Ms. Chiu Sau Wu

我們的媽媽胡周昭秀, 在1933年12月6日出生於中國潮州. 家中共有四兄弟姊妹，而她排行第三。公公，婆婆在家鄉開設士多，售賣雜食之餘，甚至供應潮州麵條及 釀酒丸。 媽媽於1959年帶著當時只有一歲多的大女兒 Pauline來香港與當時在尖沙咀藥行打工的爸爸團聚 。

1961年，爸爸開始自己一盤小生意名為益生中藥行。1971年擴充至鳳凰新村的中西藥行。 媽媽除了幫助爸爸打理生意外，還需照顧五個兒女: Pauline, Grace, Jonathan, Louise 和 Jackson, 直到一九八一年，舉家移民到溫哥華，方才留在家中，料理家務。而爸爸便開始在唐人街興华参茸行為駐診医生，直到1995年退休。

媽媽性情安靜，嗜好縫紉手工，也会弄些中式糕点和小菜给孫兒吃。她共有五个孫兒: Nicole, Sean, Celeste, Tania and Marcus. 而每天早上靈修後，她却喜愛行山散步或做六通拳運動 。媽媽常保持身体健康，非常小心飲食，因為先後有腎癌及膀胱癌，故十分謹慎。

媽媽是1989年受洗加入基督教頌恩堂。後來搬到西北温後便隨二女Grace加入西北溫基督教頌恩堂。在疫症期間，媽媽先後在家跌倒兩次，自此以後行動變得不方便，加上她的癌症復發，以致身体非常虛弱，延至今年5月 16 日，身體實在支持不住，最後媽媽在善终醫院得見兒女，孫兒及教会弟兄姊妹，平安地回到天父懷中。享年八十九歲。我們縱有不捨，亦深信天家必再見媽媽!

媽媽的生平點滴，由孫女Nicole在2021年5月 的訪問中, 可見詳情, 請細閱!

Interview of Mrs Chiu Sau Wu by grand-daughter Nicole Hui in May 2021

Early Life

- Po Po grew up in China, and didn’t speak Cantonese until she moved to Hong Kong

- She always wanted to go to school and wanted to learn, but her older brother made her work instead

- She started working at the age of 5 years old

- In her teen years, she wanted to go back to school, and was able to finish her primary school education

- Back then, people of all ages would be in primary school

- She excelled in school, so much that the principal came to her home and asked her brother to continue to let her study

- But her brother wanted her to get married instead of continuing to go to school, because her brother was against women in school

- So she wasn’t allowed to go back for high school and instead was arranged to marry Gon Gon

- She was okay with the arranged marriage, as she had met Gon Gon before and she liked him -> it was better than couples who don’t get to meet their spouse at all before

- When she was 15, her dad passed away and when she was 47, her mom passed away

- She is neutral about how she feels about her parents because back in mainland they don’t think about whether you have a good relationship with parents, you just live life and work to survive, Po Po says this is a newer thing to think about whether you have good feelings with your parents

The Initial Years in Hong Kong

- Gon Gon went to Hong Kong for 2 years to work first, and then Po Po went there after

- Po Po wanted to move to Hong Kong because there was more economic opportunities and job prospects. Some of Gon Gon relatives advised against it because they said living in Hong Kong is difficult but others were supportive.

- Po Po still wanted to, so she moved there

- Po Po was not worried because she knew as long as she had hands and feet to work, she could make money and survive. There were a lot of job opportunities in Hong Kong.

- Po Po first went to Macau because she had to sneak over to Hong Kong in secret -> She snuck over to Hong Kong with Yi Ma, she hid in the bottom of the fishing boat -> that was the toughest day of her life she says because she is not good on boats and gets seasick and she kept on throwing up and Yi Ma cried all night cause she was scared and they had to hide -> it was so hot and claustrophobic as they waited, there were no windows or ventilation

- They had to stay for hours at night after the boat docked because they’re scared someone would wait outside the boat and catch them

- Someone they didn’t know helped guide Po Po and Yi Ma into Hong Kong to sneak in the city in secret, they were workers who got paid to help sneak people on, so Po Po and Yi Ma paid him to bring them into Hong Kong (Po Po’s uncle paid him $50) -> Po Po and Yi Ma just followed right behind without saying a word so they could be more sneaky

- She says looking back, God really blessed and protected them -> There was a Christian on the boat where they were hiding and they all made it successfully, another boat was caught but Po Po didn’t get caught and she is very grateful that she made it and didn’t have to do the journey again, she doesn’t know if she could bear doing it a second time

- But she says no matter what she would try to make it to Hong Kong, because life is harder in China where she was forced by the government to work in rice fields and farming style work and do tiring manual labour

- Even after in Hong Kong, she was still traumatized by the experience for some time and felt like she was still on the boat

- One reason Gon Gon was worried about Po Po and Yi Ma coming is he knew how painful the boat experience is, he also had to sneak over the boat

- When Po Po and Gon Gon and Yi Ma moved to Hong Kong, they had basically nothing -> only one shirt and one very small bag smaller than a backpack -> they planned to make clothes for themselves when they move to Hong Kong

- Po Po was only 26 years old

- They stayed with Goo Ma and lived there in the beginning, and after a few months they moved to a makeshift room/home and Po Po helped neighbours with their textiles

