Yip Kam Fook

Yip Kam Fook was born in 1948, before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong was still undeveloped with a population of only a few hundred thousand, and the influx of immigrants had not started yet. People were poor and there were no job opportunities for them. However, once they had a job, they could survive with it. At that time, donations of supplies were sent from the US army and churches. Yip’s ancestors are Hakkas, but besides himself, both Yip’s grandfather and father were born in Tai Hang on Hong Kong Island. His grandfather – a spoiled son who led an extravagant life – had his own business and had once been an official in the government. He had even owned a few streets in Tai Hang. However, his addiction in opium and gambling had led to poverty in his son’s generation. As for Yip’s grandmother, she was a native of Hong Kong and was taught to read at home by a teacher hired by her mother. Yip’s mother was a native villager in Yuen Long and got married with Yip’s father through match-making. Both Yip’s parents had temporary irregular jobs. His father was a supply worker for the tram company whereas his mother was a cleaner at Hong Kong Stadium. They were both paid daily.

There were nine children in the family and Yip was the second child. Yip’s elder brother, born before the World War II, was eight to nine years older than Yip. Yip had a younger brother who was of similar age as him. He also had five younger sisters and two elder sisters. Nevertheless, one elder sister did not survive because of the War. His elder brother started to work at an early age. At the age of six, Yip was already responsible for household chores such as cooking and burning the wood for fuel. His grandfather lost his property because of gambling, but the new owner gave him back a house with pitched Chinese tiled roof. The front portion of the house was rented out while the back portion was inhabited by his family. In this area of about 120 square feet lived Yip’s whole family – grandmother, parents and eight children. Inside the house, there was a two-tier bunker bed on one side and a three-tier one on another side. The beds were installed with boards at night and dismantled in the morning. Yip’s grandfather died early, so Yip did not have a chance to see him.

Title	Family background and living environment
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Social Life
Duration	6m58s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-001

Primary and secondary schooling. Education experiences of siblings and source of school fees. Yip enrolled in primary school at the age of nine and managed to graduate after four years. He studied in a formal school organized by the village – Confucius Tai Hang School – for the first year and switched to the government-owned Li Sing Tai Hang School in the second year (editor’s note: Li Sing Tai Hang School was in fact a government-subsidized school). When it was first open, Li Sing Tai Hang School only accepted good students. Yip, who was intelligent, was recommended by the people in the neighbourhood to be admitted into this school. His family was poor and his conduct was good, so he was eligible for receiving subsidies. As a result, the fees for primary school up to post-secondary college were waived. Yip did not have much time for studying after school as he was burdened with household duties and bringing his sisters to and back from school. His sisters’ school was located in a squatter area behind Hong Kong Stadium. The school building was a wooden hut. Yip faintly recalled that the name of the school was Ngai Chi, and it was organized by a church or people living in that area. At that time, Eastern Hospital Road did not exist, so one should take an old road to go to the squatter area from Tai Hang. There were woods, a hospital and morgue along the way.

Yip thought that his school results were not particularly good, but he knew how to do exams. After studying in Li Sing Tai Hang School for a year or so, he was allowed to skip a grade. There was not yet Secondary School Entrance Examination, so Yip had to look for a school himself. Recommended by a teacher, he entered a private English college. The next three years of schooling were done in Wellington College in Central. With the school’s recommendation, he was able to get grants from kaifong welfare association and Wah Kiu Yat Po for paying school fees as well as expenses on books.

Reason of studying Chu Hai English School, career prospect, setback. Mother’s expectation towards her children’s career. After completing three years of secondary education, Yip had to plan for his future. He thought that the chance of getting into the University of Hong Kong was slim as his result was not good. Moreover, he thought, the University, a place for the elites, accepted only aristocrats. Besides the University of Hong Kong, post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong at that time included Tai Tung College, Chung Chi College, New Asia College, United College, Baptist College and Chu Hai College. Among them, Chung Chi, New Asia and United were working towards unification to become the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and had invited Chu Hai to join them.

With an aim to further his studies in Taiwan to become a journalist in future, Yip entered Chu Hai English School which was an affiliate of Chu Hai College. Chu Hai’s students with good results would be selected to study in Taiwan and recognized as Overseas Chinese students. Students had a choice of taking either the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination or other public examinations. In general, after completing Form 3, his classmates would get a job in a bank, for example. Only a few of his classmates would stay on till Form 5 for graduation. To Yip’s mother, children should study hard in order to find a job in a bank or a foreign company, so that they would be working in a more comfortable environment equipped with electrical fans. Not long later people from the mainland flooded into Hong Kong, and Yip’s father and mother began to sell vegetables and fish to meet the market needs. Yip had to help out at his parents’ hawking stalls as well as taking care of the family. Only when there were no customers, could he have time to study school work.

