Oral history interview with Shirley Yee Young Chang 鮑燕蓉

Two interviews were undertaken with Shirley Yee Young Chang. The first was carried out on the 7 Nov 2018 and the second 29 Jan 2019. Index 00:00-15:31 is for the Nov interview and 15:32-47:17 for the Jan interview

00:00-03:41 Naming, family structure, her father as a business man

03:42-06:42 Fathers belief in Feng Shui and move of ancestral tombs in ancestral home in Ningbo

06:43-12:17 Death of mother, going to live with grandmother who had bound feet

12:18-15:31 Era of Sun Yat-sen leading the Nationalist Party, father as a generous man, Communist Party take over and family leaving for Hong Kong

15:32-19:53 Adoption of English name, western culture fashionable when at school

19:54-23:14 Later childhood without parents, determination to be independent, learning English but having to leave school

23:15-26:19 Job as a fashion designer in Hong Kong

26:20-31:53 Husband opens restaurant in China Town, Manchester, Shirley joins him a year later with 8 month old daughter. Job as a tailor in UK but child care not suitable for hours so had to be stay at home mum.

31:54-37:20 Language barriers with limited English, learning English through watching news, children etc.

37:21-39:40 Describes few Chinese people and Chinese restaurants from 1960s, difficult to buy Chinese food in 1965 when arrived in UK and had to go to Liverpool each week to shop

39:41-42:32 Brought restaurant in Liverpool, after five years sold the restaurant and moved to Manchester and started restaurant in Cheadle

42:33-47:17 Being a mother, schooling and settling in a new country, children achieving well

This is an edited index. For the full index and summary of the interview see the bound volume in the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Library.