When I was a young Ying Wa student, Miss Kwan was first and foremost a stern and demanding teacher with a deep voice that commanded full attention of every single student in class.  But she was a good teacher.  Her Geography classes inspired my interest in exploring places, and hence my life-long lust for travel.  I credit my pretty good map reading skill to Miss Kwan, with all the drillings that she put us through in Geography lessons.  More importantly, she was one of the earliest “professional women” that I admired in my formative years.  She had a big and important job in school, and she always had a prominent presence within Ying Wa.  She made me, and probably many other Ying Wa girls, recognize, long before I came to understand the feminist movements, that the two roles of career and family could coexist harmoniously.

When I met her again in Canada, Miss Kwan had assumed the family matriarch role, with all the sons-in-law and grandchildren under her full command.  She was the glue of the family, the auntie of her daughters’ friends, and the revered former teacher and vice-principal of Ying Wa.  Her tireless effort to help raise funds for Ying Wa’s redevelopment project rallied the alumni in Canada to contribute.  Her presence at the annual alumni dinner was always warmly received.  We loved the tofu rolls (紮蹄) that she made for fund-raising - they were by far the best that I have ever tasted in Canada.