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Hong Kong
Speeches
Chong Kin Wo
President, Wanchai Ferry Peking Dumpling
In 1977, I came to Hong Kong from
Qingdao in Mainland China with two little daughters. I had no relatives in Hong
Kong and could not understand the language. I had to worry about meals,
accommodation and schooling for my children, and I really didn't know how to
support ourselves. Even though, I was a trained nurse in China, I had to work
odd jobs in restaurants. To make matters worse, I suffered a back injury and
became unemployed. Our landlord asked for the rent, my children needed to go to
school and we all had to eat. When I laid in my hospital bed, tears began to
flood down my cheeks. Foremost in my mind were my two helpless children.
People came from the Social Welfare
Department to offer help but I cried again. I came to Hong Kong to accomplish
things and didn't want to be a burden to society. I resolutely declined,
determined to make my own way.
After my stay at the hospital, I went to
the wharf to sell Peking dumplings with a unique recipe passed down through my
family for generations.
Still not yet fully recovered, I had to
prepare the dumplings on the street. After school, my 8-year-old daughter would
look after her 4-year-old sister. Instead of returning home, they would come to
help me in my work. As my little daughter was only a bit taller than the bucket,
her arms would be fully dipped into the water while she was washing bowls. It
really pained me deeply to see her tiny hands whipped red by the cold sea
breeze.
As an illegal street vendor, I was
always at risk of being arrested and I had to be constantly on the lookout.
Since it was very difficult to escape with a cart full of boiling water, the
police and hawker control team had caught me several times, even in front of my
children. Since then, they became terrified of the police and hawker control
team.
While my eldest daughter helped me to
prepare dumplings, my 4-year-old daughter voluntarily offered to act as a
lookout. Therefore, every day after school or on holidays, she would stand at
the wharf and keep watching. When she spotted the orange hawker control car or
policemen, she would loudly cried out, "Mommy, run away!". As soon as I heard my
daughter's panic yell, we would rapidly escape and only come out again after
they had left.
My little daughter was really like a
little sentry. However, one time when she was on duty, she suddenly saw a small
dog. She was so excited to play with the dog and she completely forgot about her
task. The police came and I was arrested that day.
When my little daughter heard the
uproar, she immediately broke out wailing loudly. She continued crying as she
ran towards her mother's stall. When she stopped in front of the cart, she
pulled at the trouser legs of the policeman, looked up and begged him with
tears, "Sir, let my mother go. It's not her fault. It's Fung-fung's (her pet
name) fault. Fung-fung was naughty and couldn't notice you." The young policeman
was touched by her sincere request.
Initially, I faced the arrest calmly. I
understood that I had to be a street vendor to earn a living but it was also
their job to arrest illegal street vendors. If they didn't arrest me, they would
have a difficult time reporting back to their superiors. When I saw my little
daughter begging and the elder daughter crying on one side, I suddenly couldn't
hold my tears. It's not because I was being arrested or complaining about my
fate, but it's caused by a strong feeling of self-reproach, "Kin Wo, Kin Wo, how
come you put pressure that even adults can't endure on the shoulders of an 8 and
4-year-old child. Are you still qualified to be their mother?" Looking at my
children, I could only cry and didn't say a word.
As a mother, I chose to follow an
arduous but steadfast path and bring the children up to become useful
individuals. It was no disgrace to be a street vendor because I always operated
my business honestly, hoping to save enough to open my own shop in the future.
Driven by this strong desire, I worked
very hard for seven years. For the first five years, I slept on the floor with a
mat as all the space in our home was used for production during the day. I
gritted my teeth and worked hard to get through any adversity. Finally, I opened
my first dumpling factory in 1985.
This transformed me from a woman who was
only concerned with providing meals and shelter for my children into a woman
with her own business. Although this was a long and arduous path to travel and
there would be even more unexpected difficulties ahead. I would work even harder
to make good products.
In 1987, I moved to my second
factory and in 1989, I moved to the third. In 1994, I opened my own specialty
store and in 1996, I could finally open a modern factory conforming to
international standards, producing excellent dumplings. At that time, an even
bigger turning point occurred in my life. The third largest U.S. food
manufacturer invited me to set up a joint venture production facility in
Mainland China, exploring the huge market of 13 billion people. We are even
preparing to bring Chinese dumplings to the consumers around the world.
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