Chan Kwong Yiu

Biography Highlights Records
Family and Education Background. Worked as a delivery boy in a grocery store in Yau Ma Tei. Trans...
Chan Kwong Yiu is a Teochew (Chaozhouness) born in his hometown Chaoyang in 1945. His family was engaged in agriculture. His father was a pig butcher. After he came to Hong Kong, he worked as an egg incubation master in Yuen Long. Then he ran a chicken farm in Ping Shan. Chan Kwong Yiu finished primary schooling in his hometown. In 1958, when he was 14, he came to Hong Kong. He settled in his aunt’s grocery store. He was employed as a delivery boy on a monthly salary of $30. The store was located at 51, Woosung Street, i.e. the junction of Woosung Street and Saigon Street, where a Chinese restaurant occupied today. To cater to the nightlife in Yau Ma Tei, the store opened 24 hours a day, even at times of Typhoon Signal No.10.

Chan Kwong Yiu used to deliver goods to such places as guesthouses, ballrooms, Shanghainese bath houses, massage centres, opium-smoking cabins, and mahjong houses. Mahjong houses operating at daytime had obtained licenses from the government. Operation at nighttime was illegal. But business owners disregarded the ban. Seen from the outside, the mahjong houses looked as if they had already closed. Once inside, one could find gambling activities more rampant than the daytime. He had picked up much Cantonese during goods delivery. His working hours were as long as 15.5 hours a day. He had to work at night. He strongly admired the eight-hour shifts adopted by spinning factories, which also provided their workers with dormitories. He once wanted to be a factory worker. However, his father did not allow him to work in a factory. He believed that it was difficult for factory workers to start their own business in the future. In contrast, running a grocery store required a low start-up capital. By working in a store, one could understand the nature of the business, which would facilitate the start-up of one’s business in the future.

Chan Kwong Yiu’s aunt usually hired her fellow countrymen to work in her store. So Chan got along with his colleagues very soon. Afterwards some of them had worked in Chan’s restaurant for several decades. Aunt’s husband was engaged in the export of mahogany furniture in Tsim Sha Tsui. He owned a warehouse in Nanking Street. It was also used as a dormitory for more than 10 staffs of the grocery store. The dorm was close to Nathan Road, Chi Wo Street and Ningpo Street. In the past, Nanking Street was purely residential. No shops were opened there. At that time the pace of life was quite different with nowadays. There were many wonton noodle stalls in Yau Ma Tei. Customers were served with free pickled radish. When upper-floor residents heard the sound ‘duk-duk-duk’ emitted by hitting a bamboo pipe, they shouted at street side noodle sellers in order to make orders. Residents would lower a basket with money inside from the veranda. Then sellers would put the ordered food in the basket. Similarly, newspaper deliverers would throw rolls of papers up the floors while riding a bicycle. Sellers of aeroplane olives adopted the same strategy.




Title Family and Education Background. Worked as a delivery boy in a grocery store in Yau Ma Tei. Transaction methods between upstairs residents of tenement apartment and roadside peddlers in the early days.
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community | Social Life
Duration 12m7s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-001
Business operation, productions and customers of Man Sang Lung Foreign Wine Store.
Chan Kwong Yiu had 9 siblings. He was the fourth child as well as the eldest son of his parents. He had 3 elder sisters. One of his elder sisters came to Hong Kong in 1949. She also worked in the grocery store of Chan’s aunt. It was a high-class business which had a liquor license. The annual license fee was as high as $1500. The store was named ‘Man Sang Lung Foreign Wine Store’. It emphasized selling foreign wines. The store sold foreign wines, Chinese wines, canned food, cigarette, fruit, medicine, coke, preserved fruit, fruit juice, biscuit, Lotus branded ice-cream, etc. Medicine was supplied to those who suddenly fell sick at night. The store had a juicer for making fruit juice.

Man Sang Lun operated around the clock and could be regarded as a predecessor of today’s convenience stores. Many tables and chairs were set out outside the store. Regular customers met and chat there. They had some beers and peanuts while discussing current affairs. When opinions differed, disputes broke out, which was common. Those customers visited at the same hour every night. Most of them were male. Occasionally, some foreigners visited the store with dancing girls, making Man Sang Lung sound like a laymen’s bar. There were different types of customers apart from the neighbours. Most of them were the blue-collar. There were many coolies and boat dwellers at the waterfront. Chan remembered a maritime pilot who drank a lot in the store. Every time he was drunk, he spoke English like mad. Those who discussed current affairs usually had beers. They were unable to afford expensive foreign wines. Brands sold in Man Sang Lung included AXE, HENNESSY, VO, VSOP, XO, EXTRA. Foreign wines fell into 3 types by capacity, namely Type L, Type 2 and Type 3. Type 3 had a flat bottle allowing easy storage in a pocket. It was sold at $8 or $9.




Title Business operation, productions and customers of Man Sang Lung Foreign Wine Store.
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 13m2s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-002
Interesting experience of delivering goods to ballrooms, guesthouses, and opium dens in Yau Ma Tei
Chan Kwong Yiu delivered goods of the grocery store to every place by bicycle. Sometimes he sent just one bottle of coke to a ballroom. If a dancing girl won the heart of her customer, she might be treated with a free freshly-squeezed orange juice which was worth $1. If a dancing girl did not have any customers that night, she had to pay on her own for a coke or Vitasoy Milk, which cost $0.3 and $0.2 respectively. Chan would like to deliver drinks to dancing girls with customers, who usually gave him generous tips in order to show off his wealth to the girls. There were two types of ballroom. Ballroom running at daytime offered tea dance. Some female students worked as part-time dancers. It was a proper business. However, ballroom running at night involved pornography. At that time entertainment was less diversified. Dancing was popular among the general public. An idiom depicted its popularity – lights on, ghosts pulling legs’. Those who didn’t have a sound income but frequented the ballrooms were ridiculed as ‘dutiful son on volcano’. Man Kok Ballroom was located at Saigon Street (near Chi Wo Street). ‘Sing Sing Sing’ was next to Majestic Theatre at Nathan Road. Mickey Ballroom was close to today’s Federal Restaurant.

