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South China Morning Post
CITY7 | LIFE | By Joyce Siu 2008-09-17
Flour power
Would you like tea, coffee or yin-yang? Mooncakes or sandwiches? asks Maria Lee Tseng Chiu-kwan. Dressed in a floral-print linen top, the founder of Maria's Bakery chain is an elegant figure in her spacious Tai Hang flat. The sprightly 80-year-old has always enjoyed having friends round to sample her cooking and in recent months her dining room has served as the canteen for a group of actors who are about to present the story of her roller-coaster life on stage.
Aptly named Bitter Sweet, the play follows how Lee started a cake shop that quickly grew into a chain of 70 outlets, only to see it go into liquidation in 1998 with debts totalling HK$43 million. The production is particularly timely as she has just finished paying off her creditors, she says.
I'm so happy because I've fulfilled my commitment, Lee says, beaming.
Presented by the Organisation for Oncology and Translational Research, Bitter Sweet, which opens at the Cultural Centre on September 27, aims to raise funds for cancer research. However, Lee also hopes the show will leave audiences with food for thought.
Never give up, she says. I've gone through many crises throughout my life. I never lose my hope. Nothing is impossible.
Lee's fluctuating fortunes make excellent material for a play, says Bitter Sweet director Chan Chu-hei of Bravo Theatre. Her cake shop is part of our collective memory, he says. It's a challenge to squeeze her legendary life into a two-hour show.
Hong Kong's Queen of Cakes began her baking career half a century ago when she gave cooking lessons at organisations such as the YWCA as a young tai-tai. Her cakes were so well received that students encouraged her to start a shop.
So in 1966 she opened a small bakery in Prince Edward with a HK$100,000 loan rather than turn to her engineer husband for financial help. The first six months were a total loss, but the venture began to take off as Lee experimented with traditional Chinese pastries such as mooncakes and sesame balls and western fare such as Neapolitan cakes and Swiss rolls.
Maria's Bakery grew into a chain that at its height included branches in Taiwan, Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles. But overly aggressive expansion led to financial problems and when the Asian economic crisis struck, its fate was sealed.
Lee's three children were among the many people who urged her to declare bankruptcy rather than try to pay off debts at the age of 70.
I refused to do so, she says. To me, it would have been like cheating if I had declared bankruptcy. I wouldn't have been able to live with dignity.
So Lee, who studied social psychology in the US, ventured into e-commerce by setting up a cookery website, which meant learning about computers from scratch.
My daughter said, `No way', because it was too complicated for my age, Lee recalls. But if other people can do it, I can too. I like taking on a challenge.
Tapping out 5,000 words a night, she presented recipes, cooking tips, celebrity interviews and sold puddings and sauces on her site.
She also began taking visitors on culinary tours to Zhongshan in Guangdong, going strawberry picking and visiting traditional bazaars. That was really hard-earned money, says Lee. It was so hot that I had to get some ice from a street vendor to cool my towel. I looked like a coolie.
In her Hong Kong flat, she also plied politicians, celebrities and tourist guests with designer Chinese banquets, featuring courses such as sweet and sour eel and prawns stuffed with minced pork. Lee also started taking trams to reduce expenses - a comedown for a septuagenarian who once took a limousine to receive an MBE from Queen Elizabeth.
My elder brother said, `You [were] once just like a queen yourself. I can't believe you take the ding-ding [tram]. How can you still be so happy?', Lee recalls. But why should I feel miserable? That's life. It's just another chapter of my life. I still enjoy it.
Besides, sitting in the upper deck of a tram offered respite from her daily bustle, she says. I enjoyed observing slices of life. I saw people window shopping, couples quarrelling in the street. That was really interesting.
Television actress Louise Lee Sze-kei, who will play the entrepreneur in Bitter Sweet, is impressed by her positive outlook. What really strikes me is her optimistic attitude towards life. Her energy is contagious and her courage to take on a huge debt is inspiring.
Young actor Wong Cho-lam has been recruited as narrator to help draw young people's attention to Lee's struggles and positive energy.
Lee has always been a survivor. Born and raised in Shanghai, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition at the age of 10. Her parents - dad was a banker and mum wrote cookbooks - feared she would not survive into her teens and banned her from any exercise. They even had their daughter carried upstairs on a maid's back.
That kind of life just wasn't for me, Lee says. If I was going to die anyway, I wanted to try playing soccer and swimming before I died.
Her health improved with regular exercise and when the Japanese invasion forced her family to flee to Guilin, Lee was able to help with chores such as carrying water, chopping firewood, and even baking Chinese pastries to earn money.
It was wartime, she says. Whether you were from a rich family or not, you still had to work like everyone else.
She became a volunteer nurse and recalls helping to inoculate more than 100 patients a day. People called the way I did [my] injection `flying needle' because I was so quick, she says.
The former bakery tycoon remains busy and has no plans to take a break. She teaches children with special needs to make sandwiches and cookies. It helps improve their dexterity, memory and, most importantly, gives them a sense of satisfaction, she says.
Lee knows what she's talking about: she has been studying for a professional diploma in therapy for children with developmental problems at the Chinese University and is preparing to sit her final exams. Declaring herself the oldest and most talkative student in her class, she says going back to school makes her feel young.
Maybe they'll have to prepare another ending for the drama if I fail in the examination, but it's OK. I'm very confident, she says with a grin.
Pointing to a painting of a sunset that she did several years ago, Lee says: Sometimes you really have to encourage yourself. I tell myself that I can still lead a meaningful life in my sunset years. I can still use the little bit of light to contribute to society.
And it's not just food that Lee can help with. Her advice is often sought on romance and child-rearing.
My friends say, 'If you have problems, ask Maria. She'll give you advice for free'. I think that's my reward. Money can't buy you people's trust and respect, Lee says. If I can help people, I'm happy too. |
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發表於 2008-10-1 19:14:55
發表於 2008-10-1 20:55:56
