Mary Mei Chiek Wong

During the occupation Mary’s father, Chong Hong, took his wife Emma and two eldest daughters Shirley and Mary into the jungle. The Japanese were reluctant to go into the deep jungle because the stealthy lethality of the head-hunters made it too dangerous. Chong Hong built a wooden shelter with a corrugated iron roof. He bought a small boat and paddled along the Rajang River, selling Malay batik on the way up and fishing for prawns on the way back.

Emma would bake cakes at the makeshift shelter and Mary and Shirley would carry trays of cakes on their heads into the village to sell at the local coffee shop. One day while they were in the coffee shop, bombs started falling on the village. The locals hid the girls under the coffee shop tables until the barrage was over. They were lucky to escape without a scratch.

After the war, the family settled in Kuching. Mary and her sisters spent some years in Saint Mary’s School Boarding House because her parents operated a timber concession that kept them from home.

When her parents eventually settled back in Kuching, Mary fully embraced family life, looking after her younger sisters and brother. She helped her mother a great deal and learned from her. Mary was a precise cook and baker, making beautiful cakes with icing roses. She was also skilled with the sewing, making fashionable dresses with fitted waists and full skirts. Her sisters benefitted from her love of making them pretty, using them as guinea pigs for the latest hairdressing trends.

After finishing secondary school, she attended Batu Lintang Teacher’s College, graduating with a Diploma in Education in 1959. She spent the next 15 years teaching grades 4, 5, and 6 at Inche Buyong, Saint Faith and Saint Thomas elementary school. Even though she taught all subjects, her favorite was undoubtedly art.

Mary loved all her students and was very proud of them. She did everything she could to help them succeed. That love is evident as many students stayed in touch with Mary throughout her life.

Mary always had a very active social life and a large circle of friends. It was during one of those social events that she met Harold Wong. Harold won her heart and they married on April 27th, 1961.

The family grew on March 11th, 1963, with the birth of their first child, Ronald. Esther was born on January 22nd, 1966, and Ian arrived more than a year later, on August 20th, 1967.

Mary led a very busy life raising her three children and teaching while Harold was general manager at Great Eastern Life. Mary was always very enterprising and had a side business creating and selling flower arrangements to businesses. Her arrangements were created with orchids she grew in the garden of the family home.

In 1975, Mary and Harold made the bold move to immigrate to Canada. The decision was prompted by the desire to make sure Ronald, Esther and Ian received a good education. The school system in Malaysia was being overhauled to change from the British curriculum to primarily a Malay language curriculum.

Mary had applied to immigrate to Australia, New Zealand and Canada and was accepted by Canada first. The entire family landed in Vancouver on May 5th, 1975. The understanding was that the original destination was to be Edmonton but during her first encounter with Immigration Canada, the officer gave the family the option to stay in Vancouver where there were relatives.

Moving to Canada was not easy for Mary and Harold at 36 and 41. Mary and Harold’s professional credentials were not recognized in Canada. Fortunately, she had the help of relatives, Felix and Nancy Chong, where the family stayed when they first arrived.

Not wanting to overstay their welcome, Mary and Harold bought a townhouse at Goleta Place in Burnaby. Mary was tenacious at job hunting and soon found work doing double shifts at the Hotel Vancouver and at a fish cannery.

After a year of working two jobs back-to-back, she was hired as a sales clerk at Rene Rey Swiss Chocolates Ltd. She was quickly promoted to Manager after a year and was instrumental in the expansion of that business.

In 1979, she left that position and was hired at Vancouver General Hospital where she worked several positions including kitchen aide, messenger, patient escort and autoclave operator.

Mary was conscientious and hard working all her life. She inherited an entrepreneurial streak from her father. If Mary had not obtained approval to immigrate, she had plans to start a one stop wedding business where brides and grooms would be able to rent tuxes and dresses, order their cakes, order flowers and arrange photography all in one place. That business model did not exist in Kuching at that time.

When she first moved to Canada, and bought the townhouse, she started renting the basement to make ends meet. She continued renting after moving up and purchasing a house on Capitol Hill.

Another entrepreneurial project was operating a bed and breakfast during Expo 86. The family moved into the back of the basement and from May to October of 1986, she hosted people from all over the world at her home.

Mary was finally able to slow down and retire by the early 1990’s. The family expanded with her first grandchild, Jordan in April 1995. Brendan was born in May of 1997 and she spent her time raising them. Mary loved her family and her family loved her dearly. She enjoyed life by keeping up with friends and extended family, gardening, travelling the world and living life to the fullest, always with her family by her side. That was Mary’s dream in life, to always be with family and to be with God. Mary got to live her dream life and now she is in God’s embrace.

Mary is beloved by her family and friends and will be deeply missed.