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Ho Yuke So was born on 17 November 1910. Her parents couldn't afford to keep her, so she and her sister were sold. Yuke So was sold as a maid to the Chan family from Sun Gai.
Yuke So's daughter Florence recalls stories about old China.
"When my mother was sold, she was very upset about it, that her father and mother would sell her! And that her brothers would allow it!
"My grandmother [Yuke So's mother-in-law] had bound feet. Apparently, her feet were only about three inches! They would fit in a soya sauce dish, and of course she could never do anything."
Yuke So became the third wife of Chan Him Chong (also known as Jack Chong), a fruiterer who was working at 365 Lake Road, Takapuna.
Jack was born in 1883, making him 27 years older than Yuke So. He arrived in Wellington on 3 May 1906 on the Monowai. Poll tax no. 1896.
Jack's son Albert (Chan Kew Too, born in 1930 to his second wife) was left behind in China, but came in 1947. By the time Yuke So arrived, Jack had been in New Zealand for 34 years and was 57 years old.
Yuke So and Jack had four children in New Zealand: Florence (1941), twins Michael and Laurence (1944), and Raymond (1945). After leaving school, the children became involved in the fruit-shop trade, and over the years were very successful in expanding their business.
Florence recalls growing up in Takapuna in the 1940s:
"Mum's new life in New Zealand included living at the back of the fruit shop at Lake Road, Takapuna. On the second day of arriving in Auckland, she ventured over to the city. At that time, one would have had to take a bus and a ferry to get to Auckland City!
"Unable to speak English, she worked in the shop, served the customers, and brought us all up. Mum used to knit and sew clothes for us.
"My mother wore her long hair in a plait or bun. She didn't cut it until after Raymond was born. I still have her hair.
"She used to say, 'It does not matter how you look as long as you are clean.' She used to cook up ginger and preserve it in jars to sell. At different times, we had other members of our extended family staying.
"It was hard work for Mum and Dad as they had to send money back to China to support family there.
"Dad was 58 when I was born; he was hard-working, kind, and supportive. When the twins, Michael and Laurence, were born, he used to feed them, change their nappies, and take care of the workings of the shop. Then Raymond came along...
"We were not well off, but we were happy."
Florence took her mother back to China -- the first time Yuke So had seen her brothers in 40 years.
"I took my mother -- in 1979, 1980 -- back to China to see her family. On this special trip home for the first time, she really wanted to see her brothers, she wanted to tell her brothers off. To get it off her chest after all these years!
"It was very different from when she had left [in 1940]. It was communism. My uncle, and all the people in China for that matter, they were in what we call communes.
"They had to work for the commune. No private enterprise. They had their jobs, and they were only allotted so much. Everything was rationed -- even the rice they ate!"
- Record no: C. 33/24/1178: Two-year temporary permit approved 24 January 1940.
- Arrived: 8 April 1940, aged 29, in Auckland on the Awatea.
- Granted permanent residence: Chan Ho Yuke So and five children (Florence, Michael, Laurence, Raymond, and Albert) on 4 September 1947.
- Husband: CHAN Him Chong 陳顯昌, also known as Jack Chong, from Sun Gai, Jung Send, fruiterer.
Photo: NZ On Air
