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Hui Chor Tin
Hui Chor Tin
Former mill engineer
Sex: Male Birthyear: 1949 Age at Interview: 61 Education: Upper Secondary Place of Origin: Nanhai, Guangdong Occupation: Civil Servant Theme: Education, Industry Personal and family background. Hui Chor Tin was born on 16 December, 1949, on the second floor at 52 Nga Tsin Long Road, Kowloon City. A midwife helped to take care of his birth. He was a native of Daling, Nanhai county in Guangdong province. Before the war, his parents were already living in Hong Kong, but travelled often between their native town and the city. Hui has four elder brothers and two younger sisters. He was born in Hong Kong along with an elder brother and a younger sister. They lived with their parents in Kowloon City, while the other brothers and sisters were born and grew up in their native town.His parents' jobs. In a certain period before and after World War II, Hui's parents worked in Shatin Hat Factory, produced mainly felt hats. The factory was located at what is at present the junction of Prince's Road West, Nga Tsin Long Road and Lung Kong Road. The owner of the factory, surnamed Hui, was also from their native town. There was no fine division of labour at the factory. His father had to take care of production, the maintenance of machines, selling hats on the street, as well as cooking. His mother mainly took care of production. She lost one of her little fingers due to a work related injury, and left the job afterward. Since there were inadequate labor legislations, his mother did not receive any compensation for the injury. Felt hats were popular in mainland China before the war, but fell out of fashion after the war. When Hui Chor Tin was about five to six years old, the factory was closed down. His parents became hawkers and they were selling on the streets in Kowloon City.
Title Family background Date 28/05/2010 Subject Social Life Duration 3m55s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-001 Impression on Lung Tsun Free School and Kowloon Walled City. Hui Chor Tin started studying at the age of four to five. There were no kindergartens at that time. Hui studied primary one at three different schools. First he studied for a year at Lung Tsun Free School. He could not remember the school very well, but could recall the school was near Sheng Xian Pavilion in Kowloon Walled City. The school was in a dodgy neighborhood. Streets were narrow inside the Walled City, and outside of Sheng Xian Pavilion there were corpses of junkies awaiting to be collected to the morgue.Impression on the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. After Lung Tsun Free School, Hui studied a year at a primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, which left a deeper impression on him. The school occupied the third floor and roof top of a tenement building. When the weather was good, students had to bring chairs and desks to the roof top to attend classes. There was no fixed curriculum for primary one. Students studied classical writings, poetry, Chinese history, abacus as well as calligraphy. Teachers were quite old usually, and were mostly men.Reason to apply to the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. Not all children had the opportunity to study during that time since there were not enough schools. Parents had to go to work and they needed a place to put their children under supervision while they were at work. The primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union was a non-profit entity. It charged a modest tuition which attracted parents to place their children there. The tenement building where Hui and his family lived housed about 10 families, with altogether over 50 people. Among them there were eleven or twelve children, and about three of them were of the same age as Hui. Their parents would share the news when schools started enrollment. Hui's parents learned of the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union from their neighbors.Enrolling in Lok Sin Tong Primary School. Lok Sin Tong Primary School was a famous school in Kowloon City. It was located two streets away from where Hui Chor Tin's family lived. It was not easy to get into the school. His mother had to apply three times before Hui was accepted, thus he was slightly older than his classmates. (Editor's Note: Lok Sin Tong Primary School was located at 63 Lung Kong Road, Kowloon City)Number of students and teaching style of the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. Hui Chor Tin was not sure if the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union covered all primary grades. But he could remember that there were 60 to 70 students. Students from different grades would share a classroom and study the same subject, but the content would be different. For example for a Chinese language class, some would be studying the poem Everlasting Regret while others would be studying the Mulan Ballad. Or if they were in a mathematics class, Hui and students of the same grade would be learning addition, while those of higher grade would be learning multiplication. One teacher had to take care of students of two to three grades at a time.Primary one students were responsible for watching the entrance of staircases at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. The main door of the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union was always open. Without a door guard, outsiders could enter the school at any time. During lessons, the teachers would send primary one students, two by two, to take turns to guard the door. In case they encountered any strangers, they would ran upstairs to inform the teachers.Primary one curriculum at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. When Hui was attending Lung Tsun Free School, he did not learn to write. But he picked up a few Chinese characters and also recited the multiplication table so he was able to catch up at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. Hui did not feel any pressure from tests at both schools. For him, going to school was rather fun. At the latter school there was no fixed curriculum, and what he needed to learn in primary one was not