Sheh Shue Wing

In the morning session, Wan Sing Restaurant attracted customers who went to work in other districts by factory coachs. Only intended to fill their stomach, they would have rice or bun. In those days, those who had dim sum were high-end customers. Large bun was a common dim sum offered by most Chinese restaurant. Sold for 40 cents each, a large bun had sumptuous fillings which included chicken meat, half a salted duck egg or boiled egg, Chinese sausage (available in winter), dried mushrooms, dried shrimps and roasted pig bellies. 

Sheh Shue Wing said in the past, people did not pursue for entertainment. The married women who stayed at home to take care of their children made use of their spare time to do tasks outsourced by the factories. Besides taking care of their 4 children, his wife earned additional income by sewing doll clothes at home. Sheh Shue Wing lived in Ma Tau Wai Estate, his wife took outsource tasks from the factories through a neighbour’s referral. There were outsourcing vehicles around To Kwa Wan. The factory vehicles would park at some fixed locations, such as the entrance to the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Union, the entrance to Farm Road or Ma Tau Wai Estate. The factory staff would record the quantity of goods distributed in a notebook before distributing tasks to the nearby residents.  

Sheh Shue Wing has lived in To Kwa Wan for more than 50 years since 1957. He believed that the living environment has continued to improve. He deplored that human rights were not respected in the past. When he lived with his wife and 3 children in a cubicle apartment in Sheung Heung Road, they only refurbished the partitions with sulphite paper or even newspapers. They had no privacy because the partitions did not reach the ceiling. The room they lived was so small that a bed occupied most of the space. In winter, the couple slept on the floor and let their children sleep on the bed. To stretch out, they had to put their feet under the bed. Sheh Shue Wing said that the sub-divided rooms nowadays were not too bad in terms of living conditions. In those days, anyone who lived in a sub-divided flatswould be regarded as ‘make a fortune’. They felt as if they had won the Mark Six when they moved into Ma Tau Wai Estate. The children were so excited that they jumped around the flat. 

Sheh Shue Wing believed that in the 1970s public order was very bad in Ma Tau Wai Estate. There were frequent occurrence of theft, street robberies and robbing of gold necklaces/bracelets. The tenants who had lived there for a relatively longer period of time formed a security team. Each flat sent one person to work 1 to 2 night shifts and patrol the building each month. Sheh Shue Wing had been a team member. The security team still existed when he moved out (Editor’s Note: 1979). He is still keeping the cane he had used for the patrol. When the property management companies emerged, the government hired security staff to patrol the building and check whether there was any subleasing of flats. He thought the civil servants had a light workload under the British rule. One of the security guards was well-acquainted with Sheh Shue Wing and had mahjong games with Sheh Shue Wing every day after registering attendance with the time recorder. 

In the past, there was a horse racing bookmark operation center in To Kwa Wan. It was in the opposite of today’s S.K.H. Good Shepherd Primary School, the operator was a cafe proprietor. The center had 10 horse racing bookmaking stalls under its management. Every month, it paid illegal money on behalf of the stalls to the supervisors and collected from each stall its share. A tse fa operation center was also operated in To Kwa Wan, with tse fa stalls distributed at staircase entrances of buildings in side streets such as Sheung Heung Road and Ha Heung Road. A tse fa stall was set on a wooden box. When a police vehicle drove past, the stall operator would be alerted and immediately paid the customers. Sheh Shue Wing thought it was very ‘ironic’. 

In the past, many street prostitutes were seen in the area opposite to the Sung Wong Toi Park. They solicited business from male passersby who walked alone. The spot was chosen for its remoteness, so they would not be arrested for street prostituting. The soccer pitch next to Ma Tau Wai Estate used to be two knolls where vice establishments were operated. They were screened off with a curtain to form a concealed corner. A stool was placed inside for the lechers to have ‘sexual activities’. When it was discovered by policemen who walked past, they would ask the lechers to clean their fingers with saliva.  

Wan Sing Restaurant had only held National Day feast gathering once. One year, a trade union was unable to book any venues for National Day feast gathering, someone suggested that Wan Sing Restaurant should be chartered for the purpose. Sheh Shue Wing set the conditions for the charter. They included no display of flags at the restaurant’s entrance so as to avoid annoying any dissidents because this might affect business. The trade union agreed eventually.