Kwok Kwai King

Biography

Kwok Kwai King was born in Hong Kong in 1945 and her native town was Huaxian, Guangdong. She is the only child of her parents. Her father passed away early and her mother worked as a cleaner in the government. In the late 1950s, after graduating from primary school, she discontinued her studies and worked at a factory on Wuhu Street that made screw caps of light bulbs. Soon, she learnt sewing at a private workshop and joined the garment industry. In the mid-1960s, she went to work at Poon Lee Garment Factory on Kowloon City Road. She learned the technique of fabric overedging under the instruction of factory manager, and it became her main means of income. In the early 1970s, she worked at Hung Min Garment Factory and often earned extra income by working evening shifts at cottage industries in order to improve her family’s financial well-being. She transferred to Mei See Garment Factory in around 1980 and undertook all overedging procedures in the entire factory, which further raised her income. Ten years after Kwok started working at Mei See, the factory’s business declined. She therefore changed to other factories in Mong Kok and Tai Wo Hau, Tsuen Wan as a subcontractor of the overedging department. In the mid-1990s, she retired. During her childhood, she lived in an old building on Wuhu Street. Shortly after her wedding in 1961, she moved into To Kwa Wan. From the late 1960s, she had lived in a Chinese house on Hung Kwong Street till now.