difficult. Students had to learn calligraphy. Hui learned to write the Thousand Character Classic, ''Shang Da Ren Kong Yi Ji'' characters (Editor's note: The first six characters in Chinese copybook) and other traditional texts. He also studied poetry, and learned to chant the Everlasting Regret, Pipa Tune and Mulan Ballad, etc. There were no text books. Teachers would write the text on a blackboard. There was no explanation of the text, and students were only required to recite. They could not even recognize the characters. Primary one students had to learn to use the abacus to calculate, but they did not need to recite any number mnemonics. Hui recalled how his teacher taught abacus. Poor students who could not afford their own abacus could borrow from the school, or share one with another student. When Hui went to study at Lok Sin Tong Primary School, every student was required to own an abacus so he bought his own.Open-pen ceremony held at home to signify the beginning of learning and writing. Hui's father adhered to his village's tradition and arranged an open-pen ceremony at home when his children started to go to school. They would prepare new brushes and ink cartridges, and invite a literate elder to preside over the ceremony. His children would pray to gods and then learned from theelder how to write their names, which signified their beginning to study and write.Curriculum and textbooks of the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. The three schools Hui attended all taught Chinese history but not world history, geography or other science subjects. At the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, English was taught by a young male teacher. He started from the alphabets, and used a Malaysian text book which was quite popular during those days, to teach simple English sentences. For the English class, there was a textbook and a copy book. But classes of Chinese, mathematics and abacus had no text book. There were not that much home work, with occasional practices of writing copybook and to do calligraphy. The school had no arts nor music subjects. But students learned how to draw. They were given a piece of white paper to learn how to draw real scenery with pencils. Impression of the Principal and teachers at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. Hui remembered vaguely that the Principal of the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, who was dressed in Chinese cheongsam, was the oldest man in the school with white hair and beard. He taught Chinese, poetry and history. The teacher who taught abacus also taught calligraphy and physical education. Physical education was taught on the roof top. Hui remembered well his physical education teacher. The teacher taught them gymnastics and asked his students to practice on their own. Hui liked going to school. One time he had a fever but still insisted to go to school, and was in a daze in class.Commencement and graduation ceremony at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. Teachers only wore their robes at special events, e.g. school commencement or graduation ceremony. At the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, major events were school commencement and graduation. The Principal gave speeches and parents would attend the ceremonies.Class Schedule and lunch arrangement at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. The primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union was a full-day school. Lunch lasted one and a half hours. Students were allowed to bring their lunch to school. But most students lived nearby so they would go home for lunch instead.Students' background and the uniform of the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. At the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, most of the students came from lower income families, with their parents mostly doing manual work. During that time, people who were living within the Walled City were of much poorer condition than people living outside. Family living in hillside squatters around Junction Road were poorest At the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, there was no school uniforms, and there were no rules on how the students should dress. Students would wear shirts and short pants for the summer, and long pants for the winter. Hui's mother bought shirts and pants for him to go to school. One could tell a student's family conditions from the way he dressed, but the school treated all the students equally. Some poor children would wear their undershirts and pants to school but teachers would not discourage them from doing so. Students were from similar background so they would not laugh at others who wore worn-out clothes to school.Joyful time at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. Hui had a good time at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, and he liked going to school. At first his elder brother brought him to school, and later he went to school on his own. Before class or during recess, Hui played with his classmates at the open and spacious roof top. School started at eight in the morning. Hui went to school 30 minutes earlier so he could play before class. Classes ended at four to five in the afternoon. Hui's parents set the time he had to be back at home, so he did not stay behind to play with his classmates after school.Admission requirement at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. At the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, enrollment priority was given to children of labour unions' members in principle, with what's left giving to other children. Hui went to school with another kid living in the same building. This kid's parents were members of labour union so they sent their child to that school.Comparison of tuition of the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union and Lok Sin Tong Primary School. Hui paid school tuition to his teacher at the end of the month. He did not remember exactly how much the tuition was. It was approximately HK$10 per month. At Lok Sin Tong Primary School, tuition was only HK$5 per month. Because of the cheaper tuition, parents would prefer to send their children to Lok Sin Tong Primary School.
