|
|
This is a limited free preview of this book. Please buy full access.
Her extended family is widely dispersed, living in Australia, Malaysia, and the United States, as well as in Canada. She explained the reasons, including the timing, of her move to Canada:
The critical point was probably form five in Hong Kong where you need to take the Hong Kong certificate examination [HKCEE].3 It was well known to be a disaster for every student! So at the moment of form three or form four I proposed to my parents, saying “if I can get a chance to get out of Hong Kong so I don’t need to take the HKCEE at form five…” So at the end of the day they said “OK, as long as you can apply for college, high school”, I should go there and experience new things etc. So…through the Vancouver School Board I took some exams and then [an] interview and then I was admitted to Lord Byng High School in Vancouver. So it was like that. So actually the motive was kind of like a lazy person who really doesn’t want to take the exam, because it was well known to be very disastrous. Some people [committed] suicide after the report cards [were published], because that’s actually the borderline between life and death. If you don’t have really good marks there is no secondary school that will admit you into form six where there’s the preparation for the university. So that’s an important examination. And my parents have given me enough funding for the whole six years so I don’t really need to take any scholarship or anything. (Natalie, personal communication, February 2003)
Natalie graduated successfully in 1996 with a degree in statistics from the University of British Columbia (UBC). She explained her experiences of returning to Hong Kong to seek employment:
When he [her employer in Hong Kong] saw my CV, he said, “Oh, this is very good. You graduated from the University of British Columbia.” It is a very well-known, famous “U” in Canada. So he will make that kind of impression. (Natalie, personal communication, February 2003)
She went on to say,