First Day In Australia - Claudia's Story

It was love at first sight when an Australian sailor spotted a petite girl named Claudia in a telephone booth in Hong Kong in the early 1970s.For three years the pair exchanged letters before William Cream popped the question."He did kneel down and propose," Claudia says. "So thats how I came to Australia. We married here."For Claudia, then 17, it was an escape from a loveless childhood with a man who - at 37 years her senior - was more like a father than her own."My parents didnt care about me at all. [I was] almost like an orphan with parents, so they lumped me all over the place with relatives," she says.Her entire family opposed the marriage and disowned her, saying she wasnt welcome to return unmarried or divorced.One uncle, however, did offer this advice to William: "Nobody in our family went to university, so if youre going to marry my niece you make sure she has a good education."Claudia says her first day in Australia was a culture shock. There were hardly any people compared to bustling Hong Kong, and their roles were very different."[It was] strange in a way because in Hong Kong there were no white people doing manual work," she says."When I came to Australia I thought 'Oh my god, all these white people doing all this manual work.' In Hong Kong in those days white people had very good jobs, never lowly work."Her husband kept his promise and sent his bride to university. I just wanted to be a teacher but he said 'No, no, you do a law degree, do the best you can.She was the first Asian woman to graduate in law in South Australia.Her contemporaries included (Premier) Jay Weatherill and (Chief Justice) Chris Kourakis.

Claudia Source: SBS World News