailoring for more than 30 years.
I started on the streets, getting orders for the boss. I was able to get orders for women's overcoats. Each finished item was worth $100. I got $2 commission for each coat. In my own time, I hung around and watched the master tailors, and that's how I learnt to cut and sew. Friends who were in business liked the fact that I worked hard and were willing to give me a chance. So they said I could try my hand at making coats. I was paid $7 a coat, and it was up to me how many I made. Of that $7, I paid $4 to others to help make up the garments, so I actually made $3. The finished coats were sent to Taiwan.
Business always picked up in September and we were able to produce more than 40 coats a day. All in all, after overheads, I was able to make more than $1,000 a month. It was big money then. People worked in offices for a couple of hundred a month.
'I was married when I was 32. A relative introduced us. After I was married, I opened my own tailoring shop and business was quite good, so I opened one shop after another, until I had four in Mongkok. We sold our own finished products.