Chan, S.K.

Biography Highlights Records Photos & Documents
Determining to leapfrog the big factories since he was despised by workers when business started
S.K. Chan had taken quality very seriously since he operated Yangtzekiang Garment Mfrs. He required precision in procedures like ironing and was very strict with the ironers. He once overheard a worker groan that Yangtzekiang was such a tiny factory that its full size could not even compare to that of an ironing department of some larger factories like Kwong Hing Tai Garments Factory Co., Ltd and Kwong Loong Tai Garments Fty., and so they should not take their work too seriously.


Title Determining to leapfrog the big factories since he was despised by workers when business started
Date 18/05/2011
Subject Industry
Duration 1m17s
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. LKF-CSK-HLT-001
Hiring an American master expensively to set up production lines for suits
In order to expand his business, S.K. Chan hired a skilled master from the USA and set up production lines for suits. The master came from a US garment factory and was paid 700 dollars per day by Yangtzekiang, earning over 20 thousand dollars a month. In contrast, S.K. Chan was just receiving a monthly salary of over 1000 dollars as a managing director.


Title Hiring an American master expensively to set up production lines for suits
Date 25/05/2011
Subject Industry
Duration 53s
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. LKF-CSK-HLT-002
Convincing western businessmen in Cantonese to grant 50% textile quota to Chinese manufacturers
In the early 1970s, the USA imposed the quota system on Hong Kong-made garments. At first, the Hong Kong Government then distributed all the quotas among the foreign trading companies, which threw Chinese manufacturers into a plight. SK Chan, Chairman of the Garment Manufacturing Group under Federation of Hong Kong Industries, tried to persuade government officials and legislative councilors with every reason. SK Chan’s meetings with the upper management of Federation of Hong Kong Industries were normally conducted in English, as most attendants were Western businessmen. This was a big problem for the Chinese manufacturers. SK Chan then demanded that the meetings be conducted in Cantonese, and succeeded in winning the Western businessmen over to the demand of the Chinese manufacturers.


Title Convincing western businessmen in Cantonese to grant 50% textile quota to Chinese manufacturers
Date 18/05/2011
Subject Industry
Duration 1m34s
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. LKF-CSK-HLT-003
Treating Lam Kan Shing as a master who won textile quotas on behalf of his fellows
Lam Kan-shing was President of Hong Kong Garment Manufacturers Union. As Vice President, SK Chan had always regarded Lam Kan-shing as his ‘master’. Lam Kan-shing did not have a large factory, but he was devoted to serving the industry and to the affairs of the Union. He had participated in the textiles quota negotiation and managed to win half the quotas for garment manufacturers.


Title Treating Lam Kan Shing as a master who won textile quotas on behalf of his fellows
Date 25/05/2011
Subject Industry
Duration 1m18s
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. LKF-CSK-HLT-004
Lamenting the current business plight since he engaged in manufacturing for 62 years
Currently most Yangtzekiang sites are located on the mainland, but S.K. Chan thought that the red light was on for his productions due to the surge in production cost. He confessed that this was the worse of the time in his 62 years in this trade. Every year he had to face unpredictable challenges.


Title Lamenting the current business plight since he engaged in manufacturing for 62 years
Date 18/05/2011
Subject Industry
Duration 1m4s
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. LKF-CSK-HLT-005
Staying firmly in the garment industry and never turned to real estates
SK Chan regarded himself as an industrialist of action who ruminated on his company’s development all the time. Unlike his counterparts who turned to real estates, he had been staying in the manufacturing industry over the decades, during which more or less profit was made every year. He admitted that he was not a risk taker and he dared not invest in real estates. The riskiest move he made was setting up an office in Britain in the old days


Title Staying firmly in the garment industry and never turned to real estates
Date 25/05/2011
Subject Industry
Duration 51s
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. LKF-CSK-HLT-006