The Hakkaologist from Trinidad

Winston’s father, a former schoolteacher, came from Guangdong Province to Trinidad in 1938. He first worked for a cocoa trader, where he danced on cocoa beans with his bare feet to polish them, and later became a manager and entrepreneur. He married a local Cantonese woman, and the family business grew to include more relatives and eventually a supermarket complex. Many Hakka families, including that of Winston’s wife, Marie, have similar backgrounds. The shop dictated the lifestyle, diet, and living conditions of the family, and everyone ate what the shop provided—often leftovers or slow-selling items.