How old were you when you were running under the bombs?
He was 11 years old when the civil war broke out between Lon Nol’s Republic Party and Pol Pot’s Communist Party. It was horrible, Pol Pot forced the students to demonstrate in his favor and I escaped, if they had caught me they would have killed me.
Was lucky.
I got it. Another day I was riding a motorcycle and a bomb fell next to me, I was thrown. Lying on the ground I saw corpses and destroyed cars around me. I remember the salty taste of the saliva, I didn’t know if it was blood.
She was hurt?
She was unharmed! That day I was born again. Four years later I asked my father to let me go to Paris but his response was that the girls couldn’t leave the house.
How did he get it?
I went on a hunger strike and my father relented on the condition that my brother six years younger than me would accompany me to keep an eye on me. But my mother told me: “Study, earn a living, don’t depend on any man.” After a year Pol Pot took power and I lost all communication with my family.
How difficult.
I arrived in Paris when I was 18, my brother was adopted by a family, I was a chore girl coming from a family that had a chore girl. My father was a successful businessman, I didn’t last long.
What did he do next?
Temporary jobs as kitchen helper, dishwasher, nurse. I cried every night, I didn’t know anything about my parents.
Why did you go to Barcelona?
I fell in love with a Chinese man who lived here. I worked for a restaurant and in 1980 I set up the first Asian restaurant in Barcelona, ??it was very successful, and in three years I opened another.
Ambitious?
I wanted to set up a factory of pre-cooked spring rolls and I started making them myself when the restaurants closed at night, I slept four hours a day at most, and I sold them cold in delicatessens and grocery stores.
And what did your husband do?
It helped somewhat, not completely. When I opened the second restaurant I split up.
He got his factory.
Yes, and I created a line of three delicious rolls and rice. I wanted to show my father, the great businessman who lost everything in the war, that someone was following his legacy.
A female.
Yes, my father was sexist, it was the mentality of the time; He always told us that women had neither the capacity nor the intelligence to work like a man, and I wanted him to see that what he said was false.
Has it been recognized?
He didn’t say it, but yes. My parents ended up taking refuge in Zurich, he died and my mother and her sisters are still there.
Did you continue to expand the business?
I set up another restaurant, run by my brother, the one who was supposed to keep an eye on me. The factory grew, billing 17 million a year, but it collapsed due to Covid and excess success.
Tell me.
I grew and invested a lot, with the covid the demand continued but I had no workers, they were all oriental and they were terrified. I had to sell.
Has he returned to the attack?
I just started a pre-cooked Latin cuisine company (empanadas, fajitas, chicken chili). I’m starting from scratch: new machinery, new people, new product.
Brave.
Starting a company again is very hard, and I am 70 years old, but it seems like a beautiful challenge to me despite the uncertainty. Illusion gives life, without illusion you get nowhere.
What have you learned in this life?
That every day you have to learn new things and contribute something to the world. Giving people work fills me up and seeing that restaurant customers leave their plates empty I love.
I understand.
At eight in the morning I am already at the factory, when I leave I go to the restaurant to receive and serve customers, that is my life. And the kids who work for me love me like I’m their mother.
Have you felt alone?
Yes, when Pastas Gallo bought me and I stayed with them developing a product, I didn’t like it. My company was a big family, we all loved each other. When moving to a multinational that was lost. They, logically, cared about numbers and I cared about the concept of family and quality.
Clear.
Today in my R&D room I make food every day for all the workers. What interests me is the humane treatment and that everyone is comfortable working.
What are you afraid of?
When I see harsh images of current wars on television I start to cry.
