A Letter to Samantha

This book was written for Samantha, in the hope that through these letters she may come to know her Auntie Sue, who died before Samantha was born. The book also reflects the harsh life of the ‘HaKa’ people, who during the 1960s and ‘70s uprooted themselves to England for economic reasons. Most of these new immigrants ended up as restaurant or shop owners since employment opportunities were limited due to the language barrier and their lack of skills, forcing them to start own businesses. The book also reflects the reality of these families’ struggle to make a living, working more then 12 hours a day, seven days a week with hardly anytime to rest. Their whole world seemed to revolve around their own businesses, and this is why many of the older generation of Hakka people in England today still cannot speak a word of English. Their businesses tended to be family orientated with the parents usually acting as chefs and the children helpers.



The struggle of these people acts as a backdrop to Letter of Samantha.

Yip Sui Ping (Sue) was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to England with her sister to join the rest of her family at the age of seven or eight. Her parents owned a Chinese takeaway and she helped in the kitchen until she was old enough to serve behind the counter. She later moved to Sheffield where she obtained her first degree in BA (Hons) in Historical and Critical Studies. In the autumn of 1993, she moved back to Hong Kong to ‘get a taste of the Hong Kong people’s way of life’. She has been living in Hong Kong ever since. Her teaching career began in 1994 when she started work as an English and History teacher at Tai Po Sam Yuk Secondary School. In 1998, she obtained her Diploma in Education from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and later, in 2003 she was awarded with an MA in English for Specific Purposes by the City University of Hong Kong. She currently works as a lecturer in the Hang Seng School of Commerce.

Yip Sui Ping is the mother of Samantha, her only child. She hopes that through this book, her daughter can get to know her aunt, who died in 1997 before Samantha was born.