Soon Yau Lee
Madam Soon Yau Lee was born in Douyin, Jiangmen, in Guangzhou, China on 27 August 1930.
Madam Lee and her siblings
She had two older sisters and a younger brother. They lost their father when Madam Lee was just five years old and did not have an easy life. They did not have the opportunity to learn how to read or write. She and her sisters did strenuous agricultural work to support their family during both the Great Depression and World War II, when Japan invaded China.
Madam Lee’s sisters went on to marry local men, but her family suggested she try her luck marrying overseas. For a better life outside of China, she entered an arranged marriage with the late Mr Wan Kow, an electrician working on Christmas Island. He was born in Guangzhou, China. At the age of 19 he left China and firstly went to Malaysia where he had a great aunt living. He had two uncles who went to work on Christmas Island and his great aunty suggested he go there to work as well. When the marriage was arranged, he went to China to marry Madam Lee in her village in 1957 then returned to Christmas Island. She would follow later.
Madam Lee was a tiny woman but strong and brave. She had to make the long journey to Christmas Island all alone and suffering seasickness on her many voyages.
Madam Lee left China by boat with only $7 in her pocket and arrived firstly in Macau. Then she took another boat to Hong Kong. When she arrived all the trishaw pullers were trying to get business. One of the trishaw pullers put all the luggage into one trishaw. Madam Lee suddenly looked around and couldn’t see her small cane bag anywhere. It contained all her documents but luckily her money was still in her pocket. Fortunately, the trishaw pullers were honest and said, “We know which hotel you are going to because you’re from China and won’t be staying in a five-star hotel”. She was taken to a hotel and on her arrival saw her bag was there. At that moment, and so thankful, she thought someone above was looking after her. She stayed one or two nights. Prior to boarding the ship to Singapore, she was asked by cruel officials which jar did she want to be smuggled out in; a salted egg or preserved vegetables jar! Madam Lee stated she didn’t need to be smuggled out and she showed the shipping officer her paperwork. It is believed that she boarded a cargo ship and sailed for Singapore and then stayed at a hotel called Sun Com Wah. This was a hotel that the BPC (British Phosphate Commission) usually chose for people and the place where their staff went on holiday once a year from Christmas Island.
She arrived on Christmas Island in October 1958, aged 28.
Back in those days, expatriates were not allowed to return to China unless they were over 50 years old. Mr Wan adjusted Madam Lee’s age to be lower by six years, as insurance against her early return to China. This gave Madam Lee a legal date of birth of 1 January 1936.
In order for Mr Wan to progress as an electrician he attended English classes at the George Fam School.
Upon her arrival on Christmas Island Madam Lee cried every day for two weeks because when her husband went to work, she was all alone in the house and far from family and friends. She said it was worse than China and she didn’t know anyone. But then she decided to start growing some vegetables. It gave her something to focus on. She and her husband lived in a unit at “40 houses ” so named because there were four single storied buildings built in parallel lines, each containing 10 units (once located next to the police station in Settlement). There was a man there who would catch fruit bats. He would deliver two skinned fruit bats at each house whether they were wanted or not. It was a supplement to the diet. On finding these outside her front door Madam Lee asked, “What is that???” and her husband told her, “You can eat it”. As the fruit bat was skinned, she thought maybe it was another meat like rabbit or dog. The bats may have cost around $2, and payment could be made to the man later. At that time her husband was paid $48 per month. Madam Lee would later move to 10 houses (located between 40 houses and Tea Garden) and then finally the roundabout flats where she and her children lived for 14 years.
Her five children were born on Christmas Island — Kong Meng Wan born in 1961, the late Kwong Tuck Wan (Stevie) born in 1962, Choon Hoe Wan (Wendy) born in 1963, Choon Moi Wan (Berri) born in 1964 and Choon Kwok Wong (nee Wan) born in 1966.
She showed her love unconditionally and spent the family’s savings taking her second child, Tuck, to and from Singapore by boat, for medical treatment for a heart ailment. In July 1969, on her last trip back from Singapore, she had an eerie feeling something wasn’t right because there were police and relatives at the jetty upon her return. They had awful news. Her husband, Mr Wan, now an electrical foreman, had been electrocuted whilst at work. The circumstances were tragic. It was drizzling with rain and at the end of his shift there was one final job. A tree near power lines needed to be trimmed. His junior did not want to climb the ladder, so Mr Wan climbed up instead to remove a branch and tragedy struck. Back then, there was no workers compensation. Madam Lee was left heartbroken and penniless, with five young children.
At the time, the Police Inspector suggested that Madam Lee migrate to mainland Australia where she could access welfare. Madam Lee replied that she had no plan to leave and would wait until the children grew up. Then, where the children go, she would follow. And so, Madam Lee stayed on Christmas Island and defied the odds raising all five children by herself.
She did everything she could to generate income. She cooked laksa and noodles to sell at the Tea Garden and grew vegetables and raised chickens to sell. She became very well-known on the island for the bean sprouts she grew. She would put them in bags and her daughters would sell them for 20c at the Malay Kampong along with chillis and mangoes. Other vegetables grown were choy sum and lady fingers (okra). She also did domestic house cleaning and ironing and worked in the evenings as a kitchenhand in a canteen. She did whatever she could to support her family. When she and her children first lived at the roundabout flats, they all slept in a large wooden double bed downstairs. Only when the children became older did they use the two bedrooms upstairs.