Chu Hai English School was financially supported by Taiwan. Its students sang songs on Three Principles of the People. Its curriculum was different from that of the schools operated by the government or other organizations. There was also no division of Science and Arts. The content of modern history in government schools, for instance, covered only up to the First Sino-Japanese War. However, students in Chu Hai English School studied the history of modern China. Yip studied more than ten subjects, and the textbooks were sent from Taiwan. He was fond of reading newspapers and was enthusiastic about current events. The books he read were of an extensive range including autobiography, politics, economics and mechanical studies, etc. Despite the fact that he was studying in a school with Kuomintang background, he was a believer of Communism, the leftist philosophy because his family was poor. Since childhood, Yip had been an introvert, and his self-esteem had been low. He neither liked nor had time to participate in any social activities. Therefore, in secondary school, he isolated himself from his peer classmates, just like marking a boundary between them. His classmates would go on a picnic on Sundays.

After graduation from Chu Hai English School, Yip was accepted for enrolment by National Taiwan University and National Cheng Kung University. He had planned to study Political Geography, but he could find universities offering this speciality in Taiwan and Japan only. Recommended by a Canadian university for furthering his studies in Canada, he had already completed the application process and got a score of more than 600 marks in TOEFL. At that time quite a number of students from Chu Hai English School went on to study in Canada or USA while they were also accepted for admission in Taiwan’s universities. If they went to study in Canada or USA direct, it could be considered skipping a grade. Chu Hai English School paid the school fees for only a few students who studied in Canada but for more overseas students who went to Taiwan. The fees that the School paid were actually from the Nationalist Government in Taiwan who financially supported both Chu Hai English School and Tai Tung English School. After graduation from abroad, the students who came back usually worked as teachers or worked for the Nationalist Government, but they did not have to sign any agreement. However, Yip’s chance of studying abroad was ruined by the report of the medical check-up which stated that he had symptoms of an early stage of tuberculosis. During that era, tuberculosis was a horrible disease, so that the patients were prohibited from making contacts with their family and others.

Lives in Hung Hom Technical Institute. Treatment on tuberculosis. Yip dared not go back to Chu Hai College to study after he had contracted the disease. Instead, he went to Hung Hom Technical Institute (TI, i.e. the predecessor of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University) to study mechanical engineering. At that time, his family was still trying to make ends meet, so Yip had to go home to take care of the family and treat his sickness right after school. This kind of life had lasted two years. Yip recalled that he had no childhood, no school life nor team life. After four years in TI, he graduated and went on studying in a two-year program for an Ordinary Certificate (O Cert) and then two more years for a Higher Certificate (High Cert). That is all for a summary of his schooling.

Title	A brief introduction on schooling path
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	17m46s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-002

Before enrolling in primary school, Yip Kam Fook had never had any formal schooling. He could only read books in the libraries of Salvation Army in North Point and the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong. Yip had helped the church to dispatch pens, biscuits, noodles and oatmeal, etc., and taken some home. At that time studying in a formal school was a luxury, so Yip’s elder brother and himself were the only two children in the family who had studied in a formal primary school. The reason why his younger brother and younger sisters could not attend a formal primary school involved both hereditary and acquired aspects. Yip was a more intelligent student whereas his younger brother was doing better in business than in school. His elder brother did self-studies while working and later became an electrician trainee with the government. After attending a village primary school, Yip’s younger brother studied for about two or three years in secondary school and quit after finishing junior forms. His youngest sister studied more – up to Form 3 in an English school – and is now working as a typist for the government. Yip vaguely remembered that his other younger sisters did not attend secondary school, and all of them are now housewives. They had worked in factories and helped in their parents’ stalls.

Title	Education and daily lives before enrolling in primary school. Education experiences of siblings
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	4m12s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-003

Brief introduction on Confucius Tai Hang School,Parents view on children’s schooling. Yip had studied in Primary 1 at Confucius Tai Hang School which offered only Primary 1 to 4. Students who wanted to continue their studies should transfer to Confucius Hall which was opposite South China Athletic Association. Therefore, many of Yip’s classmates quit school to find jobs after finishing Primary 4. Those who were older became policemen. Yip again mentioned his family life. The Confucius Tai Hang School occupied the whole of a building which had four floors and wooden stairs. Classes were also held in the playground of the welfare association. The uniform of Confucius Tai Hang School included a white shirt and yellow trousers. Yip had only one white shirt, so he wore it from Monday to Saturday. After his shirt became shabby, he would have the collar and sleeves replaced by a tailor. When Yip was in Primary 1, he had about thirty to forty classmates of whom ten or more were girls. This gender ratio was found in most classes in Confucian Tai Hang School.

Yip’s classmates all lived in the same district, and most of them came from richer families. Students there had lessons in formal classrooms furnished with wooden twin desks and wooden twin chairs, but the boys and girls were seated separately. While attending schools, Yip and his elder brother could decide on many things themselves. They were also responsible for looking for places in good village schools for their younger brother and sisters. Yip even signed his own daily school journal, which was supposed to be signed by student’s parents. Confucius Tai Hang School did not offer English subject. What impressed Yip most in this school was using Chinese brush not only for writing but also for Mathematics. At that time one needed connection to be admitted into this school, and usually rich children could enrol in this school at a younger age. Therefore some students were a lot older than the rest. Both the principal and the teachers lived in Tai Hang, so there was no need for them to pay any home visits in order to know more about their students’ family situations. There were not many school activities, and Yip did not have time to participate either.

