Born in 1929 in Hong Kong, Lee Foo belongs to the 22nd generation of the Lee Clan in Nga Tsin Wai. His grandfather made a living by making hemp ropes for ships, his father was a mechanic working as a supervisor at an American firm. The family owned several ancestral houses on First Lane and was well-off before WWII. His entire family moved into Model Village in Kowloon Tong during Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. When the war was over, they returned to Nga Tsin Wai and rebuilt their ancestral houses. In 1947, he went to work at the navy’s dockyard. He was later employed by the Fire Services Department in 1958 and moved up the ranks to become Principal Fireman at the time he retired in 1987. At the end of the 1970s, he became Nga Tsin Wai’s headman and served on the post for about 10 years, during which time he had handled affairs regarding the acquisition of the village. Lee Foo missed the long care-free, peaceful and leisurely days of his young life in the village. The child of a family which had been affluent before World War Two, Lee Foo lived with his parents, younger brothers and sisters, younger uncles and cousins in their 1st Lane ancestral home. Back then, the walled village enjoyed an open view of scenic fields and was famed for hosting colourful festivities where children romped happily. The Lees were once a large clan who had their own ancestral hall, cemetery, properties and grave sweeping activities. Following the Japanese invasion of China in 1941 to the mainland’s liberation in 1949, his family members and clansmen either died or simply lost touch. Thanks to the constantly changing personal and social post-war environment, Uncle Foo misses his boyhood life more and more.