Title School Memories: Lung Tsun Free School and the primary ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union Date 28/05/2010 Subject Education Duration 27m11s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-002 School Memories: location, school motto, school uniform, students, teachers, class structure and ...Way to enroll in Lok Sin Tong Primary School and age of primary one students.There was an entrance examination at Lok Sin Tong Primary School. After spending one year at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, it took Hui three times to pass the examination before he was accepted to Lok Sin Tong Primary School. He was admitted in September 1957, at the age of seven. He graduated there in 1963.Location and environment of Lok Sin Tong Primary School.Hui had a vivid memory of Lok Sin Tong Primary School. The school had its own building which spanned over several street blocks. The school was much bigger than the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. The only thing that made Hui unhappy at Lok Sin Tong Primary School was the heavier workload. The school is at present still at its original location with one floor added on top the original school building. There is a school hall built on the school playground, thus less space for student activities.
School motto of Lok Sin Tong Primary School.When school term started the school supervisor or chairman of the school board would deliver a speech on school motto. It mentioned how Lok Sin Tong, whose principle was to help those in need, started from charitable committement to running school. As for school management, Hui still remembered the inscription on the school plaque: ''Grow a tree for ten years, Grow a man for a hundred'', ''To grow a tree and a person, That would be the immortal goal''. That was the school motto. The school has no school anthem, but the emblem of the school has remained the same even today, with a small change in color.
Class structure of Lok Sin Tong Primary School.Lok Sin Tong Primary School is a full-scale school with large classrooms. At Hui's time, different grades took different classes. For each grade there were four classes. From primary one to six there were 24 classes. Each class had a maximum 45 students and a minimum 40. At that time there was not enough schools for every child so all the classes were full. It was a half-day school. There were different teachers and students for the morning and afternoon classes.
Difference of disciplinary methods between Lok Sin Tong Primary School and the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union.Hui believed lessons in Lok Sin Tong Primary School were better orangized and in better order than the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union. At Lok Sin Tong there was an assembly at the beginning of each school day and students would gather at the school playground to listen to the Principal's speech. Corporal punishment was in practice. Any student in violation of school regulations would need to stand in front of all the students during the morning assembly. After the Principal's speech, the student would receive one or two cane-lashes before he was allowed back to the classroom. The Principal, discipline master or teachers could all impose corporal punishment to the students. Canning was usually applied to the palms. Most common offense included being late to school (which comprised the majority of offenses), running or chasing within the school compound, etc. Hui violated school regulations quite oftenly, and had taken punishments from the Principal and the discipline master. At that time corporal punishment was a common practice. At the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union, the rules were not imposed as strictly and students who were late to school were not punished. Since there were not that many students, there were not that many late-comers.
Number of lessons and subjects at Lok Sin Tong Primary School.At Lok Sin Tong Primary School, there were eight classes a day. Between the morning and afternoon classes (four classes each) there was a recess. Hui studied at the morning session. Main subjects were Chinese, English and mathematics. Chinese history was a major subject. There were also science, calligraphy, physical education, arts and music, etc. But there were no such subjects as health study and geography. Apart from arts, all subjects had their own textbooks. Mainly modern written Chinese was taught in Chinese lessons, but it also covered classical text and poetry. Hui remembers he studied the lyric Man Jiang Hong. For mathematics, which took up 3 to 4 classes per week, abacus was taught and each student needed to bring his own abacus.
