7th Mar 2010 (4)
A BRITISH CROWN COLONY
I am the eldest of three daughters from our parents. As we grew older,
our personalities and values were very different. In the 1960’s, we were
in our late teens, my second younger sister belonged the a-go-go type;
wearing thick make-up, false eyelashes. The bee-hive hairstyle was in
fashion, and she tried hard to keep up with the trend. She even wore a
blond wig in order to look like an European girl, ha ha!! The youngest
sister was dainty and I myself was a Tom-boyish type. I used to play
with the boys in school in the recess, ran and caught the boys by pulling
the back of their shirts!! I was often proud of my long arms and fingers
when I measured mine with the boys in school!! I often rolled up
newspapers to make a sword and played fencing with the boys. When
we were at our teens, my second sister used to get the attention of the
boys. She is my mum’s favourite as she often said things that were
pleasing to my Mum’s ears. My dad, who was born and brought up in
Hong Kong which was a British colony, was subservient to foreigners,
especially the English people, and he looked down the blue workers.
During that period, most of the senior positions in the Hong Kong
Government and the large enterprises in the private sector were taken
up by English expatriates. Therefore the status of the English
expatriates was very high. While the majority of the Chinese people
were struggling for a comfortable living at that time, the English
expatriates enjoyed luxurious lifestyles, like having the luxury of living in
the Peak, overlooking the Hong Kong harbour. Most expatriate families
employed Amahs, a local name for female servants. Their uniform is
usually a white Chinese top with collar, and a pair of black trousers.
Their trade mark is their long pleaded tail of hair running at their back.
Some were known to stay single until they retired.
In the 1980's, thanks to the hardworking and the talent in the
entrepreneurship of the Chinese, my second younger sister at that time
was married to an English man, and they like many other people, were
enjoying the prosperity in the small business she had set up with her
husband. She started to glamorous herself by purchasing a second
hand convertible Royce Rolls with the top opened and driving around in
town. She employed a Philippine servant and called him her 'butler'.
With Hong Kong short of labour at that time, it was and is still very
common for working couples to employ maids from the Philippines and
the wages were affordable for many people.
Yuen-yee
A BRITISH CROWN COLONY
I am the eldest of three daughters from our parents. As we grew older,
our personalities and values were very different. In the 1960’s, we were
in our late teens, my second younger sister belonged the a-go-go type;
wearing thick make-up, false eyelashes. The bee-hive hairstyle was in
fashion, and she tried hard to keep up with the trend. She even wore a
blond wig in order to look like an European girl, ha ha!! The youngest
sister was dainty and I myself was a Tom-boyish type. I used to play
with the boys in school in the recess, ran and caught the boys by pulling
the back of their shirts!! I was often proud of my long arms and fingers
when I measured mine with the boys in school!! I often rolled up
newspapers to make a sword and played fencing with the boys. When
we were at our teens, my second sister used to get the attention of the
boys. She is my mum’s favourite as she often said things that were
pleasing to my Mum’s ears. My dad, who was born and brought up in
Hong Kong which was a British colony, was subservient to foreigners,
especially the English people, and he looked down the blue workers.
During that period, most of the senior positions in the Hong Kong
Government and the large enterprises in the private sector were taken
up by English expatriates. Therefore the status of the English
expatriates was very high. While the majority of the Chinese people
were struggling for a comfortable living at that time, the English
expatriates enjoyed luxurious lifestyles, like having the luxury of living in
the Peak, overlooking the Hong Kong harbour. Most expatriate families
employed Amahs, a local name for female servants. Their uniform is
usually a white Chinese top with collar, and a pair of black trousers.
Their trade mark is their long pleaded tail of hair running at their back.
Some were known to stay single until they retired.
In the 1980's, thanks to the hardworking and the talent in the
entrepreneurship of the Chinese, my second younger sister at that time
was married to an English man, and they like many other people, were
enjoying the prosperity in the small business she had set up with her
husband. She started to glamorous herself by purchasing a second
hand convertible Royce Rolls with the top opened and driving around in
town. She employed a Philippine servant and called him her 'butler'.
With Hong Kong short of labour at that time, it was and is still very
common for working couples to employ maids from the Philippines and
the wages were affordable for many people.
Yuen-yee
A traffic police directing traffic
Cental District in HK with the old HSBC
headquarter in the background
headquarter in the background
The Queen visiting a market in HK