Profession of Tai Hang residents, Location of the pitch, Extra-curricular activities. Many people in Tai Hang at that time had little schooling. The people there were mainly policemen, firemen, Chinese soldiers serving in the British Army, and football players. There were several stadiums in the neighbourhood of Tai Hang. Army Stadium was still in Eastern Hospital Road, which was not close to the lawn of Hong Kong Stadium. Opposite Victoria Park was Marine Stadium, which had now become a park, tennis courts and jogging trails. Yip was fond of playing football, so he often played before or after school, or at five o’clock in the afternoon before going home to do housework. He might sometimes play football or basketball from 11p.m. to midnight. A lot of people in Tai Hang did the same, especially for those who did not go to school, they played till late at night.

Brief introduction of Li Sing Tai Hang School, Comparisons between Li Sing and Confucius Tai Hang Schools, Price level at that time. At that time, people in Tai Hang knew the teachers and the principal of Li Sing Tai Hang School, and they actively recruited some of the students to join the school. Li Sing Tai Hang School did hold public examinations to recruit students, but there were not many places available, and some students were from outside of the district. The School’s premises were beautiful, with basketball courts, badminton courts and library, and students could stay on after school to have fun. Not all the teachers and the students were from Tai Hang, and it was a government school (editor’s note: it should be a subsidized school). There were not many primary schools in the neighbourhood. Yip received a few dollars each month from kai fong association for paying school fees. At that time, Yip’s mother and two younger sisters worked at Hong Kong Stadium for a daily pay of more than two dollars. His family bought only two catties of rice every day because they did not have enough money to buy a lot at one time. Every day, when they had received their pay, they could buy rice once in the morning and once in the evening for a price of twenty to thirty cents per catty. Li Sing Tai Hang School was a more modern school whereas Confucius Tai Hang School was a more conventional one. Moreover, the teaching methods adopted in Li Sing Tai Hang School were newer, with modern equipment such as blackboard. Its premises were located at the place where people washed their clothes in the old days. There were a.m. and p.m. sections with two recesses for each section. On the other hand, Confucius Tai Hang School adopted a whole-day system.

After his first year in Confucius Tai Hang School, Yip went to Li Sing Tai Hang School to continue his studies. Some people, thinking that the whole-day system was better, were against his transfer, but his elder brother agreed that a modern school would be good for Yip. As for academic level, the two schools were relatively the same. There was ranking of students in Li Sing Tai Hang School, and Yip was usually in the middle rank in the exam result. The curriculum of the School comprised seven to eight subjects such as General Knowledge, Mathematics, Literature and English, etc. Students were required to buy more than ten textbooks. Since Yip could skip grades, he only studied in Primary 2, 4 and 6. There were not many students doing this. It was the teachers who made the decision, and the school office would then inform the students that they were to be promoted and get new books. Yip’s teachers thought that although Yip was capable of studying, he had not tried his best to do so. The official exercise books sold in the School were quite expensive, so Yip made his own copies by sticking an old cover of official exercise books onto the exercise books bought from the outside store. The price for the official exercise books was about twenty cents each, but the ones he bought from ordinary stationery stores cost him only about five cents each. His expenses on textbooks and exercise books were paid by kai fong association. As Yip’s teachers often passed by his home, it was not necessary for them to pay formal home visits to learn about his family’s situation. There were disciplinary masters in Li Sing Tai Hang School.

Title	First taste of schooling: Confucius Tai Hang School and Li Sing Tai Hang School
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	19m46s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-004

In 1961, Yip graduated from primary school. There was not yet Secondary School Entrance Examination. He took the entrance examination of Wellington College in which English was the most important subject. Then the School arranged for him summer English tutoring which was specially designed for new students who were not up to standard. Wellington College was a private school in Central. Most of its students were from a rich family; only Yip had a poor family. The school fee, which was more than a hundred dollars per month, was not affordable for every student – the monthly salary for an employee at that time was only a few hundred dollars. After graduation from technical institute, Yip got a job with a salary of about two thousand dollars. Some of his schoolmates who graduated from Form 5 took on the position of police inspector, but their salary was only less than one thousand dollars. Only incapable or lazy people at that time would get a job in the government, and generally people considered government positions temporary jobs. Yip mentioned the welfare that Governor Chris Patten gave civil servants as well as the disadvantages of government jobs.

