How does a mother tell her 13-year-old daughter that she is going to be a prostitute?

It's not easy, admits Ms Ye Haiyan.

"I thought about how much I wanted my daughter to know and if I should hide the truth from her, but I decided being honest with my baby was better than hiding or hinting about it," she says.

It helped that shortly after Ms Ye was divorced in 2001, she and her daughter were given a place to stay by a prostitute. Ms Ye didn't have much money then.

Her daughter was then only a year old. The woman was a friend of a friend.

Ms Ye says of her daughter: "She grew up basking in my love and care, but she also saw how I was gradually moving into this area (of being an advocate)."

Once she had confirmed her plan, she sat her now 13-year-old daughter downfor a chat.

"I told her I was going to try and work on this new idea and what I hoped to achieve from it.

"At first, she looked confused. Then she asked me, 'Must you really do it? Isn't it very shameful?'

"In that instant, something shot through my heart but I also knew I wasn't going to give up (on the idea). And I told her that it was important."

To her relief, her daughter told her: "Go ahead then. Just take care of yourself."

Ms Ye believes that her daughter does not fully comprehend the extent of the impact.

"I think she is too young to really understand it. Not that I'm terribly bothered by it because I know for certain that she'd be able to understand the rationale and reason behind it later."

Her voice softens as she shares brief details of her divorce - three years after she was married.

"Midway through my pregnancy, I suspected that my then husband and his ex-girlfriend were having an affair," she recounts.

"I was mad but I waited for the right time and finally caught them in bed one day."

Ms Ye concedes that, like all mothers, she wants the best for her daughter. Which explains why she is worried that her daughter may just take after her.

"I don't want her to be like me, or to follow in my footsteps," she says.

She is, however, confident that her daughter will be able to accept her work as an activist.

Says Ms Ye: "I've not lived a decadent life deliberately. I've tried to live right and I work hard for the money and for my belief.

"I've not done anything to disgrace myself or my child."

But it looks like she may not have much to worry about.

In an interview with Apple Daily last week, Ms Ye's daughter, who was also present, told the reporter: "My mother calls herself Hooligan Yan, but she is not a hooligan.

"She is someone with a big, good heart."