In this interview, Andres Kwok discusses her childhood growing up in Hong Kong, her decision to immigrate to Canada, and her life as a Chinese Canadian immigrant in Toronto, Ontario.
Andres was born in Hong Kong in 1942. Shortly after, her family fled Japanese-occupied Hong Kong for mainland China, but returned to Hong Kong three years later in 1945. Andres remembers her early childhood as one that was generally happy. She enjoyed sports and playing with other children. She recalls her years of schooling in Hong Kong as incredibly stressful. She attended a prestigious Catholic private school in Hong Kong and faced beatings from her father if she did not receive high enough marks. After high school she spent a year in a teacher’s college and then two years at a Hong Kong university, where she remembers the stress of exams and frequent beatings from her father.
Andres quit school and worked for the Red Cross in Hong Kong, and recalls enjoying helping those less fortunate than herself. She soon grew to dislike Hong Kong, feeling that its people were too materialistic and “phony.” She applied to immigrate to Canada without her parents’ approval.
She arrived in Toronto in 1968 and began to work for the Red Cross while living in a boarding house. She remembers having a very difficult time adjusting to the culture and lifestyle of Canadian society. She changed jobs and took a clerical position with Bell Canada, where she remained employed at the time of the interview.
Andres married a non-Chinese Canadian man, but they divorced shortly thereafter. Andres stresses that the marital differences were personal rather than cultural and that she believes she can become friends with people of any ethnocultural background. After establishing a life in Canada, she sponsored her parents’ immigration. An active volunteer in the Chinese community, Andres says she identifies herself more as Canadian than Chinese, but cares about the welfare of the Chinese people.
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