Foreword

Frances Wong’s life is legendary in many respects. Born in 1923 and educated at Diocesan Girls’ School for twelve years from the age of four, Frances is among the oldest Diocesan Old Girls that I know personally. She was not the only girl from DGS to enjoy the works of Shakespeare and poetry reading. She was not alone in learning to live by the DGS motto of “Daily Giving Service.” However, as far as I am aware, she is the only DGS girl who has changed her Chinese name so that it would bear the Chinese character for “star,” in remembrance of the five stars on the national flag of China.

Frances gives a crisp account of her early days in Hong Kong which ended with her march across the border in 1949 to Guangzhou to serve her country, the new China. Her stay in the People’s Republic of China lasted thirty-seven years, until 1986. In her book, Frances shares with us how she handled the ups and downs in life and offers us a glimpse into her pilgrim’s progress. China also went through a tortuous path during that period, with the launching of numerous campaigns that affected the lives of almost all Chinese people at the time. Frances, her husband, and their four children suffered their share of China’s growing pains.

There is a Chinese saying that states that “the past is a mirror for the future.” In other words, the past should not be forgotten but should instruct the future. In contrast to other books on China in the 1960s and 1970s, Frances’s autobiography has given a comparatively abbreviated account of how she coped with the very trying times. But Frances, through her concise, rich style, gives us a good sense of the past and some pointers for the future. This book is Frances’s contribution to make the world a better and more peaceful place to live in.

Stella Lau

Headmistress

Diocesan Girls’ School

Hong Kong