The workers who brought the girl to the orphanage (孤儿院) knew little about her. The street where
they found her had been her home for many years. Her parents were unknown. They left her long ago. At the
orphanage, the girl, like all the children there, was taught to read and write. While she was studying at the
orphanage, she learned something else to be independent (独立). At twenty-one, she left the orphanage and
began to work as a secretary. And then, in 1975, while she was still working as an ordinary secretary,
something special happened. She entered the Miss Hong Kong Competition and won it. This was the turning
point in her life. Now her name, Mary Cheung, was known to everybody.
Mary entered the competition because she wanted to show that orphanage girls could be something.
Winning the competition gave her the chance to start a new life. This led her first into television and then into
business as a manager. When she was working as a manager, she had trouble with her reports. "My English
just wasn"t good enough," she says. Luckily, she had a boyfriend (who later became her husband) to help her.
Mary studied management (管理) at Hong Kong Polytechnic and graduated in 1980. She started her own
business in 1985. But she did not stop developing herself. She then studied at the University of Hong Kong.
Since 1987, she has spent a lot of time on photography (摄影). She has held several exhibitions (展览) of her
works in many places-China, New Zealand and Paris. She still found time, however, to work on TV, write for
newspapers and bring up her family.
The girl from the street has come a long way, but her journey has not finished yet. |