I am from Sai-Gong in Hong Kong. My father was a sailor for long haul sea transportation. He had been to many places. So I was interested in sea transportation since a young age and eventually I found myself coming to the UK. Before that, in Hong Kong, I did very well at school so all my teachers liked me a lot.

I joined the Hong Kong Police Force after college. I had never planned to be a policeman. I just somehow passed the tests and subsequently became a policeman. I stayed in the force for about 4 years but didn’t feel life as a policeman particularly interesting. I thought I’d better come to come to the UK for something new. In 1961, with my mother’s blessing, I arrived in London.

A friend of mine was working in a Chinese restaurant called Fan-Won-Lou in Kensington. He introduced me to the boss there but since I had never worked in catering, I accepted the offer with hesitance. The boss said to me, “Well, you’ll learn to do it through working. You can do it sooner or later”. That was how I got into catering. I worked there for about 2 years, the pay was not that good. I got a little over £5 a week. I was about 23 or 24 then. But I thought the kitchen has no future for me, so I quit the job and got another one at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane.

After a year or so, I left the Hilton, and found a job in Poplar. Limehouse in those days was a busy place. There were dozens of Chinese restaurants along the road where the Church stood. Working in the restaurant I witnessed many incidents where fights breaking out be-tween customers and restaurant workers. I was a waiter there so sometimes we’d have to defend ourselves with wood sticks. Then the police would come and after some talking, things would get back to normal like nothing has happened!

I had been living in different places, in particular London’s old Chinatown in Limehouse. When the east London docks declined, many Chinese restaurants relocated to Soho, like Zui-King-Lou [醉琼楼], Mui-zi-Lou [梅子楼] and others. However, Newham is the last stop of my settlement.

I used to be Chairman of Newham Chinese Association so I have attended many important meetings and conferences. Over the years I have met quite a few VIPs like China’s leaders and so on.