Pillars of strength

‘I’m A Fighter.’

Growing up in San Francisco, Victoria Eng, left, and her brother Andrew Eng, top, pictured in Pacifica, Calif., on June 15, learned that respecting their elders was part of their Chinese culture. And they had frequent chances to express that value, as their grandparents picked them up from school nearly every day and cared for them while their parents worked. When violence against Asian-American elders rose drastically during the pandemic, Victoria was appalled—and when her own grandmother was attacked, she felt helpless. On May 4, Chui Fong Eng, center, ventured into Chinatown for the first time in over a year to buy groceries. While waiting at a bus stop, the 84-year-old was stabbed through her right arm with a blade that then entered her chest and punctured a lung. The Engs clung to one another as their matriarch underwent surgery. “I cried and I cried and I cried,” says  right, Chui Fong’s daughter-in-law. “I couldn’t believe that she survived this.” Less surprised was Chui Fong, who, as the eldest of her seven siblings, has always been tough. After arriving in the U.S. from Hong Kong in 1963, she sewed clothes in a factory until she could sponsor her parents and siblings. “I’m a fighter,” she says.