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Chi Woo Wha
Chi Woo Wha
Mill Manager, Central Fabrics
Sex: Male Birthyear: 1935 Age at Interview: 74 Education: Unknown Occupation: Mill Manager Theme: Industry South Sea Textile Manufacturing Company offered differnet kinds of training to staff, such as textile technology and English. The company also provided tutorial classes for female workers to learn sewing and knitting. There were school, canteen, playground and library in the factory. At that time, South Sea was situated at the area which is now the Belvedere Garden (i.e. 9½ Milestone on Castle Peak Road in Tsuen Wan).
Title Facilities of South Sea Textile Factory Date 06/10/2010 Subject Industry Duration 58s 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. AY-CWW-HLT-001 South Sea Textile Manufacturing Company insisted that all of its workers lived in the dormitory inside the factory premise. The factory also had its own clinic manned with nurses on three shifts a day to look after the workers. There were around 1000 workers. Initially workers worked for 12 hours per shift. It was changed to 8 hours and 3 shifts in a day later on. Apprenitces, ordinary workers, masters and supervisors were in different pay bands.
Title Workers' lives and salary in South Sea Textile Factory Date 06/10/2010 Subject Industry Duration 2m3s 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. AY-CWW-HLT-002 Weaving factories were divided into two categories: those set up and run by the Shanghainese and those established and managed by the Cantonese. Cantonese weaving factories tended to be smaller, often using wooden-framed looms which were operated manually. Shanghainese weaving factories generally operated on a larger scale and mainly produced white- grey fabric.
Title Differences between Shanghainese and Cantonese weaving factories Date 06/10/2010 Subject Industry Duration 1m38s 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. AY-CWW-HLT-003 Cantonese masters and Shanghainese masters received different kinds of training. Shanghainese masters tended to be younger and had received training in school where they learned knowledge of textiles and calculation. Most of the Cantonese masters did not receive the training at school; they learned from their training masters on factory floor instead.
Title Differences between Shanghainese and Cantonese masters Date 06/10/2010 Subject Industry Duration 49s 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. AY-CWW-HLT-004 When a new type of yarn is invented by the research department, the spinning factory would send it to the weaving factory to weave it into a new type of fabric, such as elastic fabrics made by rubber yarn. The weaving factory had once produced the specific type of fabric for making police uniforms. The fabric was sent to Japan for dyeing and then returned to the Prisons Department (now the Correctional Services Department) for sewing into the uniforms.
Title Co-ordination between Central Textiles’ spinning and weaving factories on R & D Date 06/10/2010 Subject Industry Duration 1m18s 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. AY-CWW-HLT-005 In the past, there were around 40-odd textile factories in Hong Kong.Only two remain in 2009, i.e., Tai Hing Cotton Mill and Central Textiles’ spinning factory. Nowadays, it is very difficult to run a weaving factory and many Hong Kong operations have relocated to cheaper places such as Africa, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Textile companies who fail to stand out in the competitive market were either closed down or shifted to other businesses.
Title Why only two spinning factories remain in Hong Kong Date 06/10/2010 Subject Industry Duration 1m1s 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. AY-CWW-HLT-006 When he joined the industry in 1952, Chi Woo Wha observed that there was a rapid rise of textile operations. The 1970s to 1980s were booming times for denim. Small factoreis were very prosperous. In the 1980s and 1990s, the weaving factories with better capability continued to operate and upgrade their equipment, while the less competitive ones were eliminated. In the 2000s, it was a difficult times. The weaving factories failed to catch up with the changing situations had to be closed down.
Title Looking back to the rise and fall of Hong Kong’s weaving factories Date 06/10/2010 Subject Industry Duration 1m31s 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. AY-CWW-HLT-007