Wellington College was located at the junction of the present Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road and Ladder Street. Its premises, which were very beautiful, has been demolished and now replaced by a private building. English and dictation were considered very important in Wellington College. English was used as a medium of instruction for all the subjects except Chinese History and Chinese. In each class there were a few students who had to repeat. Yip did feel the pressure, in his studies, of not being able to be promoted and get the grant. Both Wellington College and New Method English School were the more famous English schools at that time. New Method English School was located near Po Leung Kuk on Caroline Hill Road which is presently Leighton Garden and Tai Hang Road. Yip went to study in Wellington College mainly because he was recommended by the teacher of Li Sing Tai Hang School, and he knew about the teachers of Wellington College by hearing from his teachers at Li Sing Tai Hang School. Moreover, the fees of Wellington College were cheaper than that of New Method English School. Most of Yip’s schoolmates in Li Sing Tai Hang School had to look for schools by themselves whereas Yip was specially introduced to the School by his teacher. None of Yip’s schoolmates attended Wellington College with him. Usually Yip could only study in late evening, do revision before the examination, and read books on the bus ride to school.

After his examination, Yip would sell textbooks at the used book store on Hollywood Road. With the grant from Wah Kiu Yat Po recommended by kai fong association, Yip was able to pay the fees for the first year in Wellington College. In the following years re-assessment for application according to his academic results was necessary. When Yip was in Form 3, there was no division of Science and Arts. The subjects he studied included Economics and Public Affairs, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Integrated Sciences, World History, Mathematics, Art, Music, Physical Education, Chinese and Chinese History. Subjects such as Woodwork and Domestic Science were not offered in junior forms; the latter was offered only in senior forms. At that time, only schools run by religious organizations or girls’ schools offered Domestic Science. Wellington College was co-educational, and students in Form 1 were of similar age – thirteen.

The uniform of Wellington College comprised a white shirt and grey trousers. As for pro-leftist schools, the uniform was blue trousers. In Li Sing Tai Hang School, students had to wear white shirt and yellow trousers on which there was no school badge. In general, the uniform for primary schools was yellow trousers. On the uniform of Wellington College there was a school badge with the word wai, but Yip has already forgotten what the badge symbolized. The motto of the College was traditional philosophy – “Respect teachers and rules” and “Four principles of Chinese morality: courtesy, loyalty, righteousness and self-consciousness”. Wellington College was a private profit-making school. There were not many government schools at that time, and Yip liked the schools run by religious organizations because he had received benefits from the church when he was a child. However, his result was not good enough to meet the requirement of such schools.

Since he was a child, Yip had been interested in reading newspapers and politics. He had a bias towards Communist Party who would protect its people, because his parents were often bullied by policemen and Hawker Control Teams when they were hawkers. Yip learned the philosophies of Communist Party from newspapers. Every morning he went to either western or Chinese teahouse with his father, and he would read newspapers before helping his parents in their business. His father read Jing Bao and Commercial Daily, etc. There were only one and a half pages even for large newspapers. At that time, the Yip Family had favouritism to male members, so Yip’s mother was not allowed to go to teahouse.

Yip’s classmates were rich, and they knew the condition of his family. There were two or three of his classmates who formed their own circle because they were richer than the others, and they would play bowling and snooker when they did not have school. Yip, who had low self-esteem, did not have any good friends. He had never joined the school picnic nor had he any money or time to participate in his schoolmates’ activities. His parents were hawking in the open market in Wun Sha Street. As they had a license only for selling vegetables, not for selling fishes, they were often driven out. This is why Yip longed for help from the Communist Party. During Mid-autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Chinese New Year, business was most profitable for the stalls, which means Yip could not go out to have fun. On ordinary days he also had to do housework. Therefore neither his childhood nor his school life was happy.

Title	Enrolling in junior sections of Wellington College
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	18m43s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-005

Among the residents in Tai Hang, Yip is probably the one with high educational qualification, thus people living in this district like him very much. After getting married and having children, Yip still lived with his parents. He reminisced about how he got along with his younger brother and sisters. By being a virtuous person, he had set a role model for them. He also encouraged them to study hard. Yip’s parents had never put any pressure on him to get a job for easing their burden, nor had they set separate standards for the future of their sons and daughters. Therefore Yip’s younger brother and sisters had made their own choice about their future. However, Yip considered himself a failure in his effort to spur his younger brother and sisters to study. His parents were proud of his academic achievements.

At the same time, compliments from the people in the neighbourhood could be a kind of comfort and compensation. His drive to study had something to do with his inborn characters. He was determined to escape from poverty by being educated. Moreover, his teachers had passed on to him a clear message on going towards the right direction in life. Meanwhile many new immigrants were coming to Hong Kong from the mainland. They built wooden huts in the vicinity of Ma Shan on Tai Hang Road, Haw Par Villa in Nga Choi Hang, and the hills around Tin Hau Temple Road. Crimes such as pornography, gambling and drug trading were prevalent, and there was a rich man like “Lame Ho” (Ng Shek Ho, a drug baron during 1960s – 1970s) there.

