Chan Kam

In 1942 Chan Kam (Mrs. Wan) was born to a boat family. When she was a child, she lived on a boat with her parents, two aunts of her father’s side, and her younger brother. Her family did not call themselves the Tankas, and she didn’t even know how the Chinese character of “Tan” should be pronounced. Since her parent’s generation, they spoke the same language as the land-bound locals of Hong Kong. Her father was born in Hong Kong and her mother in Guangzhou; they were married through a matchmaker. Her mother moved to Hong Kong after marriage. Chan Kam was born in a hospital and was not issued a birth certificate. Her mother wrote down her birthday – 16th of the 6th lunar month – on a piece of red paper.

Chan Kam’s family operated a cargo boat, where the whole family also lived and dined. On ordinary days the boat was berthed along the piers at the triangle pier in Sheung Wan. Upon receiving job orders, the boat would set out to large cargo ships offshore to unload cargoes such as flour and sugar onto their boat, serving much like a logistics operator nowadays. The housework on the boat was taken care of by Chan Kam’s mother, and Chan Kam would help her with the various chores including wiping floor, washing clothes, and unmooring the boat. Chan Kam recalled of her mother’s favouritism toward sons. Her mother, believing that daughters were to be married off, treated her no more than just an employee, and had not given her much chance for education. Chan Kam attended night school at times from 7-9 at night; if she was required to help out on the boat she had to skip school. Now she could only read simple Chinese. Her brother spent more time at school and studied 2 to 3 years at a private school on High Street, where he learnt to read and write. He still helped with the family business of cargo-moving though. Her two aunts carried cargo and managed the boat, but as senior members of the family they were not required to do household chores. Her younger aunt remained single all her life and lived with the Chan family. The older aunt moved to operate another cargo boat after married and had one son and one daughter; later she lost contact with her husband and moved back to live with the Chan family. The children of the older aunt later moved ashore – the son was engaged in the logistics business and the daughter inherited the cargo boat; she died single in 1980 during the fire at Kam Wah Building.

In the early days cargo boats of the Tankas were unpowered wooden junks; they need to pay motor boat operators to tow their junk to cargo liners anchored offshore to do their work on board. These cargo boats were not commonly motorized until the 1970s. Cargo boats came in tonnages of 10, 30 and 50I; the Chan family owned a 50-tonne boat, which was larger in size than the fishing boats that were now used for sea tours. 50-tonne boats were used to carry 30 tonnes of cargo and a crew of over 100; 30-tonne boats carried over 10 tonnes of cargo and a crew of 20. A cargo of flour is measured in “bags”, and the Chan family cargo boat could load up to several hundred bags of flour (about 20 tonnes in weight). Cargo boats could not be overloaded or else they would risk sinking. The Chan family cargo boat had two levels: the deck and the cabin. The ship’s wheel and the cargo loading area is on the deck level; in the cabin there were two bedrooms, one shared by Chan Kam, her two brothers and her parents; the other shared by her two aunts. When it was not raining the family slept on the deck. The rear of the boat was for cooking. The setting was much like that of tour fishing boats.

Every day the family got up at 6 to clean the loading area; at 7 they berthed beside the cargo liner so that the coolies could unload cargo onto the boat; the hands on the cargo boat were required to move the cargo into neatly compiled stacks. Coolies boarded the liner along a narrow gangway, which was barely wider than one sole of the foot. Great balancing power was required to board the boat, though the boaters were quite used to it. On one rainy day, Chan Kam was being urged by her aunt to hurry through the slippery gangway when she fell into the water. She was saved by ropes hanging from the side of the boat. Chan Kam was glad that she did not fall on the moor, otherwise she would be seriously injured. The iron moor was usually installed on the prow to anchor the ship. Upon loading up the cargo, the cargo boat would berth at the pier so that the coolies ashore might alight the cargo from the boat. Chan Kam was responsible for loading the cargo onto the shoulder of the coolie. In the morning when work was sparse, the family would go ashore to buy food or have breakfast. Dinner hours were early in the cargo boat; usually cooking started at 3 and dinner was ready after 4. The workload differed every day and was dependent on work orders. On usual days the elder aunt would take orders at Triangle Pier, negotiating jobs and giving quotes. At leisure hours cargo boat operators would gather to chat at the pier, with their boats berthed between the piers at Triangle Pier. Fishing boats were not berthed at the Triangle Pier but gathered mostly at typhoon shelters at Aberdeen and Shau Kei Wan. The cargo boat of Chan’s family was berthed at Triangle Pier in the morning and during the night, with the prow facing Wilmer Street and Centre Street. Later, Chan Kam’s parents bought and operated another cargo boat and Chan Kam stayed with the old boat with her aunts. The Tanka people took cargo moving as their lifelong career, and did not deviate from this path even after studying at schools.

