WITH home-grown world class athletes few and far between, could Hong Kong be about to adopt American skating prodigy Michelle Kwan as one of its own? The 13-year-old starlet, who is about to compete with the best in the World Championships in Tokyo, is pure Hong Kong stock.
Her parents emigrated from Hong Kong to California in the 1970s, and although born in the US, she is not like many Asian Americans who lose touch with their culture.
''She's a pure Hongkongnese, and speaks fluent Cantonese. She had to, because my parents could not speak English,'' said her father Daniel from the family's restaurant, The Golden Pheasant, in Torrance.
Kwan, who was born in Guangdong before settling in Kennedy Town, emigrated with his sister Carol to California in 1971. His wife Estelle is from Causeway Bay, and she joined him in the US after their marriage in 1974. Their parents are also in California.
The family lived in Los Angeles' Chinatown until the arrival of children caused them to seek a less hectic lifestyle.
Kwan said the family originally left the territory to pursue ''our American dream''. ''In those days there was more opportunity out here, and better education for the children,'' he said.
He said he was not sure Michelle, who has blossomed into a potential champion in the past two years, would have been able to make it had she been brought up in the territory. The facilities and training could not match the world class conditions under which she trains in Lake Arrowhead, around 100 miles from Torrance.