In Wellington College, what teachers and students cared about were only exam results. Since English was taught by foreign teachers, the level of English there was quite high. Whether a student could further his studies depended on the individual’s capability and financial ability. Some students would choose not to continue studying if they had found a job. The system adopted in the College was similar to the current system in which Form 1 to Form 3 was junior forms. Students of Form 3 and Form 4 could choose between Arts and Science. There were four classes in Form 1 and only two classes – one Arts and one Science – in Form 4. Besides that, a two-year matriculation system was also adopted. For promotion to Form 4, only the results in the College were considered, and students were required to have good results. Yip should have no problem in getting a place given his results; all he needed to consider was only the career path. A considerable number of schoolmates got into post-secondary colleges such as Chung Chi College, New Asia College, United College, Chu Hai College, Shue Yan College and Baptist College whereas a small number got into the University of Hong Kong. In order to get into the University of Hong Kong, one should study in the two-year matriculation programme and take the examination for General Certificate of Education. Anyone who wanted to study overseas had to take the TOEFL examination. There were both Chinese and English secondary schools, and it was up to the students whether they would take the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination.

Yip and two or three classmates did research for information to get into senior forms. The level of Chu Hai College was better than that of Tai Tung College or Shue Yan College. Moreover, Chu Hai College was especially famous for its Department of Journalism. A post-secondary programme was offered in Chu Hai College to connect with the “Three-three” academic system – Form 1-3 and Form 4-6. In addition, it also offered a one-year matriculation programme to connect with the five-year English secondary school system. Studying in Form 4-6 in Chu Hai English School which was an affiliate of Chu Hai College, Yip’s views had become more progressive, and he planned to study overseas. During the last two years in Chu Hai English School, his teacher analysed in details the future paths of further studies in Hong Kong and Taiwan. One could get into Chung Chi College or New Asia College, etc., after graduating from Chu Hai English School. On the other hand, if one finished his studies in Taiwan, he could be recommended to study in Canada or USA. Yip had determined to study overseas – first to Taiwan, then to a western country. He had considered that if he studied in Hong Kong, he would only become a teacher in future, and he knew that he had not the makings of a good teacher.

Title	Education qualification and career path
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	13m45s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-006

Chu Hai College used to be located at 147 Argyle Street, but now it has been moved to Tsuen Wan. Its premises were very large, with a secondary section (i.e. Chu Hai English School) and a post-secondary section. The number of students decreased – the higher the form, the smaller the number of students became. For instance, there were a few classes in Form 4 and Form 5, but only one class of about twenty students in Form 6. Students were recruited according to their results in junior forms. In Chu Hai English School, there were a lot of rich students who were dropped off and picked up by private cars, and they had a lot of activities after school. There were more boys than girls; the girls comprised only one-third of the total number of students. Yip’s schoolmates did not have pro-rightist background. Those who did become rightists had mainly been trained by the School. Students’ school fees were mostly subsidized by the rightist newspaper, Wah Kiu Yat Po.

The curriculum of Chu Hai English School was very different from that of Wellington College. In Chu Hai English School, there was no division of Arts and Science, and the subjects offered were Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Pure Mathematics, History, Geography, English, Economics, Biology and Chemistry. A whole-day system was adopted, and students had freedom to choose their own subjects as well as determine the number of subjects taken. This mode, used for Form 4 up to Form 6, was like that used in universities. As a result, the number of students taking each subject was not the same, usually from a few to a few tens. As for school fee, it was the same amount for every student no matter how many subjects he took. Moreover, in order to boycott the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, its curriculum design was different from that in general secondary schools. The content of curriculum was based on the subjects and textbooks in Taiwan.

When Yip was in Wellington College and Li Sing Tai Hang School, all the textbooks he used were published in Hong Kong. Once he entered Chu Hai English School, he needed to adapt to the Chinese curriculum. Any students who wanted to enter universities in Taiwan were required to nominally take the Joint University Admission Test, as those universities would reserve some places for overseas students from Hong Kong and Macau. The test papers, which were sent to Hong Kong from Taiwan, were set in a mode similar to essay writing. The subjects tested on included Writing and Mathematics with topics inclined to politics and focused on a person’s thoughts. There were no tests on Biology and Chemistry. The teaching methods in Chu Hai English School was different from the colonial teaching methods in that the former was freer and more open with no limitation in the choice of subjects. Students could choose as many subjects as they liked; it was thus different from the spoon-feeding mode of colonial educational system. In History, more contents were on the periods of the Republic and modern ages. Most of the teachers in Chu Hai English School were Hong Kong people, and there were also a few Taiwanese or those Hong Kong people graduated from Taiwan. Every day students were required to sing songs on Three Principles of the People, but there were not any lessons on politics or any terms of Kuomintang used. Students were allowed to bring “The East is Red” and “Quotations from Chairman Mao” to school. Moreover, there were seldom discussions on politics between teachers and students. There was a school motto, and the atmosphere was free. The uniform was white shirt and white trousers for Form 4 and 5; as for Form 6, none but only a school badge. Their school rules included terms such as obeying the teachers, having harmonious relationship with fellow students, not using foul language, and studying diligently.

