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At
school, my brothers, sisters and I were all quite bright and sporty,
so did quite well. We were all in the top five of our forms and
managed to make the school teams in one sport or another. We all
could take care of ourselves, so never had any bullying problems.
We all passed through school without any problems.
I went
to Cheltenham Central Boys' School. In my third year it combined
with the Girls' School to become Cheltenham Technical High School.
It
later moved and became Bournside Comprehensive School.
As a boy, I spoke Chinese (Toishan dialect)
with my parents until I was about ten. After this I started
to speak more and more English with them. They didn't seem to
notice and correct me, so by the time I was 15, I was listening
in Chinese and speaking in English.  |
| Frank
Wing Yow Soo |
While
at Tech High, we took GCE O-Level subjects which we did in the fifth
year. I was made a prefect in my fourth year and became Head Boy
in the fifth.
During
what I thought was my final year at school, I had done the usual
thing of writing off to various companies for jobs. I wanted to
be an engineer, so had applied for apprenticeships at Dowty's, Smith's
and GCHQ, the main companies in Cheltenham.
I
didn't get an interview with GCHQ because they could only employ
people whose parents and grandparents were British. I
was offered apprenticeships by the other two and chose Dowty's.
When
I presented the papers for my father to sign, he refused as he wanted
me to go to university. So I went to my headmaster, Mr Cartwright,
and asked him to try and get me into the sixth form at the grammar
school. In
those days that was the only sixth form available.
After
a few weeks and an emergency meeting of the school governors, he
came and told me and a classmate, whose parents also wanted him
to carry on, that we were to be his first sixth form.
I therefore
continued as Head Boy for a second year and we both got the required
A-Level certificates and went on to university for our degrees.
Language
barriers
As
a boy, I spoke Chinese (Toishan dialect) with my parents until I
was about ten. After this I started to speak more and more English
with them. They didn't seem to notice and correct me, so by the
time I was 15, I was listening in Chinese and speaking in English.
I went
to Hong Kong in 1960 and got a job teaching English and Biology
during the day. For two hours every evening I had a Chinese teacher
to teach me reading, writing and Hong Kong dialect spoken Chinese.
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| Frank
returned to Hong Kong in 1960 |
After
two years I could read about 60 per cent of a newspaper, but within
a year of returning to England I had forgotten most of it, as you
could not buy Chinese newspapers here at that time.
After
two years in Hong Kong, I gave up teaching and joined a travel agency
where I met my wife.
In
1962, China wanted young people to go back to visit and study and
it was subsidised so that a three-month tour was available for about
£50.
I was
about to take up this offer but started hearing stories about ethnic
Chinese from Indonesia and Malaya who were not allowed to leave
when they wanted and I decided not to go.
It
was at this time that I had a Chinese horoscope cast by a well-known
astrologer. He reputedly regularly made forecasts for members of
the government in China and has proved to be amazingly accurate.
However,
I still can't believe that life is fully governed by fate. Four
years later we returned to England where I ran the family restaurant
in Cheltenham for a few years before deciding that the unsocial
hours were not for me.
My
father was about to close the last remaining laundry, so I took
it on and ran it for the last three years of the 1960s.
I
was bringing in relatives from China to work and the contract was
that they would work for me for a minimum of a year before moving
on if they wanted. This they usually did as restaurant work paid
more money.
Arrivals
Throughout
the 60's, Britain allowed up to 10,000 Chinese from Hong Kong to
enter, who nearly all went into catering or Chinese provisions.
It
was at this time that we stopped greeting any Chinese that we met
in the street, as they would often stare back at us blankly or suspiciously.
It
took longer and longer to bring over relatives or home villagers
to work and Communism may have had an influence on some of them,
as they were ungrateful, rude and even dangerous.
Throughout the 1960s, Britain allowed up to 10,000 Chinese from
Hong Kong to enter, who nearly all went into catering or Chinese
provisions.
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| Frank
Wing Yow Soo |
With
laundrettes by now becoming firmly established and home washing
machines becoming popular our business was being affected, so we
closed the laundry and turned it into a Chinese gift and fancy goods
shop - the first in Cheltenham.
We
also bought a takeaway business off my uncle and his partner in
Parkend Road, Gloucester and renamed it the "Peking House Takeaway."
We ran this for a few years before selling it to a couple of cousins.
My
brother-in-law enjoyed running the gift shop so I went to work for
a well known local engineering company. After four years we sold
up and went back to Hong Kong where I worked in a shipping company.
I was
trained in Hong Kong for a year before being transferred to help
run the branch office in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In
Hong Kong my wife became pregnant and she returned to England for
medical care and nationality issues.
Which
nationality?
Most
countries do not give you their nationality just because you happened
to be born there and I was aware that the UK was tightening up it's
nationality laws.
To
play safe, we decided any children would be born in England. Returning
to the UK in 1975, I obtained a temporary job with a switch manufacturer,
but enjoyed it, so stayed for nearly 20 years until being made redundant.
Our
children have been brought up to know and understand their Chinese
heritage and customs. We celebrate Chinese New Year and Ching Ming
and cook both Chinese and English food.
They
have all spent periods in Taiwan and speak Mandarin. When
in Taiwan or the Far East they will go to Buddhist Temples with
their relatives and pay their respects.
They
have all been Christened and Confirmed in the Church of England
and of course celebrate all the English ceremonies and holidays.
They
all went through the English education system without any problems
and did not appear to suffer any discrimination, although at various
stages they did realise that they were different.
As
they have grown up they have held their own in a society which in
their experience has always been multi-cultural.
Unless
it is blatant discrimination, they would probably think it was just
plain rudeness.
My
father told me that he was discriminated against and that I would
also find discrimination. I never suffered really unpleasant discrimination;
it was always the type of just being ignored or excluded.
Thinking
back, I notice that my parents went to very few English weddings.
In the 50's the main entertainment was going to the pictures or
ballroom dancing on Friday and Saturday night.
We
all had to dress up in suits and ties; the girls would all sit around
the dance floor and we had to go and ask them to dance.
I
did notice that I got more refusals than my English friends - about
one dance in five requests.
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Black
American soldiers were also discriminated against
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At
this time there were some black American soldiers who would come
to the dances and they were refused often, which upset them.
Even
the English boys would be refused. If they didn't look smart or
if the girl didn't like the look of them they wouldn't dance with
them.
To
me, discrimination is a modern word and I think all peoples and
races practice discrimination in one form or another.
There
are many Chinese who would not look favourably on their children
marrying foreigners. One of my uncles who had been a government
official back in China and came to England during the war, disowned
his daughter when she married an Englishman in Liverpool.
As
far as we are concerned, our children can do what they want with
life, so long as they are happy doing it.
»See
Frank's story part 1
»See
Frank's story part 2
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