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Li Kit Fai
Li Kit Fai
Chairman, Fruit and Vegetable Trade Workers Union
Sex: Male Birthyear: 1945 Age at Interview: 66 Education: Lower Secondary Occupation: Fruit Market Coolie Theme: Community The large fruit company traders were dubbed the ‘big crocodiles’, other fruit traders were dubbed ‘small crocodiles’. To source from the big crocodiles, the fruit traders had to leave their names with them. The retailers were dubbed the ‘street boys’, they sourced from the small crocodiles.
Title Big and small crocodiles and street boys in the wholesale fruit market Date 04/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 35s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YMT-LKF-HLT-001 Li Kit Fai started his career as a coolie in the pier since 1972. He had to unload goods from the boat carrying three cargos on the shoulder. On stormy days, the gangplank would rock crazily. When the no. 8 typhoon signal was hoisted, only the large ships suspended the shipping, the coolies still worked because they had to unload the rail-transported goods. The vegetables had to be unloaded despite the no. 10 typhoon signal and suspended shipping. Looking back, Li Kit Fai said it was fun to bounce on the gangplank with 3 cargos on the shoulder. To cross the gangplank safely, one should start slowly in zig-zag steps. Strong limbs were most important.
Title Wholesale fruit market workers worked as usual despite no. 10 typhoon signals Date 04/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 1m8s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memroy Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YMT-LKF-HLT-002 When Li Kit Fai started to work at the wholesale fruit market as odd-job men in the 1970s, banana was one of the different types of fruits supplied to Hong Kong. The Taiwanese bananas were large in size but not as tasty as the mainland bananas. Thai bananas needed no freezing, the skin softened when chilled. They turned yellow when hung for sale. Tangerines, oranges and black sugar canes were also imported. Towards the end of the year, there were seedless water melons rarely available from the mainland. Since the late 1980s, less Taiwanese fruits were imported. But, there has always been a steady supply of grapes, apples and oranges. Despite less fruits from Taiwan, more were imported from new sources such as Chile, the US, Israel, India and South Korea. The Soviet Union was the only country which exported no fruits to Hong Kong. The continual supply of mainland duck pears and apples suspended when lychees and longans were imported. The supply resumed in August or September.
Fruits from North China included pears and apples. The variety of pears included duck pears, ziwu pears, yellow pears, white pears and fragrant pears. The duck pear from Tianjin is the most well-known of all. The variety of apples included the wealthy, red delicious, cockscomb, Chang apples, and Shanxi apples … Because of poor sale, some species are no longer imported now but the Fuji apples and Tianjin duck pears are still imported. The authentic duck pears have a protruding top; the pears available today are not tasty any more.
The sources in South China included Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian which produced longans, lychees and water melons. The Wuzhou pomelo, Hami melon from Xinjiang and grapes were seasonal fruits imported in July and August. Workers were busy during these two months when the lychees and longans were in great supply. The varieties of lychees included the Third Month Red, Green Imperial Concubine's Smile, White Wax, Cinnamon Flavor, Glutinous Rice, Hezhi and Zezhi. The lychee season was followed by the watermelon season. Workers had to work both day and night shifts when the supply was great.
Title More different kinds of fruits Date 08/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 3m54s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YMT-LKF-HLT-003 Oranges from Thailand came in cartons of all sizes marked by the alphabet L (large), M (medium) or S (small). Because the old coolies could not read English, they devised their own ways to identify them, such as ‘hoe’ for L, ‘stool’ for N and ‘snake’ for S. In the late 1970s, if hidden contrabands were suspected in the cargos, the customs officers would come to the pier in a vehicle with detector dogs for inspection. When checking the receipts, the coolies would hold the cardboards and shouted to one another ‘X cartons of hoes! X cartons of stools!’ Unfamiliar with the terminologies, the customs officers were always at a loss. The customs were especially strict with imports from Thailand. The shipping company would be sealed up for search. The Shun Cheong Shipping Company (Editor’s Note: Shun Cheong Steam Navigation Company, Limited) which specialized in shipping goods from Thailand had been sealed up for a search. This showed that sea route was no longer the usual channel of drug trafficking.
Title Extraordinary strict inspection of fruits from Thailand Date 08/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 2m34s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YMT-LKF-HLT-004 When waiting for the ships, the workers would play cards or mah-jong. When someone noticed a flying ship flag, he would yell, ‘Coming!’ Then everyone started to work. Having helped with the anchorage, the pier workers would start the unloading. The hardest task was unloading the ‘direct’ shipments. That is, the goods directly shipped from the places of origin. They mainly carried lychees and bananas. The huge quantities of goods took a long time and efforts to unload because the workers had to throw them from the compartment below to the upper deck. No rest was allowed even soaked in perspiration. It was an established practice to have three groups formed by coolies from the 10 main fruit markets. Each group was given the priority to unload in turn. The group moved the goods from the deck, which was an easier task. The other groups unloaded the goods in the compartment below. They threw baskets of lychees one by one to a partner on the deck the way a basketball player does. The partner was responsible to carry the goods to the pier. Because Li Kit Fai was young, he was always asked to do the hard job of removing heavy goods from the compartment below. Sometimes, they might include wooden boxes containing mushrooms which weighed 70 to 80 catties. The group responsible for the next step of sending the goods from the pier to the fruit markets could not start work until the former step was completed. Sometimes, when it took longer to finish the job, and the follow-up group had planned to go to the movies, Li Kit Fai would be entrusted with the extra work of carrying the goods to the fruit market. Li would promise to do the job.
Title The hardship of wholesale fruit market workers Date 08/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 2m34s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YMT-LKF-HLT-005 In the 1970s, gambling was rampant in the Yau Ma Tei district. In the back alley of Shek Lung Street, there was a big stall (slang for gambling stall) where some workers from the wholesale fruit market would frequent. But, they only represented a small percentage of the gamblers. Today, the wholesale fruit market is equipped with a closed circuit television system, and the gambling stall has been demolished 3 to 4 years ago. When the workers have time now, they will play cards and mah-jong to amuse themselves. The vegetable and fruit trade union provides a rest room for the workers at the end of the Shek Lung Street. Before the ship anchors, the workers gather there for relaxation and entertainment.
Title Redevelopment of the gambling stall on Shek Lung Street into wholesale fruit market Date 08/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 1m2s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YMT-LKF-HLT-006 The use of containers started in the 1970s. The goods from western countries were earlier to use the containers. By 1984, no western goods were sent to Hong Kong on a bulk carrier. Mainland China was late in the use of containers. Goods from the mainland were still imported on small vessels and trains. Goods from North China took the rail route. Upon arrival at Hung Hom Station, they were carried to the fruit market in trucks from the Tai Pau Mai Transport Company. ‘Tai Pau Mai’ (literally ‘Big Pack Rice’) referred to the cape near the coast of the Kowloon Station on the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Later, a truck transport company named itself after Tai Pau Mai and had the Chinese characters of Tai Pau Mai painted on the body of its trucks. In the 1990s, the wholesale fruit market was removed to make way for the second reclamation at the typhoon shelter. Gone with it was the scene of coolies crossing a gangplank with cargoes on shoulders. The boatmen also changed to work as truck drivers or deliverers.
Title Fruits sent to the market in a large rice sack truck upon arrival at Hung Hom Station Date 08/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 2m32s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YMT-LKF-HLT-007