Jeong was born in December 1931 in Hoiping (now known as Kaiping), China, Jeong birthday and biological parents were unknown to him as he was sold to a land owner sometime around the 1931 China floods. Later Jeong and his mother would flee to Hong Kong to avoid an invading Japanese army. Jeong would have to flee from Hong Kong to Macao and later from Macao back to his village in Hoiping to avoid bombings in both areas caused by World War II. After World War II Jeong would again have to flee from China, this time from the Chinese Communist Party who were after land owners like him and his family.