Yip and some schoolmates had been sent to South China Morning Post, Hong Kong Times and Red Green Daily (translation) to do proofreading work, and they were allowed to amend foreigners’ English writing. The students who were allocated jobs went to work irregularly after school for two weeks and were given allowance for transportation and meals. The level of secondary school graduates at that time was similar to that of the present university graduates. All students treasured the chance of going to school. Yip had won several prizes for journalism in Chu Hai English School, and he had also written essays in the form of commentary for sending to the readers’ column of The News Evening Post and Wah Kiu Yat Po. However, he has already forgotten what the contents of the commentaries were. He had written a lot of essays which were mainly on the current affairs in Hong Kong. The newspapers usually gave him prizes such as cash of a few tens, book coupons or stationery.

Yip did not join any parties, groups or organizations. At that time there was a reading club in Chu Hai English School. He had not joined the tour to Taiwan. During secondary school days, his schoolmates had already started dating, and they also organized parties. As for Yip, he liked to watch football, and went to the top of the stadium to watch a match near the end of it. He seldom watched movies. Although Yip had read a lot of books on politics, he did not like to discuss political ideas with anyone. While he was in senior forms, he still had to go home to help his family, and he dared not have close contact with others. During the early period when he started working, his parents still continued running their business as they did not want to give up their stalls. At that time his younger brother and sisters also helped their parents.

Title	Carefree senior secondary lives in Chu Hai College
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	19m28s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-007

Since his results in Chu Hai English School were not recognized by the technical institute, Yip had to take entrance examinations on English and Mathematics. The levels of Chu Hai College and Baptist College were relatively the same, and both were higher than other colleges. If Yip wanted to enroll in Baptist College, it would not be necessary for him to take any examinations as his results in Chu Hai English School were recognized. There were more than ten technical subjects offered in the technical institute, for example, electrical engineering, telecommunications, and automobile, etc. Because of his sickness, Yip could not meet the requirement in the pre-employment check-up. Having no idea of what to do, he took his elder brother’s advice to learn some professional skills at the technical institute. After four years of training, he would not have to worry about his future. Yip dared not apply for enrolment in New Asia College, Chung Chi College or Chu Hai College for fear that the schools would know about his sickness. He had become more reserved. As he had had to give up his dream, he was not happy in his studies. The discipline he chose was electrical, i.e. power transmission. He learned how to allocate and distribute high and low voltage of electricity. The curriculum included Mathematics, Technical Drawing, English Calligraphy, etc. During the first two years he learned to write letters and use positioning slide, set square and T ruler to draw.

Title	From Arts to Science: Hung Hom Technical Institute(1)
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	4m26s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-008

All the students in the technical institute were male. At that time people did not like to do electrical tasks like installing lights and electrical appliances. Modern people had no idea that electrical engineering was related to electricity supply and construction site, etc. In general, people thought that anyone who studied in technical institute would become labourers in future working with screw driver and hammer, or become construction workers carrying loads of soil and using a hoe. They were not aware that there were people behind the scene doing all the planning and co-ordination work. People thought that these were not great jobs, so only very few of them would study related courses. Most people would aim at getting a job in the bank or offices. There were forty students in a class in the Technical Institute. However, less than half of them would complete the two-year Ordinary Certificate programme because the curriculum was difficult (e.g. Mathematics) or the students had found a job. When it came to Higher Certificate, there would be about ten students. Therefore Yip had less and less classmates and only a few graduated with him. His classmates were quite well-off. For anyone who could not enter the post-secondary college, technical institute was a good alternative.

As the technical programme was run by the government, the fees were cheap – only a few tens per year (about thirty to fifty dollars). A lot of Yip’s schoolmates were working part-time. Students in the technical institute could skip classes, but an attendance rate of 50% was required for eligibility to take the examination. The technical institute offered full-time compulsory courses. Yip’s schoolmates were quite simple. He had never participated in any group activities such as picnics, camping, swimming or ballgames organized by fellow schoolmates. The teachers there were Chinese, most of whom were current civil servants of Architectural Office. Yip considered himself not very diligent, but many of his classmates even fell asleep during the lessons. In secondary school he had to take more than ten subjects; in the technical institute he only had to take one or two subjects. Graduates of technical institute mainly worked in the same field as they studied. For example, they would become consultant designer for the contracting, building or renovation projects of the government, or work at public services such as the Hong Kong Electric Company or China Light and Power Company.

To Yip, contracting tuberculosis was just a small problem, and his health was not poor. Every day he carried some water and went to the chest clinic to take medicine. This kind of clinic could be found in Argyle Street, and the districts of Wan Chai and Shau Ki Wan. In the clinic, a patient’s medical history was recorded on a card. Anyone who missed a chop on his card would be required to have an X-ray of his lung. At that time the needle of the syringe was disinfected by being boiled in the water. However, some of the needles were already blunt. When these needles were used for injection, it would be extremely painful; such experience would be bitter to the patient. Even if the patient’s condition was not serious, the treatment with injection would still last two years in order to calcify the bacteria infected, and it should not be stopped for even one day. It was Yip’s intention not to let his classmates know that he had tuberculosis, so he always ate alone both in school and at home. During the four years of full-time studies, Yip still had to occasionally rush home to help at his parents’ stalls. Yip is a Hakka, so he started to place more emphasis on food once he became better off. He had once cooked a meal for more than thirty family members. Later on he bought a flat in Tai Hang with an area of 700 square feet. Tai Hang is a small community, and natives there do not like to move to other areas.

