“Fat Mama“ Maria Cordero
“Fat Mama“ Maria Cordero is the legendary Macanese singer famous for her cooking show and opinionated views on the entertainment industry. She talks to June Ng about marriage, weight loss, and being poor.
I was born in Macau in the 60s and life was harsh. I moved to Hong Kong when I was 10.
I only studied primary six for two months before my dad died. Since then I’ve been working my entire life without a break—I took a week off after having a baby.
From an early age I was determined to get married. I was tired of sharing a bed with my siblings. There were nine of us living in a 100 square foot flat.
My first husband was chosen at random. He was a pianist working at the restaurant where I was the cashier. He was 22 years older than me, had no money, and was a widower with four kids. But that’s exactly why I thought he needed a wife so I offered to marry him. I didn’t even know his full name until we registered.
Marriage wasn’t exactly what I expected. We never had enough money. I worked three jobs doing just about anything you can imagine. Delivering rice, picking up garbage...
I was the worst mom and wife in the world—I gave my husband a major inferiority complex. He stopped working a few years after we got married.