Jimmy, Hong Kong/Northern Ireland

My name is Jimmy Cheung. I am 88 years old. I came from Tai Po in the New Territories, Hong Kong. I came to Northern Ireland in 1960, around 50 years ago. I came to Northern Ireland by myself because it was hard to search for jobs in Hong Kong. I opened a Chinese restaurant but my restaurant served both Chinese and Western cuisine. Initially, we served dine-in; however, it became quite hard to hire people. Therefore, the restaurant mainly served take-away for the remaining years.

I come back to Hong Kong every year. However, my wife and my son stayed in Hong Kong. They immigrated to Northern Ireland in 1994. I retired in 1992. I am now living in Hong Ning Garden now. My retirement life has been enjoyable. We are entitled to retirement benefit so we don’t need to worry much and can live a decent life. We hold British passport and are British citizens. We are very happy about our peaceful retirement life.

I have brought a plate which is used as decoration. It is belonged to our “Happy Elderly Group”. The “Happy Elderly Group” was established in 1998 for members to have social gatherings. Back in the old days, the group only consisted of around 20 members. But we have got more than a hundred members today. Therefore, we have specially designed this plate as a souvenir. I am the chair-person of “Happy Elderly Group”. We have regular meetings every month, for example with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of NI. I am responsible to organize such meetings and other activities for our members.