Title	From Arts to Science: Hung Hom Technical Institute(2). Treatment of tuberculosis and feeling after being sick
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	13m54s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-009

Working in Chinese company and Gilman in the early days. Got a engineer’s qualification in Britain. The first job that Yip had was trainee supervisor in a small Chinese company in Wan Chai where he worked for less than a year. The working hours there were from eight to seven; employees were provided with two meals per day and one day leave per month for having their hair cut. It was not necessary for him to work in the construction site. From 1973 to 1980, Yip worked as Assistant Engineer in Engineering Unit of Electronic Installation Department in Gilman and Company. It was a trading company specialized in automobile, electrical appliances, imported parts for electrical appliances, and electrical products. They also bid for projects and then their department of engineering could use the imported parts for electrical appliances. The curriculum of electrical engineering in technical institutes was the same as that in universities, but the salaries of their graduates were different, and the promotion opportunities for technical institute graduates were not as good as university graduates.

The projects that Gilman had done included the desalination plant in Tuen Mun (already demolished), Hung Hom train station, the first and second phases of construction for Hong Kong Polytechnic College (re-building project in 1973). In 1975 Yip was sent to Manchester TI in Britain for training for half year. It was mainly project training at a British Company that had business with Gilman. Afterwards Yip was accepted as a Member of Institute of Electronical Engineering, MIEE in Britain (editor’s note: According to the information from the interviewee, it should be “The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.”). As Yip was recommended by Gilman and the British company in which he received training, he could more easily get the qualification without taking any examination. In general a person had to be a university graduate for that. After he had gone back to Hong Kong, he got a promotion and a raise in salary, and was officially recognized as an engineer.

Continuing Education, acquiring professional qualification, career development. After 1980, Yip started to work at a construction company. Having obtained licenses on fire precaution, pumping, drainage, air-conditioning and ventilation, he acquired the license for building services engineer from Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. His work included checking electricity, water, air-conditioning and fire-precaution services, as well as measuring the building height of the building and the width of the corridor before signing the occupation permit. During those days these courses were organized by various societies, such as Fire Precaution Society, Drainage Society and so on. Now they are offered by Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In 1982 Yip obtained all the licenses he needed. Since he started to work, he had not done any more formal studies except attending meetings and ISO courses for self enhancement. In the early 1980s Yip studied computer as the construction field was the first to use computer in drawing. Yip thought that even if he had been a university graduate, his future would have been similar to what it is now, but the path would have been smoother. He considered himself a quick-tempered person, but he had not had any obstacles in his work – only his boss was the one to be ill-treated. The companies in which Yip had worked were all big ones – the first being Yau Lee, then China State Construction, Shui On and New World – before he retired in 2005. In 2000 he was already half-retired because of leg injury.

Scope of work for a construction company. Yip had worked in the real estate department of New World Development Company Ltd. His major responsibility was evaluating land value for drafting development plans. His work included evaluating the type, class, area, investment and return rate of the buildings to be constructed on the land. Once a piece of land was successfully bid by New World, Yip would plan the project with an architectural consultant company, and distribute jobs such as construction, supervision, co-ordination, maintenance and services. The bidding process in every field was different, and Yip had to look after more than ten contractors. During the 1980s, Yip’s responsibilities in the construction companies were only submitting bids, supervising sub-contractors, testing and commissioning, and later with additional duties concerning work safety, ISO work guidelines and correspondences. He mentioned again that despite studying Science subjects, he was also good at writing. Previously in Gilman and Company, Yip was only responsible for making electrical appliances. After a successful bid, the company became a contractor and contracted out projects. Yip would then be responsible for managing and supervising the whole workflow. China State Construction (Hong Kong) Company Ltd. is a Hong Kong branch of the state-owned enterprise of the State Department. The project to build Tsing Ma Bridge went to the joint venture of China State Construction Co. and Gammon of Britain, who was responsible for building the channel and designing the most complex administration building.

Title	Career path in trading companies and construction companies
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	20m51s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-010

Yip thought that our life philosophies change as we grow old. When he was young, he did not have any goal. It was only when he had grown up did he have one, but he could not achieve it. Therefore, he was upset and depressed. While Yip was working, he seldom lost his temper. He regarded the staff he worked with as “cows”. However, once he lost his temper, it was awful. Yip thought that only a few staff liked him because of his clear instruction and high demand, so his staff had to work according to the schedule and guidelines. He had never joined his colleagues and counterparts to participate in the activities related to smoking, drinking and women. All along he had hoped to become a journalist or writer but could not do so because of the problems in his family. He was not good at financial management, so he was extravagant at young age. Before his retirement, he was a project manager, which is a very unusual position for a technical institute graduate.

