Charles writing his life story, RESTly (2)

「起」(Stage 1--Recollecting incidents in the past)

I was born in Hong Kong from a poor family. Common in those days, my parents were not well educated. All three children were brought up mostly by my mother, as my father worked in ocean-going ships. In my childhood, our family of five lived in a small concrete house located close to my primary school (the area was later developed into Oi Man Estate).

In those days, Catholic organizations offered help to many families, including ours. To thank priests and nuns and God, my mother arranged baptism for all three children when we were young (for me, at age 7). Subsequently I became a Catholic that was followed by a weak spiritual development.
When I was an early teenager, my father ‘returned from the sea’, and got a job from the Jocky Club. Therefore, the whole family moved to the its quarters located at Happy Valley. Everyday I had to travel from Hong Kong side to Kowloon side (where my secondary school was located) and return, which gave me much opportunities to explore and observe things in the society. Precious memorable experiences include watching street chaos during the 1967 riots.

Mainly through self motivation, not from tutors nor mentors, I achieved quite good results in public examinations which enabled me to enter the Hong Kong Technical College (HKTC, which is now the PolyU) directly. I even started earning income through working part time in horse racing evenings!