ItChangedMyLife

It Changed My Life: Growing up in the red-light district

Charmaine Leung has penned a book about what it's like growing up in a red light district

Growing up in the red-light district of Keong Saik Road, Charmaine Leung was once ashamed of her home but now embraces it.
Ms Charmaine Leung as a child in a playground near Keong Saik Road (left), and at home. She says that except for a godsister who was six years older, she did not have any playmates her age. Ms Charmaine Leung in Keong Saik Road, where she grew up and
Ms Charmaine Leung in Keong Saik Road, where she grew up and her mother used to run a brothel. Despite her circumstances, Ms Leung went on to get a degree and become regional director of a French company. Now 45, and running her own marketing agency, she has written a book about her past. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Wong Kim Hoh
Deputy Life Editor
Updated
May 28, 2018, 11:40 AM
Published
Apr 08, 2018, 05:00 AM
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The Chinese phrase stuck in her mind after Charmaine Leung first heard it while watching a Hong Kong drama serial.

Then in her teens, she told herself she had to chu ren tou di, which means to achieve success and stand head and shoulders above others.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on April 08, 2018, with the headline It Changed My Life: Growing up in the red-light district. Subscribe

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