- After 5 months, Po Po, Gon Gon and Yi Ma moved to government housing and Po Po continually made/sewed clothes for other people to make money while Gon Gon worked at a Chinese medicine shop

- The next year, Po Po and Gon Gon started their own Chinese Medicine Shop by borrowing money from other relatives and renting a government owned shop by putting a start fee of $2000 HKD and then monthly rent afterwards

- They kept working at the shop, it was very hard to meet ends in the beginning and pay rent but they survived and persisted

- Po Po says she is not scared at all even though they were struggling financially because she knows she can always make money through clothes

- She’s never scared of not being able to eat because she has hands and feet to work and believes in her abilities to make clothes and she was young so she was physically able to work hard

- Po Po saved up $50 HKD to buy a sewing machine, and once she had one, she made good money sewing clothes for other people -> she made the same income as Gon Gon who worked at a Chinese Medicine Shop but had to send all his income back to China for his parents

- Po Po and Yi Ma would eat simply and eat congee to save money in the beginning for 1 to 2 years, but once they had their own shop they ate more different types of food Po Po would cook different meals for people

Subsequent Years in Hong Kong

- After 2-3 years, they finally started making more profit

- Po Po and the family lived above the shop, just a staircase away

- Daily Po Po would do chores, buy groceries, take care of the kids who are still young

- After 10 years in Hong Kong, they moved to a new shop and the kids were old

- During the day, Po Po cooked, grocery shopped, tended the store while the kids went to school

- At night, the kids helped to cook dinner and do chores

- Yi Ma delegated the chores to the different kids, and she went to work while the kids went to school

- At night, Po Po watched the shop until close (11 pm) and then cleaned up and got ready for the next day

- Po Po liked her time in Hong Kong but it was very tiring and exhausting as there was a lot to do, but she says that is what happens when you have a store

- Buying a new store they bought for very cheap, so they made good money from selling the store when they moved to Vancouver and that helped them accumulate their wealth in Vancouver and that’s how they could afford homes and cars and university

- They bought it for 25,000 and sold it for 300,000

Vancouver:

- After working 21 years in Hong Kong, Po Po and Gon Gon decided to immigrate to Canada because the kids want to go to school abroad because they weren’t sure if they could go to a good university in Hong Kong and Po Po’s friends always encouraged them to move to Vancouver because better opportunity for university and more financial government subsidy

- When first moving here, Gon Gon thought he could open a Chinese Medicine shop here but it was difficult so he ended up being a Chinese Medicine Herbalist instead

- Po Po liked Vancouver

- In Vancouver, they didn’t have to work so hard like in Hong Kong, when they worked all day until night, she says life in Vancouver is easier and simpler

- When they moved to Vancouver, Gon Gon was a Chinese doctor and Po Po stayed at home -> they couldn’t make money like before because they didn’t have their own shop anymore so they continually used their savings

- They didn’t have their own shop anymore because they were getting old and the kids didn’t want to take over the shop but Po Po didn’t mind because she says it’s up to the kids to decide what they want to do after school

- Pauline, the oldest graduated from college and the rest all from UBC

- Po Po lived with Pauline ever since birth and all through Pauline’s life

- Pauline, Louise and Jackson are more the quiet type and Grace and Jonathan are more loud

- Pauline is more similar to Po Po, Louise and Jackson are 50/50 similar to Po Po she says (some similarities, some differences), Grace and Jonathan are not like Po Po and are like Gon Gon instead

- Po Po came to Vancouver in April 17, 1981 and has now been here 40 years and says it went by pretty quick

- Po Po is happy to have grandkids, to see the new generation

Po Po’s beliefs and lessons

- She doesn’t mind wherever she lives as long as she can continue living

- Po Po doesn’t have strong likes or dislikes, she is very neutral and says this is a part of her personality and she doesn’t know why

- She says even if she found gold, she wouldn’t know how to smile

- But I told her me and her always laugh when talking and she laughed again and said yes that’s true, seeing you is fun

- Po Po just focuses on her lifestyle and next steps and doesn’t think too much of it or overthink

- Po Po says not to worry too much about things and not to let things stress you out -> people don’t need to worry too much because stressing won’t solve anything -> when you stress before you need to, it wastes your energy

- It’s hard to find a good husband these days so if you find a good match, don’t stress too much about whether they are the right person -> it’s important that your partner treats you well -> the heart of a person and if they love you and can work well is more important than looks

- You don’t need to ask for too much in life, it’s enough to have a simple lifestyle with food and a safe home and a stable career

- People should be able to do what they say they can -> Po Po doesn’t like hypocrites who just speak with their mouth and can’t do the actions

- Po po doesn’t have regrets

- Po Po is not scared about her health and when she will depart, because she says worrying is pointless and no one knows the date -> instead she prays that she can have less pain while still on earth

耶和华是爱

耶和华是爱,让我安身青草溪水边

神令我省察,心中的幽暗, 共度每一天

耶和华是爱, 在困境中祂保守引牽, 神为我摆设丰足的恩惠,

在危难也不会变!

在世间主恩与共, 祂的爱存在常無盡

神为我施恩惠, 保守勉励, 共同度此世!

耶和华是爱, 让我安身青草溪水边

无限满足快乐, 湧於心裡, 在危难也不会变!

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.forestlawn-burnaby.com for the Wu family.