Besides ballrooms, Chan also delivered goods to guesthouses. ‘Lui Dim’ (Lit. inn) and ‘Zau Dim’ (Lit. hotel) differred in scale. Hotel had a larger scale. There were numerous inns around Nathan Road and Woosung Street, such as Peace, Golden Terrace and Palace. These inns actually offered cubicle apartments. Major hotel in Yau Ma Tei included Nathan, Sun Sun and Shamrock. Chan once delivered goods to opium-smoking cabins, where windows were sealed and stinking opium smokes stuffed the whole area. Opium smoker was commonly depicted as ‘horizontal bed and vertical bamboo’ (bamboo referred to an opium-smoking gun). Most of the opium-smoking cabins were found in mezzanines at Temple Street and Woosung Street. As the authority regularly raided the cabins, they were relocated frequently. The mezzanine at 226 Reclamation Street was one of the cabins with a traceable address. In 1965, the building where Man Sang Lung was located was demolished. The grocery store moved from Woosung Street to Temple Street.




Title Interesting experience of delivering goods to ballrooms, guesthouses, and opium dens in Yau Ma Tei
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 9m2s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-003
Interesting experience of delivering goods to guesthouses in Yau Ma Tei
At that time Buckingham Building and Kowah Hotel were the highest buildings in Yau Ma Tei. Buckingham Building was located at the junction of Nathan Road and Ningpo Street. Its basement was a low-price goods bazaar. Buckingham Restaurant was situated close to the top floor. A fire once broke out in the restaurant. Rescue was difficult as it was located on a high floor. Kowah Hotel was next to Astor Theatre. It occupied two floors of a 13-story building. When Chan delivered goods for his aunt’s grocery store, he was most reluctant to visit Kowah Hotel. Though the hotel was equipped with a lift, only customers were allowed to use it. Deliverers had to climb the stairs. Most of the customers were wealthy people who met those senior dancing girls in a specific hotel room. Nightlife was vibrant in Yau Ma Tei, a sleepless place in Kowloon.

There were only two 24-hour grocery stores in Yau Ma Tei. Guesthouses usually had the telephone no. of Man Sang Lung. The other store was less prominent. Its boss had once worked in Man Sang Lung. Man Sang Lung had not much business at daytime, and was best staffed at night. It was illegal to sell liquor after 11 or 12 at night. The store had to pack their goods carefully if customers made take-away order of wine. Delivery items at night included fruit, wine, and coke. As hotel customers never wanted to lose face in front of the dancing girls, they tipped generously. When Chan delivered goods for the first time, although the order just cost $2, the customer paid Chan $0.7 for tips. It was an incredible sum for Chan. Over excited, he made a jump of 7 steps downstairs. Normally his tips ranged from $0.1 to $0.2 even at high-class hotel like Kowah Hotel. If there were no dancing girls, customers would not pay tips.


Title Interesting experience of delivering goods to guesthouses in Yau Ma Tei
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 10m10s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-004
Class consciousness of a deliver boy
Chan Kwong Yiu had delivered goods to gambling dens and opium-smoking cabins. Gambling dens had simple renovations only. Their locations were unstable. After being raided, they would move elsewhere. Gambling dens were covered by two doors. The outer one was an iron gate. If visitors wanted to go in, someone would stretch his heads out of the window and ask who it was out there. Opium-smoking cabins moved frequently. But sometimes after being raided, business was restored at the same location. The mezzanine at 226 Reclamation Street was a famous opium cabin. It was located opposite Yau Ma Tei Theatre. Chan claimed himself as a grassroot who often visited illegal places and met triad guys when young. He lamented that social class boundaries were obvious. Seats on ferries and vehicles were divided into first class and third class. People took their seats according to their social class. He was always kept busy by the grocery store. He had only one day-off every month. Thus he had no time to meet friends. Most of his friends were his colleagues in the store.




Title Class consciousness of a deliver boy
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 4m39s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-005
Queen of Temple Street took refuge in Man San Lung Grocery Store
Man Sang Lung was located at the junction of Woosung Street and Saigon Street. Temple Street was at its back. Area on the south of the temple was the more prosperous section of Temple Street. It was frequented by street peddlers and prostitutes. Prostitutes were not allowed to stay on pedestrian lanes. Otherwise, they would be charged by the police for obstructing the streets. However, pimp ladies who touted business for them would not be charged. At that time there was a young, beautiful, famous prostitute nicknamed ‘Queen of Temple Street’. She was very attractive to whoremasters. To avoid being arrested by the police, she successfully bribed Chan’s aunt by offering her free chicken congees. She was allowed to take a seat in the grocery store temporarily. Chan was not happy since she occupied the seat he normally sat. Afterwards Chan took the seat before the prostitute went to work at 6pm to 7pm. She stared at him angrily. Queen of Temple Street’s home was close to Yau Ma Tei Police Station at Canton Road. She had an intimate relation with her pimp ladies. Their relationship was similar to that of hostess and servant. Pimp lady never exploited the prostitute who had a generous income. The prostitute and her customers had developed a mutual affinity. They simply communicated with eyesight. Other prostitutes in Temple Street stayed upstairs. Pimp ladies, stationed at stairway exits, touted customer and escorted them upstairs. They extracted commissions from the prostitutes, but they had a lower income than Queen of Temple Street.


