Born in China and raised in Hong Kong, Ernie came to the United States for college and received his degrees in Chemical Engineering. He worked as a forensic chemist until 1987. His bonsai life began in 1979 when his wife Margaret urged him to start a hobby and enrolled him in a bonsai class. Since then, Ernie has been a typical bonsai enthusiast, collecting specimens from nurseries, mountains, front yards and back yards. He learned from his mentor John Naka that the best way to learn bonsai is to teach bonsai. Thus in 1987, he began teaching bonsai at Cypress College in Orange County. Later in 1990, he also taught at UCLA Extensions. In 1991, he went to Japan to study under Masahiko Kimura for three months. Currently, he teaches two bonsai classes out of his home. He has traveled coast to coast in the United States and to Europe, South America, Australia and Asia to give workshops, lectures and demonstrations.

He has published articles in the Golden Statements, Bonsai in California, Journal of the American Bonsai Society, the Bonsai Clubs International magazine, Bonsai Today, Bonsai Arte E Natura (Italian), Bonsai Creativ (German) and Bonsai (German). His bonsai won the Bonsai Club International Ben Oki Design Award in 1993 and 1994 and first prizes in the Kindai Bonsai Magazine (Japanese) Readers' Sakufuten in 1994 and 1995. Web site