Prologue

     Prologue - In November 2024 the author (Lui Hah Wah) wanted to write a bilingual (Chinese & English) script of an on-line audio book on Hong Kong Happy Valley, based on the recollection and reflections of her siblings, aunts, cousins and friends. She was hoping an audio e-book will be produced by 19 June 2026 - the 10th anniversary of her cousin Master Fan Ho (the world-famous photographer). Happy Valley witnesses the transition lives of her family from 1949 to 1950; and her pre-school days till early stage of career. In the beginning it was a movie story inspired by Prof To Cho Yee during his visit to Singapore on July 21-24, 2024.  In her first draft there was a part two - a documentary movie script of Tsat Muk Street in Singapore. Tsat Muk Street was the first dwelling of her parents and siblings when they moved to Singapore. However, due to limited resources, also balance between ‘truth and fun’, and ‘realism and idealism’, it was decided to focus on Happy Valley and leave Tsat Muk Street to the media professionals.    In1946 Hah Wah was born to Lui Man Pui and Wong Wai Fun in Canton. She has 2 elder sisters (one died young), 2 elder brothers (Chuen & Hee) and 3 younger brothers (Sum, Lock & Shun). In 1950 her parents, elder sister Chau Wah and 4 brothers flew to Singapore, the youngest bother Shun was born in Singapore in 1951. She was left behind in Hong Kong but very well looked after by Fan Ho’s parents. His mother Lui Yee Sau is her paternal aunt. She grew up in the loving caring kinship community comprising her maternal grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins, plus her godparents and family whose dwellings were mainly in Happy Valley, Wanchai and Causeway Bay.   

    From a book to a blog -– Since December 2024 the Author has been search for a publisher or a platform for this bilingual audio digital book. It’s really a ‘God send’ that in June 2025 her niece Joanne Lui and nephew-in-law Jonthan Yeo were passionate in coaching her to set up a blog with the audio file: Blog “Storytelling from the Cloud”. In fact there are essential differences between a book and a blog, such as the layout, the order of chapters and posts, title and contents page, header and footer, etc. As a novice in the bloggers community, the author found the learning journey very challenging and felt very grateful to Joanne and Jonathan for their great patience in giving step-by-step guidance. Writing and publishing bilingual (Chinese & English) books to the author is not a simple task. She has no formal training in translation of Chinese to English and vice versa. Her ability in using Hanyu Pinyin was through years’ of try and error, drills and practices. She also has some learning difficulties (mild dyslexia) in reading and writing both Chinese and English languages. She would like to seek readers’ understanding and pardon her mistakes / fall short, due to her incompetence and limitations in writing books and blog posts.     


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