Title Queen of Temple Street took refuge in Man San Lung Grocery Store
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 9m6s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-006
Pre-war tenement buildings and old-style shops next to the grocery store
In the past there were few property owners. Usually a block was owned by one proprietor. Most of the residents were tenants. The rich chose to be a principal tenant who rented the whole building and then subleased the rooms. Every floor of a tenement building would be divided into many cubicles for up to 6 to 7 households. Sometimes bunk beds were found in the corridor. Sometimes rooms on the veranda were leased. The most expensive unit was the rear cubicle with a window. Every household had their own kerosene stove in the kitchen. There were no toilets in tenement building. At 5 am a woman shouted on the streets to inform upstairs residents of nightsoil dumping service. She shouted from one end of a street to the other end. When the bell was heard, it implied that sometime had come to collect refuse.

Most of the buildings near the grocery store run by Chan’s aunt were pre-war tenement apartments. Veranda pillars were seen standing on the street. The floor slab, staircase, and wall were made of wood. Cement was laid on the wooden floor. Only the external wall was covered with concrete. Residents usually wore a pair of clogs which caused a sharp noise when they walked on the stairs. Chan believed that any fire breaking out in a tenement house was disastrous. Luckily, fire was not common. In his early days after coming to Hong Kong, Chan’s family burned Singaporean firewood (Editor’s Note: it was made of local palm tree grown in Singapore) for fuel. It was easy to cut. It split into two halves with one single chop. One year later they burned kerosene instead. It was not easy to start a fire in the past. Hot water was sold in Temple Street. Customers were the common residents nearby. Most of the shops near the grocery were also residences. They included clinic, Hainanese restaurant, studio, repair centre for bicycle and double bicycle, as well as shops selling firewood, hot water and opera costumes. It was illegal for bicycles to carry passengers then. A double bicycle had a front and a back seat. The front rider pedalled. It was commonly used for goods delivery. When public transport became unavailable at night, residents would take a double bicycle. The fare was about $0.1 to $0.2, depending on the travel distance. In the past cameras were scarce among the general public. They took photos in a studio on memorial days. Chan, in his best attire, had taken pictures with his elder sister in a studio. It was the first time he wore leather shoes.


Title Pre-war tenement buildings and old-style shops next to the grocery store
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 13m59s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-007
Old buildings and old shops around Nathan Road and Jordan Road
In the past in the section stretching from Tsim Sha Tsui to Pak Hoi Street, Nathan Road had trees fully planted on both sides. There were some villa-style buildings on Nathan Road in the past. A garden mansion was located at today’s Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium Ltd. Passers-by could not see any light inside. Children called it ghost house then. Chan Kwong Yiu’s uncle and fellow countrymen lived in two tenement buildings at the junction of Jordan Road and Chi Wo Street. Different from those tenement houses which had two units on every floor, Uncle’s building had a high ceiling and only one unit on every floor. The stairway, handrail and floor were all made of wood. The windows on its sidewalls also distinguished it form an ordinary tenement house. There was no flushing toilet in the building. Residents placed a chamber pot in the kitchen. Chan had once received tutorial on English from his uncle. His uncle was born in Hong Kong. He did well at school. Out of an admiration on socialism in his motherland, he had once studied Russian in Wuhan. He was later let down by the real situation in China. After two to three years, he came back to Hong Kong and started a tutorial centre.

Buildings in the inner streets like Temple Street and Woosung Street were different from his uncle’s residence. It was common for two buildings with two door numbers to share one stairway. They either had a pointed roof or flat roof. Rooms in the veranda and rooms with windows had a higher rental value. Cigarette distributor Man Kee Hong, Hot Actor Opera Costume and Kung Wo Bike were old shops at Woosung Street. The premises of Hot Actor later became a dry cleaner company. Man Sang Lung faced Saigon Street and Woosung Street. Kam Guk Lin Restaurant and Ho Tze Ming Clinic were the shops nearby. Ground shop with a high rental had a side space which could be let as a sideshop selling cigarette, confectionary and candy, etc. A sideshop stuck to the wall. It occupied 2 sq ft. The government allowed the sideshop to place their goods on the walkway. After the shop closed at night, the owner could sleep in a canvas bed inside the shop. Chan’s another uncle also ran a sideshop selling cigarettes.




Title Old buildings and old shops around Nathan Road and Jordan Road
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 15m28s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-008
Funeral procedure of tenement house residents in old Yau Ma Tei
In the past people were afraid of staying in hospital. Usually they chose to pass away at home. A pre-war tenement building had a narrow stairway. A coffin could not pass through the corner of a stairway. In order to move a coffin to the ground, people had to erect a bamboo scaffold and ladder on the street. Old-style tenement houses had no more than four floors. A coffin could be moved down even from the 4th floor. The higher the floor, the farther the ladder was erected on ground. Since post-war buildings did not have a veranda and their stairways were wide enough, coffins need not be moved in this way.

Wealthy families used to organize a funeral procession. They hired honour guards to play western music. At that time there were many tricycles carrying goods on street. They were recruited to carry coffins and wreaths in time of funerals. An iron basket was installed in the front of a tricycle. Each basket could carry one wreath. The parade route was stipulated by the government. Woosung Street was one of the hot spots for parades. Later the government prohibited street procession. A large number of passers-by stopped and watched funeral processions which had splendid honour guards dressed in white. Some wealthy households would hold a roadside mourning. Those who offered sacrifice would be given a red packet. In the past there was a wealthy rice merchant surnamed Cheng. He held a roadside mourning in Yau Ma Tei after his father passed away. He announced that anyone who sacrificed a roasted pig would be given a red packet of $20. At that time a roasted pig only cost about 10$. Many people saw it as an investment opportunity. Someone had worshipped many times with the same roasted pig. Later the host cut the pig’s ear as a marking in order to curb cheating.


