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I came to Hong Kong when I was 10. I’m the eldest daughter, and I was given 30 cents daily to cook for nine people.
One day, just after my father had passed away, my mother said: “Maria, do you know we have to pay electric bills?” I was 11. She laughed, gave me the bill and walked away. I asked neighbors what I should do, and they told me
I had to go to work.
I didn’t feel bitter. She had to give the bill to me because I’m the eldest. At that very moment, things changed and I grew up.
I wasn’t legally allowed to work, so the daughter of my neighbor lent me her ID card, and I worked under her name for many, many years.
One of the jobs I had was carrying sacks of rice.
But you learn to be tough among the coolies, who wouldn’t even help lift the sacks onto my shoulders. I had to swear and yell so they would respect me. Before this, when I argued with people, my throat would just lock and I’d cry.
When I was discovered, and it was just like “My Fair Lady.” They put makeup on me. They made me wear high heels. My only objective was not to go back to the old life.
I was awarded the Medal of Honor by the HKSAR government and I won many singing awards. But if they get broken, I just throw them away. They’re all in my head.
I have a friend who had a spotlight on every medal on his wall. I said, “Jesus Christ—if you always remember these golden years, if you come down one day you’ll be finished.”
He committed suicide.
I can basically talk about everything. If you want to chat about diabetes, I can do that. Talking about old people? I know it. Come on, there are 32 people in my family. My mother-in-law is 89 years old and my youngest grandchild is 3. I’ve been through everything.
I have a daily cooking program in China. I go there once a month for three days. I cook 31 dishes every day in front of a live audience. I answer questions and solve people’s life problems while I’m cooking.
I made crispy beef jerky for my husband, because he likes beef, but there’s only crispy pork jerky on the market. I succeeded after working on it until 2am yesterday. He doesn’t know about it yet.
I never ask my husband where he is, what he is doing, what time he is coming home and whom he is with. If you’re a successful woman, you never use those “W” words. Just call him and say you love him. Let him feel how important he is.
No matter how late I come home, I wake him up just to get him to wait for me by the door.
Of course I’m capable of taking care of myself. If you love him too much and let him sleep, you’re wrong.
Men love taking care of women. If you don’t need his care: believe me, someone else will.
During my first marriage, I did everything. I shined his shoes. I ironed his shirts. In the end, he said that I was a control freak, controlling everything from the handkerchief he should use to the shoes he wore. Ha! Tell me earlier, and I wouldn’t have done so much!
A tumor was found in my uterus earlier this year. I felt so mad at first. Why me? But I guess if you’re a woman and you don’t deliver a son, you deliver something.
My husband promised me that if I survived the surgery, he’d marry me again. The moment I woke up, I said to him, “Hey! You said you would marry me again!”
We went to Las Vegas to renew our vows. Before the actual wedding, I hadn’t seen my husband, and he didn’t know what I would be wearing.
I walked in and he was so handsome. My husband said I was reborn after the surgery. He said, “Let’s start a new life together.” Whoa. I cried so hard.  
When I was young, I wanted a car first and then a house. Now I see the world differently. No matter how many houses you have, you only sleep on half of the bed.
As an entertainer, my bosses are the people who recognize me. I’m an old woman. I didn’t even finish Primary Six. But I feel a lot of love and I really thank them.
I love Hong Kong. You complain about the medical system? It’s one of the best. The immigration is the fastest. If you go somewhere else—my god—you don’t know what the hell they’re doing!
My husband had an accident and he stayed in the hospital for six days and it only cost $600. It saved his life!
If you have lived in Hong Kong for more than 10 years, your life is a beautiful life.

HK Magazine met Fat Mama at the newly opened JLL rooftop farm at the Bank of America Tower. Check out her cooking show “Good Cheap Eats 2” on TVB Jade on Mon-Fri, 10:30pm.


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Maria Cordero

Magazines

Singer, actress, and cooking show host Maria Cordero, better known as “Fat Mama,” is a fixture in the entertainment scene. The Macanese native tells Yannie Chan about working as a coolie, how to keep a man’s heart and what it’s like to be diagnosed with a tumor.
