Item 9 - Interview of Georgina Wong

83.2 MB (1 file) : mp3 ; 0 hr., 36 min., 20 sec.

Audio recording of interview with Georgina Wong conducted by Vivienne Poy in Victoria, B.C. Interview conducted in Cantonese.

From Transcripts [Extended notes] compiled by Vivienne Poy:

Georgina Wong, (dependent) immigrated in 1961, interviewed in Victoria

• Born in Hoiping, Guangdong province, 1943. She was the only child by her own mother. Her family was well off and they owned a lot of land. Her father worked in the Philippines, but her mother didn’t like to go there and chose to stay in China where they had a very nice house. Her mother’s family also owned land. Mrs. Wong didn’t know her father at all. She has only seen [photographs] of him, and his only knowledge of her is also only from photographs. She only knew that he sent money for his family’s support. He had another family in the Philippines. When she was grown up, her father had sent money for her to visit the Philippines, but she said there was no point.
• When she was in Grade 3, she had spent time in school in Canton (Guangzhou) when her mother was there. Then when she returned to the village, Mrs. Wong went back with her.
• When Mrs. Wong was a teenager, her mother sent her to school in Canton (Guangzhou). She remembers that school was fun. She lived with a distant relative. Then her mother came from the village to see her, and then left for Hong Kong. A year later, when she was 15, 1958, she applied to go to Hong Kong. If she were to apply in the village, it would have been very difficult. She applied from Guangzhou for a one-month student pass to visit relatives in Hong Kong. Her mother was already there. She had to buy a return ticket to say that she would return when school started again at the end of the summer. The line up for the train from Shenzhen was so long that people sometimes wait for weeks, so an uncle advised her to take the route through Macao. While in Macao, she had to get an ID card before she was allowed to go to Hong Kong, and the wait was 6 months. In the mean time, the aunt who went with her to Macao had returned to Guangzhou and she stayed at a friend’s house.
• Mrs. Wong, as a student without a school, and as a teenager, had nothing to do. She went out all the time. One day, she met a distant relative who said a group of them were smuggling themselves to Hong Kong, and would she like to join them. The cost was $200 per person. She, of course didn’t have the money, but the person who arranged the trip said that her mother can pay when she got to Hong Kong. The group went by boat. She remembers that the trip was very rough and she was very sea sick. She said she was too young to be scared. When the water police were near, they were told to go below. She believes that the police had been paid, and they just did that as a routine. The boat load landed in Aberdeen and were met by someone who took the group by public bus to Southorn Playground in Wanchai. She was then led to look for her mother who lived on Tsing Nin Street. Her mother was out shopping for food, and the person would not leave until her mother paid her. It cost $20. Her mother was surprised to see her because she wasn’t expecting her daughter so soon. She was horrified to hear that her daughter came with smugglers to Hong Kong.
• Mrs. Wong went to evening school in Wanchai for three years, from 7pm to 9 pm. It was 1958, and it was very difficult to get into good schools even for Hong Kongers.
• One day, when Mrs. Wong returned home from a movie with a friend, she met an old friend of her mothers whose granddaughter was married to someone in Montreal. The friend asked her mother whether her daughter might like to go to Canada, because a nice young man by the name of Wong is back in Hong Kong looking for a wife. Her mother said that her daughter was too young. She was only 17 at the time. However, if she like this Mr. Wong, and wish to marry him, she would give her blessing, “since it would happen sooner or later anyway.”
• Mrs. Wong’s mother worked in a factory in Hong Kong making gloves, as well as bring hand work home, such as beading shoes etc. Mrs. Wong like to help her mother in the beading. She said Toishan people like working, whether they have money or not. They can’t sit at home.
  • When Mrs. Wong’s mother left China in 1955, it wasn’t too bad for the land lord class yet. But she was only allowed to leave China herself, not with her daughter. The Chinese government believed that she would always go back if her daughter was there. At that time, it only took her a week to get her papers to leave. Mrs. Wong’s father was going back to Hong Kong to bring his wife to the Philippines, but she decided not to go, since he already had another wife there.
• Mr. Wong’s grandfather came to Canada to build the railway. His father paid $500.00 head tax to come to Canada. He went back to China every three years, and each time his wife got pregnant, he would return to Canada. There were 4 daughters and 1 son (Mrs. Wong’s husband.) Mr. Wong came to Canada at age 13, and the following year, his mother and 2 sisters also immigrated.
• The Wongs met and went together for about 2 months and got married (1961). Mr. Wong returned to Canada first. Mrs. Wong went by boat, and arrived just before Xmas.
• Mr. Wong was sponsored to come to Canada when he was 13. He stayed for 10 years before going to Hong Kong to look for a wife. He and his sister are partners in a store, and since his sister just had a baby when he got married, he needed to return quickly to look after the business.
• Mrs. Wong felt that she was very fortunate because when she arrived, she had a new house to live in. She helped in their own store for about three years, until it was sold. Her husband then worked for the Royal Bank, looking after many Chinese accounts. At that time, her mother-in-law was looking after the children, so she wanted to continue working. She felt she was very lucky not to have to wash dishes. She got a job in a restaurant making sandwiches and salads. This lasted a few years, then the Wong’s bought a gas station, tore it down, and built their own Chinese restaurant.
• The restaurant is now sold, Mr. Wong took a computer course, and he now works as a self employed accountant.
• The Wongs have 2 sons, and each have a daughter.
• The Wongs are not religious. They practice ancestral worship. They do return to China and Hong Kong frequently for visit.