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Law Pui
Law Pui
Former maintenance department head, Hing Wah Battery Factory
Sex: Male Birthyear: 1930 Age at Interview: 83 Education: Primary School Occupation: Factory Technician Theme: Industry, Community In 1947, Law Pui came to Hong Kong and became a handyman in Mong Kok’s Hing Wah Battery Factory, responsible for making the black battery cores. During his free time, Law Pui would learn skills from the machine maintenance department. Though he was not an apprentice, he followed the master's instructions in different processes. Sometimes, he would explore the processes himself. In 1953, Hing Wah moved to To Kwa Wan and Law became a maintenance technician with a salary of about 300 dollars per month. The salary gradually improved and by he left in 1973, he was earning about 700 dollars a month.
Title Learning machine maintenance secretly for a better career prospect Date 16/05/2013 Subject Industry Duration 1m32s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Permission for use is given by Law Pui Accession No. TKW-LP-HLT-001 Law Pui said even though he was not well educated – with only a few months’ study in Mainland China and never took any subject of mechanics. After Law Pui arrived in Hong Kong, he studied for a few months in an evening school. When the Communist Party rose to power, he no longer continued with his study. However, he was able to find ways himself to improve the making of battery cores on his own. At that time, workers usually pressed and flatten the top of the cores, but that would cause a loss of electricity. Law Pui pressed the core into dome shapes, and solved the problem. That earned him the boss’s compliments.
Title Found ways to improve production despite he was not well-educated Date 16/05/2013 Subject Industry Duration 2m9s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Permission for use is given by Law Pui Accession No. TKW-LP-HLT-002 Law Pui said that when Hing Wah was in To Kwa Wan, he went to work at 7am daily. He walked about half an hour every day from Reclamation Street, Mong Kok to the factory plant on To Kwa Wan Road. He later bought a bicycle, which allowed him to go back to the factory within 15 minutes. At that time, To Kwa Wah had lots of factory buildings: Wyler Spinners, Nanyang Cotton Mill, Chiap Hua Iron & Steel Works near Hing Wah. Farther away were the KMB car park and gas drums, etc. Near Ma Tau Kok Road and Tin Kwong Road was the Lingnan Metals Factory. These plants were places that Law would pass by every day on his way to work.
Title Went to work on foot and witnessed lots of factories in To Kwa Wan Date 16/05/2013 Subject Community Duration 2m2s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Permission for use is given by Law Pui Accession No. TKW-LP-HLT-003 Since Law Pui was a permanent staff of Hing Wah, he could eat in the canteen. When the plant first opened in Mong Kok, it did not have a formal canteen. The factory set up a temporary canteen in the courtyard for workers to have lunch. It did not get a formal canteen until it moved to To Kwa Wan. During lunchtime, the canteen could be filled with more than 100 people. Each table could sit about 10 people. The machine department along occupied five tables, that and speaks to how many employees that department had. The main dishes in those days were relatively simple ones like stir-fried vegetables and steamed fish. The most common dish was beef with fried beans, also known by the workers as "devilish cow king". During the one-hour lunchtime, workers sometimes played football on the streets in front of the factory gate where there were no cars.
Title Lunchtime of permanent staffs of Hing Wah Battery Factory Date 16/05/2013 Subject Community Duration 3m Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Permission for use is given by Law Pui Accession No. TKW-LP-HLT-004 Hing Wah workers and maintenance technicians sometimes had to work overtime or even overnight. When Law Pui first started at Mong Kok Road plant, he had once gone back at 4am and work until 10pm. Sometimes, if the factory doors were not yet open, the workers would play football outside. In general, if the machine maintenance technicians found that a machine requires repair, they need to prepare the parts and assign all works before 7pm, and then go to complete the repair. They must finish no later than 5am. The work days started at 7am, so they had to return the fixed machines back to the plant before that time. When the technicians did not need to work overtime, they would leave at 7pm.
Title Maintenance technicians sometimes had to work overtime or even overnight Date 16/05/2013 Subject Industry Duration 1m36s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Permission for use is given by Law Pui Accession No. TKW-LP-HLT-005 Back when Hing Wah was located on Mong Kok Road, it had formed its own football team. Law Pui pointed out that it was not a formal football team, but in the leisure time it would play football on Macpherson Playground or small football grounds on Canton Road. They even had their own jerseys. After the factory moved to To Kwa Wan, the male workers played football less frequently because of busier work. Since there were not many football grounds in To Kwa Wan, they still played in Macpherson Stadium, Mong Kok. Law Pui noted that Hing Wah’s football team sometimes played with other factory workers on Kwei Chow Street and even had disputes with Chiap Hua Iron & Steel Works’ male workers over the use of football grounds. However, that was simply verbal conflict instead of real fight.
Title Hing Wah Battery Factory’s football team Date 16/05/2013 Subject Industry Duration 3m9s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Permission for use is given by Law Pui Accession No. TKW-LP-HLT-006