Chan Kin Keung

Shanghai industrialists came to Hong Kong because of the political change in China. Their arrival contributed to the development of local textile industry as they founded spinners, weavers and knitters as well as dyeing factories. The factories were mostly located at Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsung and Kwun Tong, etc. Between 1974 and 1975 dyeing industry was in a slump but it rebound quickly. During the early 1980s, dyeing industry was in its boom but not many people in the business paid much attention to environmental protection. There was ample supply of workers but the requirement on quality of the products was not that high. At that time, manpower was important for the business but luckily there were a lot of immigrants from China and they provided a cheap labour force. At the end of 1980s, the government started to implement sewage discharge policy. At the beginning dyeing factories tried hard to cope with. Until 1990s when the policy was in full fledged, a lot of dyeing factories either had to close or move to the mainland. Those that moved to China could not survive for long. There were only very few dyeing factories left within the pearl delta area. After 1994, there were only a few smaller factories left in Hong Kong. At about the same time China Dyeing Works moved to Yuen Long Industrial Estate. It was one of the very few factories left in Hong Kong. Until 2002, the company was doing alright with its business.

Title	Ups and downs of Hong Kong dyeing and printing Industry from 1940s to 1990s
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	2m6s
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.	AY-CKK-HLT-001

China Dyeing Works’ Tsuen Wan plant was next to a large ditch at the beginning. Later on when the business expanded, the company built a new factory opposite the ditch. A bridge was also built to connect the two factories for transportation of fabrics across the ditch. Nowadays the ditch has been reclaimed and on top of it is Discovery Park and Tai Chung Road. The volume of water that ran through the ditch was not high. But when there was a typhoon or rain storm, water that came down from Lotus Hill and Tso Kung Tam could fill up the whole ditch and water would become turbulent. At the beginning China Dyeing Works did not have a sewage facility. Sewage from the dyeing process would be discharged through the ditch to the sea. Later on the general public had a stronger awareness on environmental protection. And the development of the factories’ surrounding area as well as growth of Tsune Wan’s population was rapid. Journalists and students would take photos and water sample from the ditch to argue that how dyes from the factories had caused pollution.

Title	Rapid development of China Dyeing Works’ plant in Tsuen Wan and area around the large ditch
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m58s
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.	AY-CKK-HLT-002

In terms of environmental protection and social responsibility, though sewage treatment would add on the cost of production, China Dyeing Works was still engaged in better treatment of the sewage the company discharge. The cost of power was getting higher and higher. Before 2000, the company's production volume was high so sewage discharge was also high. The company believed it was still cost effective to treat its own sewage. However when production volume decreased, maintaining its own sewage treatment became less cost effective. China Dyeing Works had two options. According to the license agreement, if the sewage discharged was qualified to a certain standard, then the licensee can discharge a certain volume of sewage. For instance, if the COD of the discharged sewage was below a certain level, then the licensee would not be required to pay the sewage surcharge fee. But if the COD was above that certain level, then sewage surcharge would be imposed. China Dyeing Works had chosen to pay the sewage surcharge fee, as the company believed that it was more cost effective than running its own sewage treatment facility.

Title	China Dyeing Works started to pay sewage charges since 2000 because it was unable to handle his sewage after production level declined
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m37s
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.	AY-CKK-HLT-003

Commissioning was quite common in the 1970s. Buying offices (Fabric agents) would act as representatives for their clients, i.e. brand companies. They would handle various production processes on behalf of their clients. They helped their clients to find the right provider or company for fabrics, dyeing process and garment production, etc. These buying offices would be responsible from raw material sourcing to final production. China Dyeing Works had a rather simple business model. Upon receiving orders for a certain fabrics, it would proceed with the dyeing according to the requirements. The advantage of this approach was that the buying office would take care of production details with its clients' requirements. However the buying office would take commission. There were still buying offices acting as representatives for certain overseas brands and they would place the orders to factories in China. China Dyeing Works had various suppliers of greige fabrics, and thus could have a better control on pricing. The company does not need to work with buying offices and so can get a higher profit.

Title	Fabrics agents handled production on behalf of brand companies to earn commission in 1970s
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	2m23s
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.	AY-CKK-HLT-004

Cha Textiles Group had built plants in Nigeria of West Africa during the 1960s. The company was at the right time to build its vertical set-up from the cotton plantation, spinning, weaving to printing and dyeing. During its peak time, the company had over ten factories in Ghana, Congo, Togo (Lome) in West Africa, hired over 20,000 workers. Cha Textiles Group had a great contribution to West Africa in terms of wax-print and real wax printing technology.

Title	Development of wax printing business of Cha Textiles Group in West Africa
Date	19/10/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m41s
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.	AY-CKK-HLT-005

A normal piece of clothing could go through 50 times of washing. Given the processing technology of China Dyeing Works, a fabric was still wrinkle-free and iron-free after it had withstood 50 times of washing. This was the result of continuous research and development. However, R&D cost had to be kept in control and environmental issues have to be considered. For instance, organic cotton and fibers that could be recycled would require certificate of proof.

Title	China Dyeing Factory constantly upgraded it technology level in the way that a cloth was still wrinke-free after 50 times of washing
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m3s
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.	AY-CKK-HLT-006

At that time not many university graduates were willing to work in a dyeing factory. Those with a secondary school education could start work at China Dyeing Works as apprentices. They were provided with living quarters and possibility of promotion. Those apprentices were now supervisors who were major workforce of production department. Undergraduates from Hong Kong Polytechnics studying textile and merchandising would work at China Dyeing Works and became supervisors in various departments.

Title	In the past secondary graduates started from apprenticeship in China Dyeing Works
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m28s
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.	AY-CKK-HLT-007