[Civilian] Cheng Sau Luen
Description:
Born:
1920
Death:
2002
Pre-war:
Cheng Sau Luen was born in Hong Kong in 1920 to a merchant father and spent her primary and secondary school years in Shanghai with him. After graduating from secondary school, she enrolled in nursing school and later joined the New Fourth Army as a medic. She was once captured by the Japanese but was later released, during which time she encountered a former household worker who had worked for her family and helped her. Subsequently, she went to live with relatives in Hong Kong, residing on Nathan Road near the New World Theatre in Mong Kok. She hoped to enroll in Heep Yunn School or work as a nurse at Kwong Wah Hospital. In the autumn of 1941, she joined Kwong Wah Hospital, where her younger sister was also a nurse. In her later accounts, she mentioned that she had been a Christian since childhood.
Wartime:
When the Japanese attacked Hong Kong, Cheng Sau Luen was at Kwong Wah Hospital and continued working there until the end of the fighting. During this time, she witnessed the chaos and looting that occurred when Kowloon fell. Although Japanese soldiers entered the hospital, major losses were prevented due to the intervention of hospital director Dr. Hua Tse Jen and Japanese officers. During the occupation, Kwong Wah continued to operate, becoming the only free hospital available to citizens in Kowloon. As a result, Cheng Sau Luen and the hospital staff struggled to maintain medical services despite a lack of supplies. She recalled the situation when the hospital received numerous casualties after Allied air raids on Hong Kong: "Our busiest days were when the Allies bombed Hong Kong extensively. At that time, we had very few medicines but many patients. Since the patients brought to the hospital either had severed limbs or head injuries, we particularly needed morphine for pain relief. The plastic aprons worn by doctors on duty in the operating room were stained with patients' blood. Due to large-scale building collapses caused by the bombing, many people were injured from being trapped under fallen structures." In her oral history interview, Cheng also mentioned smuggling medicines from the hospital to the Hong Kong-Kowloon Battalion's urban post.
Post-war:
After the war ended, Cheng Sau Luen continued working at Kwong Wah. She described the post-war reconstruction work as follows: "Kwong Wah Hospital was a hospital that relied on donations from the community. After liberation, it initially raised funds from the community, and later received donations and administrative support from directors. The government also provided continuous financial support. As a result, our salaries, meals, and services for patients all improved, and we rarely experienced shortages of medicine. This can be attributed to the spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance among Hong Kong people." Ms. Cheng later became a government nurse and founded Tao Sau Girls' College to promote women's education. She also assisted her husband in business ventures before retiring in 1997. Subsequently, she became well-known to the public as "Grandma Wong" in television commercials. Ms. Cheung passed away in 2002.
Further reading:
Lau Chi Pang and Chow Ka Kin, eds., Tunsheng renyu: Rizhi shiqi xianggangren de jitihuiyi [Swallowing Up Voices and Refrain to Speak: Hongkongers’ Collective Memory during the Japanese Occupation] (Hong Kong, Chunghwa, 2010), pp. 190-209.
Born:
1920
Death:
2002
Pre-war:
Cheng Sau Luen was born in Hong Kong in 1920 to a merchant father and spent her primary and secondary school years in Shanghai with him. After graduating from secondary school, she enrolled in nursing school and later joined the New Fourth Army as a medic. She was once captured by the Japanese but was later released, during which time she encountered a former household worker who had worked for her family and helped her. Subsequently, she went to live with relatives in Hong Kong, residing on Nathan Road near the New World Theatre in Mong Kok. She hoped to enroll in Heep Yunn School or work as a nurse at Kwong Wah Hospital. In the autumn of 1941, she joined Kwong Wah Hospital, where her younger sister was also a nurse. In her later accounts, she mentioned that she had been a Christian since childhood.
Wartime:
When the Japanese attacked Hong Kong, Cheng Sau Luen was at Kwong Wah Hospital and continued working there until the end of the fighting. During this time, she witnessed the chaos and looting that occurred when Kowloon fell. Although Japanese soldiers entered the hospital, major losses were prevented due to the intervention of hospital director Dr. Hua Tse Jen and Japanese officers. During the occupation, Kwong Wah continued to operate, becoming the only free hospital available to citizens in Kowloon. As a result, Cheng Sau Luen and the hospital staff struggled to maintain medical services despite a lack of supplies. She recalled the situation when the hospital received numerous casualties after Allied air raids on Hong Kong: "Our busiest days were when the Allies bombed Hong Kong extensively. At that time, we had very few medicines but many patients. Since the patients brought to the hospital either had severed limbs or head injuries, we particularly needed morphine for pain relief. The plastic aprons worn by doctors on duty in the operating room were stained with patients' blood. Due to large-scale building collapses caused by the bombing, many people were injured from being trapped under fallen structures." In her oral history interview, Cheng also mentioned smuggling medicines from the hospital to the Hong Kong-Kowloon Battalion's urban post.
Post-war:
After the war ended, Cheng Sau Luen continued working at Kwong Wah. She described the post-war reconstruction work as follows: "Kwong Wah Hospital was a hospital that relied on donations from the community. After liberation, it initially raised funds from the community, and later received donations and administrative support from directors. The government also provided continuous financial support. As a result, our salaries, meals, and services for patients all improved, and we rarely experienced shortages of medicine. This can be attributed to the spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance among Hong Kong people." Ms. Cheng later became a government nurse and founded Tao Sau Girls' College to promote women's education. She also assisted her husband in business ventures before retiring in 1997. Subsequently, she became well-known to the public as "Grandma Wong" in television commercials. Ms. Cheung passed away in 2002.
Further reading:
Lau Chi Pang and Chow Ka Kin, eds., Tunsheng renyu: Rizhi shiqi xianggangren de jitihuiyi [Swallowing Up Voices and Refrain to Speak: Hongkongers’ Collective Memory during the Japanese Occupation] (Hong Kong, Chunghwa, 2010), pp. 190-209.
