Advertisement
How Hong Kong ‘buffalo whisperer’ went from yelling and crazy to happy tending to animals
- Lantau’s ‘buffalo whisperer’ Jean Leung talks to Kate Whitehead about growing up in a haunted house, disrespecting a triad boss and the beast that changed her life
Reading Time:6 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
3
I was born in Hong Kong in 1952, a dragon year, and grew up in To Kwa Wan, East Kowloon. My parents had six children – three boys and three girls – and I’m the fourth child. My father had a big shop with many stalls, selling wooden shoes, sweets and biscuits.
Advertisement
He brought in eight pinball machines to earn some extra money, but it was illegal, and the government confiscated the machines and destroyed them on the street. My dad owed money for the machines and had to sell everything to pay back the debt and went bankrupt.
His good friend on Cheung Chau knew about an old abandoned house on the island that no one was living in because there were many ghosts. We had no money. Poor people are not afraid of ghosts, so when I was five years old, we moved into the house.
My sister saw a ghost in that house, but I never saw any.
Glass act
My parents’ relationship wasn’t good because they were very poor, had many children and had to work hard. They always argued.
Advertisement
Advertisement