Yip became an engineer at thirty or so, and he drove a sports car. As someone being looked down upon by people in his field, he later became a renowned person in the field of construction. However, he did not like to get along with people in this field. An architect is of the highest rank in engineering. Whenever the architect was not here, the meeting attended by the staff was called “Gang’s meeting” in which no one was active, so Yip was like encountering cows, and occasionally foul language was used in the meeting. Whichever job he did, he got tired of it. The architect would lose his temper too, but he would only show it in his writing and correspondences. It was not a matter of the ranks – an engineer is of the highest rank in a construction site. Not long after he started working, Yip already gained fame for his ability, so every time he switched job, it was a result of head hunting. By working in the construction field, Yip’s needs in life were financially fulfilled, but not spiritually, as it was far different from his ambition of becoming a literati when he was young.

During the Pro-democracy Movement between May and June 1989, Yip was working in Beijing, but he flew back to Hong Kong on the last flight before the June-Fourth Incident. At that time Yip was doing his private work secretly outside his original job. He took a few months’ leave from Yau Lee Construction Company to plan for opening a new company in the mainland with someone, and had already been commissioned to do two projects. One of them was Nanyang Restaurant in Beijing managed by the Purchasing Department of the People’s Liberation Army. Later it was sold to China Resources as it was China’s policy not to permit the People’s Liberation Army to be involved in any business. Another project, Yangzi Jiang Hotel in Shanghai, involved design, supervision and purchasing. It was because of June-Fourth Incident that Yip went back to Hong Kong to continue with the work. The projects that Yau Lee Company did were mainly for government low cost housing estates which Yip did not like very much.

During his schooling and the early stage of his employment, Yip was afraid of getting along with girls. At that time his wife had a lot of suitors. Soon after Yip had met her, he proposed to her because he wanted to show off. He had not considered whether his wife’s educational level matched with his. After marriage, his wife did not work. It was two years after Yip had started working, i.e. when he was 24 that he got married and had children. His mother lived with him and his family. Yip talked about how his wife took care of the family and later worked in hospital. He did not mind his wife’s going out to work. At that time he also reluctantly went to social dinners – political dinners with government departments– a few evenings a week. He considered himself serious and responsible in his work.

Title	Relation between life goal and career. Features of construction industry, individual career in Mainland China. Attitude on marriage
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	17m29s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-011

After Yip got married, at first he was the one to do the cooking, but later it was his wife’s job. His family values were open-mindedness and democracy. He educated his children by being a role model himself, and he tried his best to satisfy his children’s needs. Yip had not instilled any values into his children as he thought that the influence of one’s friends was most important. He did not ask his daughter to do any housework, and he let her make her own decision on issues concerning dormitory and further studies. His only advice to his daughter was not to participate in too many political events in university for fear that she would waste too much time. Moreover, he also believed that politicians were despicable and that all politicians in the world were supported by businessmen, so there was not room for development of politics in Hong Kong. His expectations in his son and in his daughter were not different, and he only stayed beside them and watched them study without intruding in their decision on choosing schools for further studies. He thought that studying in Chinese secondary school would suit the situation of Hong Kong’s return to China. He commented about his daughter. Yip had high expectations for his children and hoped that they would get a PhD degree.

However, he did not wish they would become a literati because anyone in any field could become distinguished. He said that his son, who was holding two degrees (one technical, one science), was a civil servant. He had not compared the rank of his children and that of himself, as it was hard to do so when they were from different times. At that time there was family planning, and his wife had attended the talks organized by the Family Planning Association. In the past there was no sex education, or even colonial education in schools. Secondary students were already dating though their teachers had tried to instill in them the idea that secondary students should not fall in love. In secondary schools there were rules on how students were dressed. The discipline master would explain to students that boys were not allowed to wear bell-bottom trousers and the girls, mini-skirts. However, the girls usually let down their skirts in school, and let them up after they had left the school. After school, Yip had seen students in uniforms walking hand in hand.

Title	Concept of Family, children’s education
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Education
Duration	10m58s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-012

Yip’s career path had not been affected by the Riots of 1967. Despite that he paid a lot of attention to the news of the riots, he did not join any. Riots were the aftermath of Cultural Revolution. At that time it was quiet in Chu Hai English School, students were only told not to go to dangerous places. All he could remember was that many roads were blocked, and his schoolmates did not talk about politics – they only did business as usual. During the Riots of 1967, Yip began to feel a little antipathy towards the Communist government. When Yip went back to the mainland to visit their relatives, they felt hopeful about China at first. However, once they crossed the border in Shenzhen, they already took a dislike to China. His family was still doing business in the market during the Riots. Yip did not support what the Communist Party did and thought that the Party had both merits and demerits. Regarding new immigrants to Hong Kong, he thought it was good as they would provide workforce for Hong Kong and help promote its economic development.

Title	1967 Leftist Riot and new immigrants
Date	05/01/2010
Subject	Social Life
Duration	6m27s
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.	TW-YKF-LIFE-013