One of the BPC engineers noticed her doing these multiple jobs and approached personnel asking if the “widow” could be given a job. And this is how in 1970, she landed a job with BPC as a cleaner for single quarters. It was a low wage ($30 per month), but it brought a more stable income. She continued to grow vegetables, in a patch behind the roundabout flats, and raised chickens as supplemental income to support her family.
One day when Madam Lee returned home from work, she noticed one of her little daughters, Moi, asleep in bed. She thought it most unusual for that time of afternoon. As it turned out Moi had earlier been watching her older brothers leap from the back garden wall of the roundabout flats onto the roof. Moi attempted the same and fell, banging her head. One of her brothers carried her into the house and put her to bed. He told his mother about the accident. Alarmed, Madam Lee picked up Moi and carried her all the way from her home at the roundabout flats to the hospital in Settlement. With no car or help, it was a long way for a tiny woman to be carrying a young child. A mother’s love gave her that strength. Fortunately, Moi made a full recovery. Her mother was also very protective. Years later, as a young woman, Moi was at the Christmas Island Club having drinks with her friends in the evening. Around midnight, worried that her daughter hadn’t come home, Madam Lee walked to the Club. She didn’t want to climb up all the steps to find her daughter so stood at the base of them and called out in a very loud voice “Ahh Moiiiiiii”, “Ahh Moiiiiiii”. The wailing call carried through the Club and all Moi’s friends said, “What’s that?” Knowing that the Old European Cemetery was just behind the club only added a scary feeling to the calling. Despite the embarrassing but funny situation, to Moi, this demonstrated the strength of her mother’s love.
In the early 1980s, many Islanders were leaving Christmas Island for mainland Australia. Madam Lee thought that to make the move to Perth she would need to start the process of applying for Australian citizenship. She could not speak English so each night she would practice saying the Oath phrases that she would need. One day when she was mopping floors in the single quarters, she heard on the radio that Australian citizenship was automatic if living on the Island from 1958. She dropped her mop and made her way immediately to the Administration building. She asked if this was in fact true, and it was confirmed to her. She presented her paperwork and was eventually issued with an Australian passport without having to jump through the many citizenship legal hoops.
Planning to move to Perth was a big step. Even though Madam Lee was a single mother with a low income and five kids, she once again defied all odds and purchased a house in Willetton in 1984 with no loan. She may not have been “book” smart, but she had a keen sense of budgeting skills and financial responsibility.
One would have thought that she would retire and take it easy once in Perth, but that was not the case.
She continued her avid hobby of gardening. Her vegetable patch slowly expanded over the years and anyone visiting her place would agree the patch was massive! Her front rose garden was not spared as she even planted peanuts in there. Her harvests were so abundant that she generously gave vegetables away to friends or sold her produce to shops. This reflected her generous and enterprising spirit.
She continuously dedicated her life to her family in Perth. Her grandchildren would be at her place before and after school. She minded them and they were very fond of her and her cooking. Although communication was difficult with her grandchildren at times because of a language barrier (she spoke a deep Cantonese dialect), her actions said it all and they felt her love. For example, she walked all the way from Willetton to Bibra Lake and back to visit her sick grandchildren carrying porridge. She had never learnt to drive and never caught taxis. She walked everywhere or had her family drive her.
Family was everything to her. She cooked for them daily, and she loved to have everyone at her home. Whether for a casual dinner, a special occasion or a get together for no reason, she just loved to have family and friends around at her humble home.
She held her immediate and extended family in high esteem. On her first visit back to China in 1989, she managed to see her two sisters one last time. She was, however, heartbroken to see her brother and family living in a small mud hut with pigs. After her return to Australia, she sent money back to China for her brother to rebuild their family house. She then made numerous trips back to visit her brother in China as well as trips to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore visiting various in-laws.
Her adventurous spirit for travelling extended to camping in the bush with the “Fishing Buddies”, even though she did not eat fish.
Madam Lee made many road trips within Western Australia. But nothing compared to her trip along the east coast of Australia with her three children, Moi, Hoe, and the late Tuck, to visit her granddaughter, Isabelle, in Sydney. They flew to Adelaide and drove two weeks to Sydney, stopping in Melbourne and Canberra along the way. She had a wheelchair on this trip because her mobility had started to deteriorate.
Her last trip was to Broome in September 2020, where she suffered a fall and broke her wrist. She soldiered on with the trip. She only complained when she returned to Perth, where she could not tend to her garden due to having a cast on her hand.
Her scoliosis was a result of the hard life she endured. Towards the end, she suffered a lot of aches and pains and had difficulty with walking.
She was a loving and devoted mother to five children, two daughters-in-law and three sons-in-law, grandmother of 17, and great-grandmother of 7.
She was one stoic, inspirational woman who against all odds, overcame many challenges to care for her family.
At the age of nearly 91, surrounded by her family, she sadly passed away on 17 July 2021 due to heart failure.