Our Family Story
Our background is Hakka Chinese, and the Lee family originated from Songkou county in the city of Meixian in the Guangdong Province, China. Our Chinese roots, culture, and life experiences have heavily influenced many of our dishes, even though most of the family was born in Timor-Leste
Originally from Maliana in Timor-Leste, the Lee family were forced to flee their home in 1975 during the chaos of the civil war that preceded the departure of the ruling Portuguese. Everything they owned was confiscated, from their convenience store and rice fields to their cars. A mob surrounded their house and Lee Sung Ki had to negotiate the escape of his family in his very own living room as two men holding hand grenades threatened them. The decision was made to flee the country as refugees and they drove across the border to seek refuge in Indonesia for a couple of years, before being flown to Portugal as part of a refugee program and residing there for a number of years.
It took six years and a trip around the world for the Lee family to eventually arrive in Darwin, where they have resided ever since. Their global journey included living in refugee camps in Indonesia, where the children learned their outlawed Chinese language in secret; to Portugal, in army tents with dirt floors that turned to muddy slush in the rains.
In September 1981, the Happy Garden Parap takeaway was opened by the Lee family very soon after they arrived in Darwin as refugees. It had humble beginnings as a fish and chip shop in the front and a Chinese takeaway in the back, with the early years being extremely difficult as the business struggled to break-even. The Lee family spoke very little English, but the customers were very tolerant and understanding; supporting the little family business from the very start. The family decided from the beginning they wanted to provide customers with great value, great service and great food. These are the pillars in which Happy Garden was built upon. All the children worked hard alongside their parents to make ends meet; some of the older children worked for other people during the day and afterwards would head straight to work at Happy Garden. The younger children would often come to work after school – with homework done after the shop had closed.
A few years later, the Lee family opened their restaurant. Today, it remains a family-run business. Since then, Happy Garden has continued to go from strength to strength and now has additional takeaway stores in Casuarina Shopping Centre and Gateway Shopping Centre.
Hosted by the wonderful Jennifer Wong, we are featured in the brand new show, Chopsticks or Fork?
Where Jennifer is on a mission to meet the people behind the wok, to find out what makes their food both Australian and Chinese. Watch our story on Episode 6!