Title Funeral procedure of tenement house residents in old Yau Ma Tei
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 8m22s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-009
Reasons of Starting his own business: Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop
In the early 1960s, the chicken farm in Ping Shan run by Chan’s father was hit by an untraceable plague. Thousands of chicken died groups after groups within 2 to 3 nights. His father had no choice but to give up his business. He had made acquaintance with a fellow Chaozhou countryman who was running a grocery store in Wo Lok Estate, Kwun Tong. He was also a driving teacher at the same time. Since he was too occupied with his teaching jobs, he could not manage to look after the store. In 1963, he sold the business to Chan and his father. Hong Kong Housing Authority was the owner of the shop premise. Actually it was illegal to transfer the business. However, the authority did not implement the law stringently.

In 1968, the Housing Authority claimed back the property. It was used to build a branch of Standard Chartered Bank. Therefore Chan and his father gave up the business. They believed that it was difficult to make a profit by running a grocery store. As advised by a fellow countryman, they made up their minds to run a restaurant. On one hand, Chan’s father asked his two sons (Chan’s younger brothers) to start apprenticeship in an ice café (bing sut) owned by another fellow countryman in Tsz Wan Shan. They worked there for several months. On the other hand, Chan and his father searched a suitable shop site everywhere. They travelled as far as Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon City. At that time Kowloon City was very desolate. There were large pieces of watercress field in today’s Tung Tau Estate. Chan had lived and worked in Yau Ma Tei since he was young. He had developed a deep affection to Yau Ma Tei. Since there were many cinemas there, e.g. Kam Wah Theatre, which was always fully seated in peak hours, it was advantageous to open a restaurant close to cinemas. Chan finally ran his ice café in Yau Ma Tei.


Title Reasons of Starting his own business: Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 7m44s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-010
Western restaurants, Russian restaurants, and Chinese tea restaurants in Yau Ma Tei
There were different types of restaurants in Yau Ma Tei. Western restaurants, which served steaks, had the highest class. It was followed by tea restaurants (cha chaan teng) and then ice café (bing sut). Tai Ping Koon Restaurant at Chi Wo Street was run by Guangzhounese. Its best-known dishes were roast pigeon and Swiss chicken wing. The sons of the business owners visited the restaurant with their female companions. Singapore Restaurant at Shanghai Street was owned by Hainanese. Hainanese chicken rice was served there. ‘Red Chick’, ‘Cherikoff’, and ‘ABC’ were Russian restaurants which were not classified as Western restaurant.

Tea restaurants offered both Chinese and Western cuisines. Two typical examples were ‘San Lek’ and ‘Hilton’. The former was located at Shanghia Street. It was next to Tak Yu Restaurant. The latter was located on the ground floor of Kam Tong Building at Woosung Street. Ice cafes had no kitchen. No chef was required. The license of an ice café was commonly known as a ‘small license’ within the industry. When Chan Kwong Yiu was young, there was no tea restaurant in Yau Ma Tei. There was an ice café diagonal to the grocery store he worked at. He had seen staffs preparing coffee. Almost the whole Ningpo Street was occupied by Dai Pai Dongs. Later Hong Kong people rose to affluence. The general public had a more diversified diet. As rice consumption declined, Teochew running rice shops began to switch to running tea restaurants. A friend of Chan also started an ice café because of easy management. Chan and his father were influenced by this trend. Soon they followed suit.


Title Western restaurants, Russian restaurants, and Chinese tea restaurants in Yau Ma Tei
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 9m35s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-011
Site selection, license, renovation and staff of Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop
Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop was located at 830 Canton Road. Chan Kwong Yiu and his father paid much effort in finding a suitable location. They travelled around Kowloon until one day they passed through Kam Wah Theatre at Canton Road. They believed that it was easier to attract customers if their restaurant was close to a cinema. Also, Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter was not far away from Kam Wah Theatre. Streets nearby were prosperous. Since Chan grew up in Yau Ma Tei, he had developed a deep affection to this place. He decided to start his business at Canton Road. Chong Tak Mau, a Teochew master, was in charge of the renovation of the new shop. Master Chong was running a respectable interior design company hiring professional architects. It specialized on renovation of ice cafes. Master Chong was familiar with regulations of fire precaution, hygiene and engineering. He was confident in obtaining a restaurant license. At that time a license had to be approved by government departments such as Fire Services Department, Department of Health, and Public Works Department. Normally the process lasted for several months. Chan and his father offered to a small sum of bribe to them. Chan had negotiated with a health inspector. They bargained loudly on street. As Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption had not yet founded, civil servants were not afraid to receive bribe publicly. Design companies would deal with other departments.

Chan and his father spent $219,000 for the premises of their restaurant. A renovation cost of up to $45,000 was the largest sum of spending when they started their business. They had to mortgage their shop for a bank loan. Crisis arose at the very beginning as they were not familiar with the rules of the restaurant business. At that time business owners should pay their staffs such as chefs and waiters half a month in advance. Tai On had hired some dishonest staffs who did not go to work after getting the salaries. Before Tai On was founded, there were many ice cafes in Yau Ma Tei, e.g. Hilton Restaurant at Canton Road, Wei Heung Restaurant at Pitt Street, and San Lek Restaurant at Shanghai Street. Chan and his younger brother once copied the menus of Hilton Restaurant. They took it as a reference for setting price. Since Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop had a larger business scale and brighter renovation, soon after its debut, competitors like ‘Hilton’ and ‘San Lek’ closed down one by one.




Title Site selection, license, renovation and staff of Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 11m55s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-012
Shop premises and brief history of Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop since 1969
Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop was founded in 1969. It occupied two ground shops which were inter-accessible. One of them was Chan’s property while the other was rented premises. The restaurant was located on the ground floor of Tai On House, which was a 9-story building built in the post-war period. It was stipulated that buildings of more than 10 floors should install a lift. That’s why Tai On House’s owner did not build the 10th floor. A mezzanine was attached to the first floor. However, it was not counted as one floor. Chan and his family lived one floor above their restaurant. Later they moved into the mezzanine. It was divided into two sections. One of them was Chan’s residence. The other one was rented to Hing Kee Paper Offering which had another two ground shops at the same time. At that time business of funeral ceremony was very good. On the 23rd day of the 3rd Lunar month, flower cannons occupied the whole street. In the past when someone passed away at home, a scaffold and ladder were erected on the road in order to move the coffin to the ground. Chan had witnessed many funeral processions in Woosung Street. The processions played suona or Western music.

Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop was close to Kam Wah Theatre, Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter and the wet market. The area was very crowded. Boat dwellers had a good income and they sometimes visited the restaurant with the whole family. Later as he typhoon shelter was reclaimed, the cinemas were demolished, and the market got less prosperous, pedestrians grew fewer and fewer. Tai On’s business was affected. In 1980, the lease contract of one of its premises expired, and Tai On was reduced to one shop as Chan did not renew the leasehold. Customer flow slightly improved only when high-rise buildings were erected in the vicinity. But it was still far from the heyday when the restaurant operated with two shops. At the beginning Tai On offered coffee, milk tea, bread, cake, Macaroni and Spaghetti, etc. Licenses of ice cafes were commonly known as small licenses. It was illegal to cook raw foods in an ice café. The restaurant had to buy cooked beef from workshops. Another license was required for selling bread and cake.


Title Shop premises and brief history of Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop since 1969
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 11m36s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-013
Customers of Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop. Turning points of business development
The majority of the customers at Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop were workers from Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market, cinema goers and boat dwellers. The daily business hour of Tai On was from 6:30 am to 7 pm. Ice cafes in Yau Ma Tei usually opened at 7 am. Tai On opened earlier to meet the needs of stevedores. Fruit Market operated in wee hours. 6:30 am was a time for refreshment when the workers finished working. Today, workers from Fruit Market constituted to over one-third of the restaurant’s turnover and made up about 80% of all the morning customers. Chan Kwong Yiu had heard about the possibility of Fruit Market’s relocation. Scared of losing business, he often enquired of the former proprietor of Tai On Shop about the details. When cinema was flourishing, Tai On also did nighttime business. Opening hours were extended to 9:30 pm. Every day the last show at cinema started at 9:30 pm. There was no late show by then. Astor Theatre and Kam Wah Theatre once played Taiwanese kingfu movies, which were exceptionally popular. Tai On was flooded by customers that they were too busy to handle.

Kam Wah Theatre was demolished in 1971. Tai On suffered a great blow. When the First Oil Crisis broke out in the 1970s, Tai On withdrew its nighttime operation. Chan came up with a rescue plan after the cinema was relocated. Customers could get for free one bottle of Dairy Farm milk worth $0.2 on every order of a set breakfast worth $1.4. Free milk was the key to business restoration. Boat dwellers were also a major source of customers. In the early days they made a living by fishing. Later they transformed to transport laborers, which demanded more physically but paid better. Therefore boat dwellers spent generously in the restaurant. Starting from late 1960s, Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter was progressively reclaimed. It had greatly affected Tai On’s performance. In the 1980s, the restaurant reduced its business scale to one shop. Now Chan had sold the only premises. Then he became a tenant of the new owner. Chan’s sons and younger brothers had migrated overseas. They had no intention to inherit the restaurant. As the owner could lease the shop anytime, Chan did not have any long-term plan for Tai On.


Title Customers of Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop. Turning points of business development
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 15m25s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-014
Grassroots’ flavor of tea restaurants
Chan Kwong Yiu was familiar with his customers since he always chatted with them when running Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop. He even witnessed their children grow up. He was a respectable person in the Yau Ma Tei community. In the past customers always visited the restaurant at the same hour. As soon as the door of the restaurant was just half-opened, they went inside to wait. When Chan worked in Man Sang Lung, most of the customers were night owls who often quarreled and fought with each other. On the contrary, customers of Tai On would go to work after their meal. Current affairs were always the most popular topics in grocery stores and tea restaurants. On every horse racing day, back alley news went flying around in Tai On.




Title Grassroots’ flavor of tea restaurants
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 8m1s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-015
Slush, milk tea and coffee of ice cafes
Ice cafes’ license did not allowed serving cooked food. Promotional slogans for ice cafes usually went like ‘Sai Lan Red Tea, Cold and Hot Drink, Just-baked Bread and Cake’. In the past slush was made of crushed ice, which was replaced by ice cubes nowadays, and so slush had lost much of its flavor and popularity. At that time it was very difficult to make slush. An ice block was put onto a stool. It was planed manually. Ice block was slippery and hard to grip. Staffs were reluctant to make slush. On the menu of Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop, red bean slush, pineapple slush, fruit punch and ice drink with lotus seeds were served. Red bean slush was the most popular one. It cost $0.4 per serving. Ice drink with lotus seeds cost $0.5 each, and was relatively more expensive. One cup of coffee cost $0.25.

To prepare a cup of silk stocking milk tea, tea leaves were separated by a piece of grey fabric. The product got a color assembling that of a silk stocking, and was therefore called ‘Silk Stocking Milk Tea’. Different cafes made it with a different proportion of tea and milk, as well as various brands of tea and milk. In the past there used to be many brands of evaporated milk. But Chan preferred using ‘Black & White’. Evaporated milk of this brand had a higher density of cream, and could be colorized with just a small amount of tea. So milk tea made from it was smoother and tastier. However, ‘Black & White’ Evaporated Milk was expensive. Its price was always on the rise, with up to several surges a year. Ceylon Red Tea was fine for making milk tea. In Hong Kong it was commonly called as ‘Sai Lan Red Tea’ (Editor’s Note: ‘Sai Lan’ is the Cantonese transliteration of the term ‘Ceylon’). Chan’s friends taught him to make milk tea. But normally the essentials skills were kept secret. Learners had to explore by themselves. Coffee was relatively easy to serve. Ice cafes just bought ready-made coffee bags. They did not make it themselves. The flavor of coffee was ranked sophisticatedly.


