Shoo Ngor Wong Ma

She will always be in our hearts . Her career starts out as a Teacher’s Aid at her little village in Toi San at a tender of age of 10 or 11. She is so fond of the younger students. That explains the love and care she rendered to children, especially her own kids, and her Grandchildren. They are always her little babies . She would advised “ eat more, dont drink COLD water, put on jacket, cold outside…wear socks, dont go outside with your hair wet.

After arriving to Hong Kong around 17 years young, she learn to speak fluent Cantonese within few months. She met my Aunt, Mei-Lin Ma Wong, at adult evening school. My Aunt is the match maker. After marring my Dad, they have 4 children within seven years. My Dad insisted that he took on the role of breadwinner. She is full time stay-at-home Mom who tirelessly cook, clean, wash cloth diapers without washing machine or dryers. She can multi-tasks in many areas. She would do all the household chores and find time to work on light-industry home jobs such as sewing doll’s clothes or painting plastics toys. Just to add to family income.

She sewed all our clothes with a non-electronic Singer sewing machine. She made heavy jackets, swim suits, school uniforms. She advocated for me to go overseas study when attending College is not necessary a choice for a Second daughter at the time. At 1988, her first Grandchild, Christopher, was born. One day before Mother’s Day.

My parents decided to move to California after my Dad’s retirement. She became a full-time “ stay-at-home Grandma “ and babysat the grandkids often. She and my Dad were together for over 50 years plus. She took care of my father when he fell ill 16 years ago. She never leave his bedside at the hospital. She bought soup, herbal tea, wanting a miracle.

My mother was very frugal. She didn’t like any kind of waste. Be it time or money. If she needs a ride from anyone, she would come out from her apartment complex and wait half an hour in advance. She didn’t like to waste food at all. She said each grain of rice you left behind will give you a pimple.

She is a hoarder like me, I am just more extreme. Her dresser is totally organized. One drawer for scarf, headbands that she knitted or crochet herself . One drawer for all these designers bags that she create herself .One drawer for Only white outfits. One drawer for all the Rainbow colors. One for the cards, drawings, projects that the Grandkids gave since kindergarten.

She wears visor and a lot of hats. She is the CEO, CFO, COO, PR and Janitor of her Empire. Everything has a system, has a procedure. For example, the fish bones goes to old newspaper, the chicken bones goes to napkins, the mandarin orange peel or the kumquat peels goes to a bowl, cuz they will be sun-dried and use for soup or porridge.

She walks or takes the local bus everywhere. She is fiercely independent.

She enjoyed Mahjong with friends and plays Bingo at her senior center. She loves cooking. She made perfectly symmetrical Tamales. She made Chinese New year feast ( 10-12 dishes) without using any measuring cups, she just know how much salt to add, how much oil to use, how the ingredients are mixed and matched.

She is more liberal than my Father, she doesn’t care if the person that I date or marry is white or brown or purple, as long as they know how to use chopsticks and call her often.

She watched all kinds of Sports especially basketball, doesn’t matter if it’s UCLA, USC, Lakers or Clippers, as long as Someone is making 3-points basket. She loves watching figure-skating as well. She plays an instrument called harmonica.

She taught us words “potato “, “ tomato “, with the British pronunciation, but she is determined to learn the American way of English when she migrated to US, such as remembering to put the Month first when filling out forms.

She is so adventurous and sassy. She is always fashionable and set the latest trend. She enjoys Pizza and spicy tortilla soup. She went to almost all the restaurants on PCH between Santa Monica & Malibu. She is my companion for Plays and Shows. She didn’t complain much even it’s no intermission. You see, she is not the type who sit still for too long. Her Name means “ humble moth”素娥， few months ago, we agreed to change it to “ colorful butterfly “,彩蝶 instead.

She traveled to many places such as Yellowstone National, New York, Canada, Hawaii, Solvang, Las Vegas and of course Hong Kong. She is simply a BFF.

I visualize my father and Her holding hands walking along the beach, maybe it’s Shek O 石澳, maybe Vancouver, they have each other now.They are each other’s BFF.

Visitation in Chapel will be held at Hua Yuan - Hall of Wisdom, 3890 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, CA 90601, US, on June 26, 2026, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  

A Funeral Service will be held at Hua Yuan - Hall of Wisdom, 3890 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, CA 90601, US, on June 27, 2026, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.