Egg Woman's Daughter: A Tanka Memoir

by Mary Chan Ma-Lai and Mary Chan Ma Lai

Mary Chan Ma-lai wasn't given her own name. Her family called her Ah Ngan, "tiny and thin."She was born in 1950 on Little Salted Fish Street in Macao, to a Tanka family. The Tanka were the boat... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9627160539
• ISBN13: 9789627160533
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Asia 2000
• Length: 263 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

This Most Courageous Lady

Mary Chan was born in 1950 in the Portuguese colony of Macau to a very poor family of boat dwellers. The family were not English speakers and yet Mary became fluent in the language to the extent that she was able to write her auto-biography and travel internationally as an inspiration to others more fortunate. Whilst cursed with a spinal deformity and near blindness from soon after birth she was blessed with a healthy brain. She exploited that major asset as perhaps only someone so physically handicapped could. The tale is told in simple English and is a basic chronology of her lifetime with a lot of family history. Father Edward, an Irish priest, enters her life at the age of 5 soon after the family moves to Hong Kong where their fishing boat is permanently moored in Aberdeen harbour. Father Edward becomes a "guardian angel'' to Mary and dramatically changes the course of her life for the better. Whilst her eyesight is beyond repair - even her grandmother's traditional Chinese treatment of rubbing incense ash and mud into them didn't work - there is a ray of hope that her hunched back can at least be straightened a little. Mary wins a place at a Catholic girls school where her hard work studying English pays off with excellent results, even mastering Braille in English and Chinese. She finishes college and finds work sewing soft toys. Despite the difficulty of commuting as a blind person to her work place (how do you cross Hong Kong's dangerous roads safely and how do you know what route number the approaching bus is displaying?) she is feeling a degree of independence. Now aged 21 Mary is admitted to The Duchess of Kent Children's hospital to undergo spinal surgery, thanks again to Father Edward's influence in these matters. After painful surgery and nearly a year in hospital with her spine in halo-pelvic traction, her body held rigid with steel rods pinned into her shoulders and thighs, and even her head held in a metal frame, she emerges with her deformity almost cured. This high point in her life is destined to be short lived as at the age of 27 a viral infection paralyses her from the waist down committing her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. It is hard to imagine how challenging every apparently simple task can be when one is so handicapped. At one stage her wheel chair is rolling down a gentle tarmac slope with her feet being badly gouged as they drag on the ground caught below the footrests. Of course, she had no way to notice. Her adult life is a triumph of determination and will power over the challenges posed by her handicaps. Mind over matter, she wins the battle with the trip of a life time pilgrimage to Lourdes followed by other exciting and mind opening overseas trips. Mary tells her tale eloquently and simply without attempting to exploit the reader's sympathy for her plight. It is a wonderful story. It is also one that will make any able-bodied person realise how fortunate he or she is.