Title Slush, milk tea and coffee of ice cafes
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 11m45s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-016
Opening hours, facilities and foods of Dai Pai Dongs in Yau Ma Tei
There were many Dai Pai Dongs on the side streets between Nathan Road and Canton Road, especially on Ning Po Street. Dai Pai Dongs were set up on side streets. They only occupied a small fixed stall. However, their tables and stools went far. A friend of Chan Kwong Yiu was once a Dai Pai Dong owner whose stall was located in the section of Ning Po Street stretching from Parkes Street to Woosung Street. He occupied a large strip of the street. One night a policeman issued to him 50 penalty tickets. He was found innocent because the judge believed that the policeman aimed at him on purpose. Dai Pai Dongs were also found in Kansu Street and Public Square Street. The rest garden outside Tin Hau Temple was originally a dense area of Dai Pai Dongs, which were demolished between 1963 and 1968.

In the past Chan often delivered beef and wine to the concentration camp. In fact Dai Pai Dongs also offered liquids, but they were more expensive. Customers usually gave a phone order to grocery stores. Dai Pai Dongs sold freshly cooked foods. Hop Li was famous for its roasted goose. It opened as early as noon. At night it mainly offered stir fry dishes. Dai Pai Pongs operating at nighttime usually served stir fry dishes. A round table could accommodate more than 10 customers. They opened from 7 or 8 pm to 3 or 4 am the next day. When stall owners ended its daily business, they knew no eating place. They came to the grocery store run by Chan’s aunt. They met there and enjoyed cokes, beers, and fruits. Chan had befriended many of them. Sun-Ma Sze-Tsang was a regular customer of Dai Pai Dong who often ordered roasted goose in Hop Li. Dai Pai Dong operating in the afternoon had a smaller scale. They sold fish ball vermicelli at $0.3 per bowl. There were also Dai Pai Dongs selling coffees.


Title Opening hours, facilities and foods of Dai Pai Dongs in Yau Ma Tei
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 14m49s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-017
Distributions of Dai Pai Dongs in Yau Ma Tei. Famous shops and their specialty dish
Dai Pai Dongs in the alleys between Dundas Street and Yung Shue Tau were prosperous. Those in Pitt Street gathered in the section between Canton Road and Shanghai Street. They included Dau Pau Lau (wonton noodle), Hoi Kee (Teochew beef ball noodle), Tak Hing Lung (fish ball noodle), Hop Shing (coffee) and Hin Kee (roasted goose). At night both sides of the walkway lane were full of tables and chairs. At that time vehicles could not access the section of Hamilton Street between Canton Road and Shanghai Street. Heng Kee, a Dai Pai Dong serving hot pot, was opened at Hamilton Street. At night Heng Kee was very crowded. On the walkway there were dozens of tables and chairs. Heng Kee was famous for its charcoal stove hot pot. At daytime it offered roasted goose vermicelli. Its nighttime business ended at 2 to 3am. Staffs had to prepare foodstuff between 5 and 6 pm. Upstairs residents in Hamilton Street suffered from the smokes and noises from Dai Pai Dongs. Today Heng Kee was relocated into a ground shop at Portland Street. It still set out its table and chairs on street side.

There were several Dai Pai Dongs located in the section of Dundas Street between Nathan Road and Canton Road. They included Chat Hei and Sun Den whose customers were crowded on the streets. Today these two stalls had moved into a shop. They mainly offered stir fried meals. Yung Shue Tau was a centre of Dai Pai Dongs which mainly operated at night. Those running at daytime usually had a smaller scale. In the past Temple Street North was quiet. It became prosperous when Hing Kee, which served clay pot rice, appeared alongside other restaurants serving fried oyster with scrambled egg in the 1980s.


Title Distributions of Dai Pai Dongs in Yau Ma Tei. Famous shops and their specialty dish
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 13m38s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-018
Typhoon shelter, Nathan Road, Cinemas and Temple Streets in Old Yau Ma Tei
Chan Kwong Yiu believed that the disappearance of the typhoon shelter was the greatest transformation of Yau Ma Tei. It was the largest in Hong Kong. Vessels lined up properly along the shore. Streets were formed by lines of vessels. There were restaurants and schools aboard. At night the typhoon shelter was more prosperous. Singers performed on the vessels. Stir fried seafood was offered. Wealthy boat dwellers liked to colour their vessels. Some of them owned a refrigerator powered by kerosene stove. At the beginning boat dweller earned their livings by fishing. Later their income improved after they were employed as coolies by cargo ships.

In the 1970s when Chan started his restaurant business in Yau Ma Tei, the construction industry developed rapidly. Land prices soared and property owners demolished their old buildings. They made a big profit by redeveloping them. For example, Kam Wah Theatre was rebuilt into Kam Wah Building in 1973. In the 1970s, Hong Kong government launched a reclamation starting from Ferry Street. The typhoon shelter was reclaimed phase by phase. Afterwards boat dwellers moved ashore. Many of them lived in Fanling and Sheung Shui. Markets at Canton Road gradually lost its vitality after the boat dwellers disappeared.

The section of Nathan Road between Waterloo Road and Astor Theatre was very peaceful in the past. Today’s ground shops were only used as residence then. The place where ABN-AMRO Bank was located today used to be haunted. Rumours had it that the building had been used as an execution ground by the Japanese Army. Chan was terrified when passing by the building on his delivery trip. Buildings constructed in the pre-war period had pillars standing on the streets. Shanghai Street had the largest number of pre-war buildings that had the longest history. At that time there were many cinemas in Yau Ma Tei. First Theatre and Kwong Ming Theatre sat side by side facing north towards Public Square Street. Kwong Chee Theatre was located at nowadays’ Yau Ma Tei Carpark Building. It faced Kansu Street and Jordan Road. Kwong Chee showed third round films with the cheapest tickets. A front row ticket and back row ticket cost $0.2 and $0.7 respectively. The small cinemas had two floors. No films were shown in Kwong Chee on Sundays, on which it was used for sermon. Alhambra Theatre was the earliest old-style cinema being demolished for the building collapsed and claimed 4 lives. Astor Theatre had a big platform for Cantonese opera performances. Yam Kim Fai, Pak Suet Sin and Siu Fung Ming loved to perform in Astor.

