Series Classification: G (General Audiences) | Find the series here.
It was September 1938 when Lau Yuet Seen received word from her husband to leave Fah Dei for Hong Kong as soon as possible. The Japanese troops were close to landing north of Hong Kong.
"I made careful preparations for the dangerous walk ahead with my two children... Me, my son Allen, and my baby Freda set off on our journey as soon as it was dark. Freda was only four. We were scared and frightened..."
As the Japanese attack, Lau Yuet Seen (Xana Tang), on foot with her two children, flees her village Woo Bui in Poon Yue County. Yuet braves sea pirates and a long journey at sea without a word of English, finally celebrating her reunion with her husband Lim Yuen Loy 林潤來, a fruiterer in Cambridge.
But the celebration is short-lived because Chinese women are granted only two years' temporary permit by the New Zealand Government. Their husbands must pay a £200 deposit for their entry and a £500 bond -- forfeited if any child is born during their two-year stay.
Director Lynda Chanwai-Earle (herself a descendent of Chinese refugees) interview Yuet's daughter Freda, now in her nineties. We meet Yuet's family and learn how Yuet overcame adversity and persevered to make Aotearoa her home.
Photo: NZ On Air
