HOM: Mary Soo

For sailors, the most popular woman in Asia was Hong Kong's infamous Mary Soo. Also known as "Rat Mary" or "Hong Kong Mary" to many old timers, she was a stocky little woman of indeterminate age. She only stood about five foot, weighed around 170 pounds and was somewhere between 45 and 75 years old in the late 1960's. Over the years Mary Soo became a living legend. Life Magazine ran a full spread article on this amazing little lady that may have been the first fully liberated woman in China. She was a painting contractor, garbage & scrap collector, orphanage supervisor, and shrewd negotiator. She offered her services to U.S. Naval and Coast Guard Vessels of destroyer size and smaller with the blessing of the United States Government. Here was Mary's deal. Mary Soo and all her girls worked for our garbage. Following the strictest of standards, garbage and the leftovers from the mess-hall after each meal were collected and delivered to Mary Soo each day. She & her girls would patiently sort out the food & scrap for resale or reuse. From top to bottom and stem to stern, Mary's girls would paint the ship with rags -- not brushes -- and poles. We provided the paint and they painted the ship for the garbage, no questions asked. Exactly how many coats of paint might have been applied is not known. The ship was painted over, and over, and over until it was just right. Her "Girls" arrived at the ship each and every day on their sampans, small boats that were perfectly adapted to working at the waters edge. This is where the orphanage part came in. Mary's "girls" were just that, owned by Mary. She bought them in infancy from their parents who simply couldn't afford a female child. She probably saved their lives because unwanted baby girls usually died. For that privilege, Mary put them to work. She paid them, fed them, housed them, clothed them and gave them a small wage which she kept for them in a special account. In theory, when they reached 21 they were sent on their way, somewhat educated, somewhat job trained and with a little funding. When they did the Crockett, everyone's favorite girl was a cute little thing in her early teens who spoke some English with an odd accent -- "TV" became "Teewheeeee" when she was talking. I had a photo of her, but unfortunately the photos from those years in this blog aren't mine. I took a lot of 35mm slides and photos when I was in SE Asia, but somewhere over the last forty years they have disappeared & I have no clue where. I wish I did. TBC (Me) (Home)