There were no rest gardens at Temple Street in the past. Temple Street South and North formed a straight line. Dai Pai Dongs operated in the area between Temple Street and Shanghai Street. At night Temple Street was full of roadsides stalls (not fixed stalls) selling pens, hair creams and fried chickens, etc. There were also entertainments provided by magicians and wandering performers. Story tellers performed in the small alley next to Alhambra Theatre. Children took their chairs and listened to them at night. Temple Street was not special at daytime. But there was an old lady selling extraordinarily delicious pig’s bone congee and stir-fried noodles. Kung Wo Tong, which sold tortoise jelly and tortoise paste at Temple Street, was opened a long time ago. Tortoise jelly cost $0.7 per bowl. Tortoise paste was rarer so it was only offered two days a week. Tan Ngan Lo (Chun Wo Tong), which sold herbal teas, was another old shop at Temple Street. When Chan just arrived at Hong Kong from his hometown, he regarded the drinking water in Hong Kong as too heaty for him, so he had to drink herbal teas every several days.




Title Typhoon shelter, Nathan Road, Cinemas and Temple Streets in Old Yau Ma Tei
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 17m7s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-019
Temple Street: Poor Man’s Night Club
Story telling stalls were ubiquitous in Temple Street in which most of them were found in the section between Public Square Street to Jordan Road. The section running from Tin Hau Temple to Kansu Street was the most prosperous one in Temple Street. There were many hawkers and roadside stalls. Hawking stands were not reserved. They were occupied in a first-come-first-served basis. It was a conventional practice for a hawker to occupy the same spot every night. His/her counterparts would not take it over.

‘King of Hair Cream’ sold hair creams and hair waxes. He squatted on the ground and applied the products on himself for promotion. Pens sold about $0.5 each. The pen seller’s selling rhetoric was impressive. A medicine seller adopted a kung fu posture to attract passers-by. Actually he only aimed to promote his products rather than showing his fighting expertise. Some made fun by playing puppets woven by hay. They hoped to attract business by doing so. Temple Street was full of weird stalls performing teeth extraction, snake dance, and fortune telling by bird, etc. A food stall made fried chicken on the spot. Its food sold $1 per slice. People suspected that its foodstuff was made of the dead chicken from the poultry market at Jordan Road. There were numerous sweet soup stalls in Temple Street selling black sesame paste, almond tea, wheat congee with glutinous rice and green bean sweet soup, etc. Most of them were prepared by housewives at home. Afterwards the foods were moved upstairs for sale. Stall owners offered their customers with bowls and spoons. Customers enjoyed their foods on the street.




Title Temple Street: Poor Man’s Night Club
Date 24/03/2011
Subject Community
Duration 12m21s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-020
Teahouse, wine house and bakery in Yau Ma Tei Eight Streets
In the past ‘Cha Lau’ (lit. Tea House) and ‘Zau Lau’ (lit. Wine House) had different scales. Cha Lau offered Chinese tea and dim sum in the morning. Stir-fried dishes were served at night. Major tea houses around Jordan Road included Ho Wah Tea House, Wan Tin Tea House, Tsin Chiu Tea House and Yen Yen Tea House. Zau Hau, which served seafood, had a larger business scale because banquets could be held there. Tai Koon Restaurant and Nathan Hotel were the biggest Zau Lau in Kowloon.

Besides Cha Lau and Zau Lau, there was Cha Kui selling big buns. Two shop premises were enough for running a Cha Kui. At that time there were many old-style bakeries in Yau Ma Tei. They made breads not for direct sale. Baked breads were sold to grocery stores for retailing. The most famous bakeries included Leung Kin Kee Bakery at the junction of Canton Road and Battery Street, and Freshment Baker. Co. at Woosung Street. Pineapple bun in the past had a dome shape assembling that of pineapple. That was why people called it ‘pineapple bun’. When Freshment’s breads were taken out the oven for sale, the smell of the breads overwhelmed the whole Woosung Street. Their buns cost $0.1 each. Later Freshment was also engaged in restaurant business. Breads were baked every morning and evening respectively. Whenever Chan went delivering goods at night, the breads were ready for sale at the same time. Therefore Leung Kin Kee left a deep impression on him.


Title Teahouse, wine house and bakery in Yau Ma Tei Eight Streets
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 9m10s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-021
Hotel, inn and boarding house of Yau Ma Tei. Ballrooms in Yau Ma Tei were divided into day busine...
Accommodation in Yau Ma Tei was divided into many classes. The highest one would be hotel, followed by inn and boarding house respectively. 5-storey Sun Sun Hotel was located at the opposite of Astor Theatre. It had a similar status to Nathan Hotel and Kowah Hotel. All of them were high class accommodation in Yau Ma Tei. Sun Sun Department Store was located at the ground floor of Sun Sun Hotel. Sun Sun and Shamrock Hotel was under the same management. Sun Sun Hotel had a magnificent environment. Its housekeepers were Ma Tse (maid from Shunde, Guangdong) who wore a braid, a white blouse and black trousers. Rooms were partitioned by wooden plates and glass. The upper part of the partition was made of frosted glass while the lower part of wooden plate. Occupants would hear sound from their adjacent rooms. Many wealthy people booked rooms on a long-term basis. They paid rents monthly. Some Cantonese opera performers also booked a room durably to play mahjong. Chan Kwong Yiu often made delivery to Sun Sun Hotel. He was familiar with the Ma Tses and Cantonese opera performers. Suite rooms were not available in Sun Sun Hotel. Occupants had to share a common toilet. It was very clean. Chan used to take a shower there after he had finished his work at night.

