Mack, Sue Lynn
Over 130 interviews with Chinese Canadian women were conducted for the book Jin Guo: Voices of Chinese Canadian Women. Produced in 1992 by the Women’s Book Committee of the Chinese Canadian National Council, Jin Guo was intended to fill the gap in historical accounts of Chinese Canadian women’s history. Researchers traveled across Canada to interview Chinese Canadian women of various ages and backgrounds. The book’s authors, Amy Go, Winnie Ng, Dora Nipp, Julia Tao, Terry Woo and May Yee, organized the book around themes and patterns that emerged across multiple interviews – feelings of isolation and culture shock upon arrival in Canada, memories of parent-child relationships, the importance of education, the working lives of women, discrimination, cultural identity, marriage and dating, family life, perspectives on aging and retirement, and examples community activism. The interviews conducted for this project are stored at the Multicultural History Society of Ontario’s archives. This collections database includes a large cross-section of interviews conducted for Jin Guo – in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
In this interview Sue Lynn Mack describes her difficult early life in Hong Kong as well as her very busy lifestyle in Canada. Sue explains experiencing the Hong Kong invasion and witnessing horrific cruelty. Sue discloses being present when Japan seized Hong Kong, she elaborates by describing the terrifying living conditions.
Sue Lynn grew up in Hong Kong. At that time it was very unusual for middle class children to get an education, but regardless, Sue’s mother wanted her and Sue’s sisters to acquire a proper education. Sue was put in a co-educational Christian school. She recalls the Japanese attack on Hong Kong in 1941, saying that many people starved and the streets were deserted, as the Japanese troops were arresting and killing as they pleased. After the bombing many people were impoverished and most schools were destroyed, including hers.
After graduating from high school and studying accounting in university, Sue started dating a man she knew for about 10 years. He went to Canada and sponsored her there to get married. In Canada, Sue worked in her mother-in-law’s restaurant. After having children -- 2 girls and 2 boys -- Sue started running the restaurant. Sue’s family faced financial ruin after the death of her father-in-law. She recalls these years as the hardest of her life, raising children while working long days. When the kids grew up, Sue’s financial situation recovered.
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