‘When I was 12 years old, I stepped on stage with 140 other young people as part of the Cumberland Gang Show which was a Scout and Guide show at Parramatta Riverside Theatre. It filled me with so much joy to be making people laugh and smile by being up on stage. I couldn’t see any of their faces because they were in the dark and I was in the bright lights.

‘When I was doing a comedy sketch on stage and I was making people laugh, I was addicted to stand up from then.

‘As a creative person who doesn’t have the security of a regular income, I feel like the toughest thing for me is knowing where my next thing is going to be. Often I don’t know where that is. I pretend and people believe me sometimes and give me lots of money to do it but I just don’t know where those opportunities lie.’

If you could give one bit of advice to people, what would it be?

‘Keep it real. Be honest. Honesty is always the best policy when you’re doing comedy or when you’re doing anything.’

‘In Hong Kong I just didn’t have the time to enjoy things. It’s too rushed and you can’t really observe stuff in detail. We don’t have a second to relax and enjoy life so for me, I want to take back the time. Here, at least I can get back free time and the lifestyle. And the food and the air. The air is so important because Hong Kong is so polluted.’

‘I think I’m going to take the Australian lifestyle back to Hong Kong with me. I’ve been back to Hong Kong twice since living here and now I’m just not used to how people walk so quickly and how rude they can be. I’m so used to now getting off the bus and saying thank you and stuff. I think I’m just going to keep doing that in Hong Kong.’

‘I’ve got to say I’ve been very fortunate with a lot of the kids I’ve had over the years. They’ve said to me, “Miss, you’ve always just been there. In our broken English, in our horrible writing, you’ve just been there. You’re stable. You’re with us. You listen to all our sob stories and all our successes.”

‘Even if it’s minor, I’m there; with them. I think they just need that one person that brings them stability at school – that one person they can go to. Someone who is willing to listen. That makes a difference to somebody’s life.

‘We run a homework centre at school that started for ESL kids only then opened up to everyone. We advocated to get more assistance because there was such a need. The kids just know you’re there. They know you’re going to listen.’

‘If you’re not there, they’ll hunt you down and drag you there! We are hunted!’