Low-priced guesthouses in Yau Ma Tei included Golden Terrace Inn, Peace Inn, Palace Inn, Central Inn and Lung Wah Inn. Sex services were provided in some of these places. Lung Wah Inn was located at the junction of Nathan Road and Woosung Street. It was relatively clean and tidy. Boarding apartment was even smaller than guesthouse in terms of business scale. Golden Terrace Inn and Peace Inn occupied a single building whereas boarding apartment only occupied a floor on a tenement house. Rooms inside were evenly partitioned cubicle units. Boarding apartments were found at various streets of Yau Ma Tei. They gathered in the section of Woosung Street, Shanghai Street and Battery Street closed to Jordan Road. Boarding apartment was usually operated by one single staff. On the contrary, hotel had a sophisticated division of labours. Guests had to check-in before going to their rooms. Female workers in boarding house had a lower status than their counterparts in hotels.

Female workers in guesthouses of all classess came from ballrooms which were divided in two types, namely, those operating at daytime and those at nighttime. Tea dance was offered by the former one. The dancing girls there looked more innocent. Their counterparts at night usually served with sex. In the past, tea dance was a high-class entertainment attracting many white-collar workers. At that time there was an idiom – ‘Lights on, ghost pulling your legs’. Those who frequenting ballrooms were ridiculed as ‘dutiful sons at volcano’. Chan’s younger uncle (husband of Chan’s younger aunt) was an accountant of the grocery store where Chan worked at. He was fond of tea dancing. Every day at 3:45pm he sneaked into a ballroom. As it was more decent to wear a suit for tea dance, buying a suit became his dream. He was also a part-time accountant at New Zealand Bakery Co. (located at the junction of Prince Edward Road and Nathan Road). One day, all the staffs clubbed together to bet on a lottery. When Chan’s uncle heard that they have won, before knowing the prize, he at once ordered a tailor-made suit.




Title Hotel, inn and boarding house of Yau Ma Tei. Ballrooms in Yau Ma Tei were divided into day business and night business.
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 15m32s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-022
Stone piers and dwelling boats of Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter. Entertainment on the Typhoon Shelte...
In the past, Shantung Street and Pitt Street ended at the seashore. Along the coast stretching from Public Square Street to Mong Kok, many vessels parked at fixed places in the typhoon shelter. There were many stone piers along the typhoon shelter. Stairs were built for boarding. Boarding spots were available at Public Square Street, Pitt Street and Shantung Street. There were small tug boats transporting boat dwellers to the shore. Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop was opposite to the stone pier at Pitt Street, which benefited the shop in touting customers. Vessels at the typhoon shelter were either dwelling boats or fishing boats. Boat dwellers preferred to live aboard rather than ashore. The wealthy may spend nearly $100,000 to decorate their boat. Chicken cages were seen in some dwelling boats. Chicken reared aboard were known as ‘Tanka Chicken’. Chan Kwong Yiu seldom delivered aboard in the past. The typhoon shelter was a self-sufficient community where rice shops and grocery stores were run aboard. Getting water was a challenge for the boatmen. There were boats selling water in the shelter. Sellers took water from ashore and then sold it in barrels.

The typhoon shelter was prosperous in the 1950s and early 1960s. Chan described that the bustle and hustle was beyond imagination. Nightlife resumed after each sunset. The stone pier at Public Square Street was the busiest one. Tanka girls escorted customers aboard. The most crowded area of the typhoon shelter was the sea outside Public Square Street where vessels parked along the shore properly. A walkway nicknamed Shanghai Street was formed on sea surface between two rows of boats. People could walk on boats just as if walking on land. Boatmen did not mind their boats being trampled by pedestrians. Hotels were available on the vessels.

With just a few dollars, customers could enjoy one-night’s experience aboard. Songs, cooked seafood, mini-cinemas, and live sex performances were all provided aboard. Porn industry was rampant in the typhoon shelter because sex deals aboard were less susceptible to police raids. Tanka generally discriminated against female. They ridiculed poverty rather than prostitution. They believed that sex was merely a way of making money. Even parents did not mind their daughters getting involved in prostitution. Tanka girls, due to their low status, had to do hard work. They finished it equally well with men. After Man Wah Sun Chuen was built in the 1960s, the typhoon shelter started to decline. In the early 1970s, it shrank gradually when the reclamation began. Public housing estates were also constructed one by one. Boat dwellers moved ashore one after another.


Title Stone piers and dwelling boats of Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter. Entertainment on the Typhoon Shelter. Reclamation and the decline of Typhoon Shelter.
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 16m58s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-023
Yau Ma Tei’s Life in retrospect
Since the very first day he moved from his hometown to Hong Kong, Chan Kwong Yiu had already settled in Yau Ma Tei. For several decades, he had made his life in the same place. Except the several years in which he ran a grocery store in Kwun Tong, he never did business in other districts. He was deeply attached to Yau Ma Tei. He regarded himself as a ‘Yaumateinese’. In the past Man San Lung operated day and night. It was the most prosperous spot in the district. Nightlife was not active in Canton Road, where Tai On Coffee & Tea Shop was located at. At the beginning Chan lived in a tenement house in Yau Ma Tei. Although he believed that Yau Ma Tei was a suitable place for money-making, he did not deem it a nice place to live. It was too noisy because the vehicles produced roadside noises on Nathan Road around the clock. To him, New Territories had fresh air and lower population density, and it was less stressful to live there. Chan was fond of moving his house. After his marriage, he had moved his residence about 10 times, and once in about every 2 to 3 years. He had lived in Mei Fu, Fairview Park, Cafeteria Beach and Kingswood Villa at Tin Shui Wai.


Title Yau Ma Tei’s Life in retrospect
Date 21/04/2011
Subject Community
Duration 5m32s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-CKY-SEG-024