001ag – Kwan TNT Interview
Name: Kwan Ma
Position: Seamstress
Q How did you get into sewing?
. Like many, we made and repaired our own clothing at home out of necessity. Later this skill became handy when looking for work. I heard of a sewing plant in Hong Kong and applied for the job.
Q What did you study in school?
. I was enrolled in education on and off, when it was affordable.
Q Name your strengths.
. Persistence. Penny-pinching. Frugal to a fault.
Q Name your weaknesses.
. Often I am indecisive.
Q What is your best character trait?
. helping others.
Q What character trait do you like in others?
. sense of humour.
Q Tell us about a favourite memory.
. As little girls, we climbed trees to get at lychee fruit. It was like getting free candy.
As an adult, I purchased a black leather handbag with with bronze clasps and a textured exterior. It wasn’t too expensive, but it was one of my favourite things.
Q What was the worst thing that happened to you?
. When I was little, I got my finger caught in live crab pincers. As an adult, in the 1980’s the worst thing was getting hepatitis through a blood transfusion.
Q What is your nickname?
. I don’t have a nickname.
Q Who is a sports hero?
. You are asking the wrong question, sorry.
Q What sport do you enjoy?
. Occasionally, I would purchase tickets to a football game (North Americans call it Soccer,) and I would go with my mother.
Q Your childhood dream job?
. A princess. What girl doesn’t want to be a princess?
Q What is something we wouldn’t guess about you?
. I choose restaurants based on the view, that is, how pleasant the view looking out the window is. I have a compulsion with encryption. None of my friends nor family know but I am quite fixated by it. I have developed my own written cypher.
Q What is your life philosophy?
. Work hard. Raise my children the best I can.
Q What is your hobby?
. I collect stamps; I collect newspaper clippings: health, recipes, fortune-telling articles.
Q What would you eat for your last meal?
. Lotus root with pork broth soup. Straw mushrooms with vegetables and mungbean vermicelli. Pan fried tiger prawns with snow peas.
Q dream car?
. I’m not choosy. Something small like a Pontiac Sunbird.
Q Where would you like to travel?
. I would like to see China and Hong Kong again. I last went there in 1987
Q Who is your favorite music artist?
. I like the older music, songs in the style of Tony Orlando.
Q What is your favourite video game?
. I play with my kids’ colecovision. My two favourites are “Ladybug” and “Mr. Do“. Once you get the game’s playing pattern down, you can learn of the “safe-spots” to wait. I can last quite long in either of these games.
Q What is a movie that you liked?
. Disney movies like The Aristocats or Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Q What kind of TV shows do you watch?
. I watched Dallas for a while and I got pretty caught up in it. The problem was it was only on once a week. After that ended I began watching the daily soaps. I watched the Young and the Restless for a long time.
Q What is a hidden talent of yours?
. Did I mention that I can make my own clothes? On an unrelated note, like most Chinese ladies in the community, I plant a vegetable garden. It keeps me busy. It keeps the food costs down, & we get bragging rights on the produce that we harvest and share.
Q How does Kwan take her coffee?
. For the one or two times a year that I drink coffee: one cream and one sugar.
Q Pick a super power.
. Super-hearing.
Q You are stranded on a deserted island, what 2 things would you want with you?
. A tent and gardening utensils.
Q I’m buying. Pick your poison.
. Red wine or Johnny Walker Red Label.
Q Name a book you enjoyed.
. A book on health or a cookbook. Either would have to be written in Chinese though.
Q What do you have for breakfast?
. Bread with jam or honey. A glass of warm milk.
Q If you could time travel for 24 hours where would you go?
. I would spend a day visiting friends in Hong Kong in the 1970s.
Q What is your personal vice?
. The bakery: Egg tarts; Steamed red bean paste buns.
Word Association
Q airplane
. travel
Q school
. boring
Q hot
. fan
Q orange
. apple
Q practice
. hard work
Q workers
. friendly
Q hero
. Trudeau