Lau was born on 26 September 1920 in
Kinmen to a farmers' family and in the early years he lived with his family in Kinmen. Between the ages of 17 and 18, In his hometown of
Lieyu, the young Lau was farming and fishing, but he had no desire to spend the rest of his life farming. His goal was to earn a life similar to that of his friends and family. For this reason, his family started raising money for entanglement when he was 18. He made a statement by leaving Lieyu and traveling to Kinmen, then on to
Xiamen. He traveled via
Hong Kong,
Hainan,
Vietnam, and
Malaysia on a Dutch ship before arriving in
Singapore. Chinese labour was distributed out of Singapore; those who have just relocated here are also diligent workers. After two years, he traveled to Brunei where he reunited with his sister and eldest sister, whom he had not seen in decades. His
father-in-law had him working as a
clerk. Brunei has grown to be his second home ever since. He was a diligent worker, going from early in the morning till late at night. He also received a pay raise, going from 4 to 8
yuan per month. == Career ==