Ng Luen Hong Food Industry Limited was a client of Chan Kam’s cargo boat. It managed the import of various goods from the Mainland, for example apples, oranges and mandarin from Taiwan and Shantou. The large cargo ships carrying fruits and vegetables from the mainland were berthed at Sai Wan at a pier near Western Fruits and Vegetables Wholesale Market. Ng Luen Hong was a mainland company under Ng Fung Hong of the same boss. On ordinary days the Chan’s cargo boat also carried flour and sugar, but because of their tonnage limit, it never carried rice. Apart from local and mainland customers the cargo boat also took orders from overseas cargo liners. Beginning from the age of 15 and 16 Chan Kam became fully engaged in family business. On her aunt’s orders she went ashore to collect outstanding payment from Ng Luen Hong. The collection was done every 2 weeks. As of usual practice, the customer had to pay the charge after a job was done. Ng Luen Hong would issue an invoice to the cargo boat listing the date and weight of the cargo load. Though Chan Kam could only read a little, Ng Luen Hong never cheated them out of their payment. When the cargo boat was berthed, she needed to load the cargo on to the shoulders of the coolies, who would then carry the cargo ashore on a gangway. Cost of moving each load of cargo was about $20 to 30, and the cargo boat could move two loads per day. There were times when there was no work all day, and the family would do domestic work such as cleaning the floor, clearing the trash and hanging the bottom boards out in the sun. Chan Kam found moving cargo offering little income, earning far less than working ashore.

Chan Kam was married at the age of 29. She met her husband through the aunt of her husband. Before married, her husband moved cargo at the cargo boat of his cousin. The marriage took the form of “outside catering”, and was attended by the relatives of both families. A banquet of 10 tables was held on two boats. After marriage the Triangle Pier was reclaimed and the cargo boat berthed at Yaumatei Typhoon Shelter. Cargo boats seldom berthed at Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter because the boats berthed there were mostly pleasure boats. Upon moving to Yaumatei, the business of the cargo boat declined, and soon the families of Chan Kam and her husband gave up their line of work, sold their boats and settled ashore. Chan Kam and her husband rented a room at Kam Tong Building in Yaumatei. Her husband changed to work in the logistics industry, and Chan Kam became a housewife. Chan Kam originally had no social connections in Yaumatei, but their boat used to berth at the typhoon shelter and she was familiar with the surroundings; it was the reason why she chose to settle here. In the old days during typhoons, to avoid their ship being sunk at Triangle Pier, the Chan family cargo boat would set off for Yaumatei Typhoon Shelter as the space and docks there were abundant. When taking shelter from the wind the Chan family would go ashore to shop or go to Yaumatei Theatre for movies, or have meals at teahouses. Chan believed it was dangerous to go ashore under typhoons, and had heard of a boater killed by a falling advertisement board. She mostly stayed on the boat and chatted with the neighbours. She went ashore mainly to buy food, and she usuallyfrequented Mong Kok Market (on Canton Road) and Yaumatei Market.

In the old days Chan Kam’s cargo boat was berthed at the Triangle Pier. Every time when they heard that the typhoon signal no. 1 was hoisted, all cargo would be unloaded from the boat, then the boat was navigated to the Yaumatei Typhoon Shelter. At night, many land-dwellers conducted a late-night catering business at the typhoon shelter.  by renting a boat and selling late-night snacks to the boat-dwellers. The snack included congee and noodle at 30 or 50 cents per bowl. Before the area is converted to a landfill many residents in Tai Kok Tsui were engaged in the late-night snacks business. They would prepare the congee and the noodle, make various ingredients ready, and borrow sampans from boat-dwellers. Each rowing one sampan, these food vendors went from boat to boat in the typhoon shelter. The food was placed at the centre of the sampan, and a variety of congees and noodles were sold on each sampan. Because the Chan family ate early, a late-night snack was necessary and each time they would buy some 20 bowls as one person would eat 2 or 3 bowls. The food was so cheap that it cost them several dollars to feed the whole family in total. On calm days Chan Kam would go ashore the Triangle Pier and buy plain congee and fried dough for late night snacking. The sampans would go about their business during Typhoon Signals 1 or 3, but at Typhoon Signals 8 or 9 they would all close their business. On usual days there were boats selling seafood dishes including stir-fried clam and crab. In those days selling fruits on the water did not require a license, and some boaters would sell lychee, longan and apples.

