After having six girls in a row, Cat’s family welcomed the arrival of a baby boy. The family was overjoyed, but the neighbours seemed even more excited. “They brought over pig’s feet and red eggs.“ Though it was not a popular thing to throw banquets at the time and the family was not well-off, Cat’s parents decided to borrow money from their cousins and arrange a one-month birthday feast to thank the neighbours for their blessings. The banquet was not held in a restaurant but at Block C of Ming Wah Dai Ha. “It was Mrs Chin, Mrs Lee and Mrs Lam…” Even decades later, Cat could still remember the names of the three families who so generously lent them their dining rooms for the banquet. Cat’s family put one table in each dining room, making a total of four tables, including the one in their own flat. The four dining rooms were turned into banquet halls that night; the corridor became a hallway for delivering and serving dishes; and the impluvium was inadvertently used for food prepping. Cat’s dad and grandma were the chefs. The four families opened their doors; food was served when friends and family arrived and took their seats.

“There was chicken, pork belly and grandma’s famous Shiitake mushrooms.” All Cat could remember was the delicious food, but what left a lasting impression was the kindness of the people. Neighbours were never stingy with each other back then. “We shared the food we cooked, and we used each other’s phones.” When it was raining heavily one day, Cat’s dad paid their neighbour a little money to drive his and other neighbours’ children to school. Cat’s little sister asked, “Why don’t you ask the others to pay for the ride?” to which her father answered, “You all are heading to school anyway, there’s no harm in doing everyone a favour.”

Cat still remembers her childhood like it was yesterday. When she grew up, she met her husband, who happened to be living in the same estate. After the wedding car did a lap around the Island Eastern Corridor, Cat’s family home became her matrimonial home. Since she became a mother, she has kept an intact copy of every issue of the Ming Wah Quarterly Magazine (except for the first issue published in 1995, from which she removed the cover for her daughter’s news clipping homework) so that when her sisters and brother come to visit, they could revisit Ming Wah’s journey of transformation over the years together.