Tag Archives: New York

My grandfather (Yeh-Yeh) Tony Hing Wong was born in China and was of Chiuchow lineage. He immigrated to this country around the age of 15. As far as I know, he is the only person in my family named Wong to immigrate. If I remember the story correctly, he loved ships and the sea, and he was able to get employment as an errand boy from the American and Australian crewmen who were shipping cargo around the world. He spoke no English at the time, and the crew communicated with him by drawing pictures and asking him to do whatever it was that they needed (his English would eventually become flawless and without even the hint of an accent). He was a fast learner, loved the sea, and loved seeing how machines worked, and so the American mariners gave him more and more responsibilities as they transported cargo back and forth across the Pacific. Sometime during his younger years while on land he also worked in restaurants.