In that instant, I thought my mother was going to hit the man

When I was six and my sister was five, my mother was very much alone in London, a land quite foreign to her. She was walking alone from a trip to the supermarket when a young thug accosted her, trying to steal her handbag. My mother, remembering some kung fu stances my father taught her, quickly adopted a martial arts pose.

To her complete surprise, the thug looked frightened and ran away, leaving the handbag with her. This was in the 70’s when kung fu movies were all the rage and Chinese immigration to Britain was just trickling in. Even till this day, my mother chuckles at the fact that a tiny Chinese woman could scare away this tall, athletic man. I guess stereotyping isn’t so bad after all.