The Yaumatei Typhoon Shelter was rather spacious and extended northwards to Tai Kok Tsui. Over 1,000 residential boats were berthed row by row in an orderly fashion. When boat-dwellers wanted to go ashore, they would take sampans which brought them to the pier. The younger generation of boat-dwellers mostly worked ashore, with many employed at garments factories, while their parents stayed on the boat. Chan Kam knew little about live-in boats; he usually chatted with his fellow cargo boat operators in a clique of their own. Work in the cargo boat business was allocated by clients, and there was little competition among themselves – which was why cargo boat operators could get along amiably. Also available at the typhoon shelter were tour boats. The boaters would solicit clients from ashore and charge by hour; each hour cost $10 or $20 which made them good earnings. The tour boats would cruise the entire typhoon shelter which was a good way for tourists to cool off in the summer.  There were also gambling boats called “fan-tans” in the shelter, which were operated by boat-dwellers with their on-shore acquaintances. The boat-dwellers provided the boat, while the land-dwellers prepare the gambling table. Broad beans were used as a gambling tool and the games usually took the form of “dai siu” (guessing big or small numbers) or “dan sheung” (guessing odd or even numbers), and was known as “pa-tan”. The fan-tans usually opened at around 5 to 6 at night. The low stakes of the game attracted some boat-dwellers. There were also boats that showed singing performances at the Typhoon Shelter, but most patrons were land-dwellers; few cargo boaters preferred this form of entertainment. Even at Typhoon Signal 1 or 3, the Typhoon Shelter still remained a busy hub of goings-on.

In the 1970s Chan Kam moved ashore with her husband at Yaumatei. In the beginning they rented a room at South East House on Shanghai Street. South East House was a tenement building that was serviced by an elevator. After their daughter was born, the couple moved to a room in Kam Tong Building. During the early years of settling down in Yaumatei, Chan Kam rarely left home and had few friends in the neighbourhood. Most of the time she cooked, washed clothes and watched TV at home. She only went out to go shopping for food and grocery or to have meals at nearby teahouses. She felt threatened by the activities and crowds at Temple Street, and listening to the singing performances cost her money, so she rarely spent time at Temple Street. She was used to living with multiple families, and would frequently greet and chat with her neighbours. Even before married Chan Kam and her husband haallocated applied for a public housing unit, and after 8 years she was finally allocated a unit at Shun Lee Estate. She moved from Yaumatei to Shun Lee Estate, and lived there for about 3 decades. Several years ago her daughter applied for Housing Loan Scheme from the Government and purchased a unit at Prosperous Garden. Chan Kam hence moved back to Yaumatei with her daughter. Not long later they sold the unit at Prosperous Garden and moved back to  Kam Wah Building. Chan’s daughter worked at Yaumatei, and they thought living in the district made commuting to work more

Comparing life on boat and on land, Chan Kam found living ashore more comfortable and satisfying. She found work on a cargo boat dull and monotonous – every day she had to get up at dawn, and was constantly exposed to the scorching sun and the rain. She recalled during the visit of Typhoon Wanda and Typhoon Mary, she was soaking wet from morning till night, and she could cook under the typhoon on the boat. On a certain rainy day the daughter of her cousin slipped and fell into the sea; as all boats were erecting marquees for shielding the rain, the family did not notice she was gone until the body was washed ashore. In the early days during typhoons Chan Kam’s cargo boat would leave the Triangle Pier and take shelter at the Yaumatei Typhoon Shelter; the boat would be berthed at the place where Charming Garden now was located, which was around the middle of the Shelter. In those days there was neither radio nor TV on the boat, and most boat people learned of the coming typhoon through newspapers or by word of mouth. The Observatory would hoist physical typhoon signals at various parts of Kowloon or the Hong Kong Island to warn the public of the typhoon.