Overcoming difficulties and working hard are the qualities of many elderly people in Macao. Many of them have a dramatic life behind their accomplishment. Ma Jing Hong, as one of the successful businessmen in Macao, has his own story to tell.

In the late 1970s, many people made illegal entries to Macao in order to have Macao identification and a chance to work here. Ma formerly worked in the mainland with his two younger brothers and they made their way to Macao together. “At that time the mainland was in a mess and life was hard, therefore we wanted to seek for a chance in Macao,” said Ma. After they landed in Macao, they found jobs in different places. Ma worked in an electric shop called “Tin Lei Electrics”.

“When I was in the mainland, I worked with my mom in the wet market. I didn’t go to school and I knew nothing about those appliances,” said Ma. He was lucky to have a boss who was willing to teach. Ma has always kept in mind what he was taught by him, “Be professional, dedicated, sincere and courteous to customers.” Because of his hardship, his employer gave him many chances to learn different things and soon he was promoted to be the manager of the shop.

After Macao’s handover to China, the shop owner decided to immigrate to Canada. However, his sons didn’t want to take over the shop. Ma was given a chance to take it over. Throughout the years, under Ma’s management, the shop expanded and they opened more branches. “It was like all my hard work finally paid off,” said Ma. “I considered myself very lucky at that time.”

Sometimes life will break your heart even though you have done nothing wrong. Seven years ago, Ma ran into an accident while he was driving and broke his arm. Ma said, “I thought my hardest time had gone, but there were so many unexpected things in life.” As he had to focus on physical therapy, he had no time to manage the company. Many shareholders were worried and they wanted to withdraw their shares. “I felt like I had

become a useless person and all my hard work has gone without any reason,” said Ma. There is a saying that “blood is thicker than water, our veins are bound.” His two younger brothers decided to quit their jobs and took charge of the company. With the help of his brothers, Ma’s company was saved. “They took the effort to save my company because they didn’t want me to give up,” said Ma. “Seeing what my family and my brothers had done for me, I felt that I was a very lucky person and I wanted to work hard for them.” From that time on, Ma worked very hard on therapy even though he could never go back to the way he had been before the accident. Now with his own effort and the help of his brothers, their company has grown even more well known with five branches in Macao.

“No one can foresee the future and life is uncertain,” said Ma, “I always remember what my boss taught me and apply it in my own life.”