Bickleen Fong, author

Ng Bickleen Fong (1931-1998)

“This country is no longer a place of sojourn, but my home.”

Bickleen Fong. Image supplied by author

Bickleen Fong was born in Canton, coming to New Zealand in 1939 after the Japanese invaded China.

Her father had bought two orchards outside Blenheim where the family settled. Bickleen attended Rapaura school and Marlborough College, followed by Queen Margaret College in Wellington and Otago University.

Bickleen and family. Image supplied by author

After gaining her M.A. in education in 1954, she went to teach in Taiwan, only returning at her father’s request. In 1959 she wrote her well regarded book: Chinese in New Zealand – a study in assimilation.

Story by: Marlborough Museum and Archives