Classes' requirements at Lok Sin Tong Primary School. At Lok Sin Tong there were quite a lot of homework, including calligraphy which the students need to practice at home. There were frequent tests for the subjects of Chinese, English and mathematics, but there were no tests for other subjects. The school specified what stationary to be used. Brushes were used for calligraphy and fountain pens were used for other subjects. Until primary three to four, students would use ball pens. Hui's first fountain pen was modified from a feather pen. It cost only a few cents so it was not expensive. Hui described how he used a fountain pen to write.
Impression on the teachers and Principal of Lok Sin Tong Primary School.The majority of the teachers at the primary school ran by the Hong Kong Bar-Bending Workers Union were old men. At Lok Sin Tong Primary School, teachers were also mostly male, and one third of the teachers were female. Teachers were young, with the Principal being the oldest. Hui said the Principal was very pleasant to everybody. He was gentle even when he had to apply corporal punishment to students. When lecturing students he talked in a gentle voice, and he was never brusque. Each morning the Principal delivered a speech to the students, mostly to remind the students what they needed to pay attention to each day and to announce special items. He also talked about moral character, such as students needed to follow regulations, respect their parents and teachers, and to do their homework properly, etc.
School uniform and students' background of Lok Sin Tong Primary School.Lok Sin Tong Primary School was a mixed school. The ratio of male to female students was about six to four. In general, students enrolled in the school at a later age. A lot of students attended primary one when they were older than ten. In Hui's primary one class, there were not that many students older than ten. There were about two to three students older than ten in each class, with the majority of them at the age of five to eight. Hui remembered most of the students came from lower class families, with a few from better-off families lived in Kowloon Tong. Students did not care each other's background and played together. The school required students to wear uniforms, with the school emblem stitched on them. The school uniform comprised of a white shirt and white or blue pants. The school did not require female students to wear skirts. They could choose to wear skirts or pants. The skirt was a dress skirt with the hem at kneel high. For sports, students would still wear their white shirts but had their pants/shirts changed to sports pants. Male and female students dressed the same. For winter, the coat had to be dark colors of black or blue with the school emblem stitched on. There was no requirement on the style of the coat. There was also no requirement on shoes. Students could wear either leather or sport shoes, but not slippers. Students usually wore white canvas shoes. Like some of his classmates who lived close to the school, Hui was punished because he was late getting out of bed and wore his slippers to school.
Title School Memories: location, school motto, school uniform, students, teachers, class structure and subjects at Lok Sin Tong Primary School Date 28/05/2010 Subject Education Duration 21m36s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-003 Attending Primary Five at Lok Sin Tong Primary School and becoming a school prefect. Primary five was the turning point of Hui Chor Tin's primary school life. As a means to guide students who were constantly violating school regulations back on the right track, teachers of Lok Sin Tong Primary School delegated important duties to them. Hoping he would improve his behavior so as to set an example to his fellow classmates, Hui's form teacher promoted him to school prefect. This proved successful as his conduct improved and earned praises from his teachers.Preparing for Secondary School Entrance Examination and attending night school. When Hui was in primary five, stress of homework increased. Joint Primary Six Examination had just been renamed to Secondary School Entrance Examination. To better prepare the students for the Secondary School Entrance Examination, Lok Sin Tong Primary School emphasized on improving students' performances in Chinese, English and mathematics. Private tutoring was not popular in those days, but night school was. Having good English ability was important during that time, so Hui's parents sent him to a night school to improve his English. Hui studied two to three months at the night school of Lok Sin Tong Primary School (or called evening English schools in those days). However, because of higher tuition fees compared to his day school which the family could not afford, and that his grades were already up to the required level and he had to help with housework, he stopped attending night school. There were less rules and regulations at the night school than the day school, and there were quite a number of 17 to 18 year-olds studying at the night school. Hui acquired much knowledge from them. (Editor's Note: In 1962, Secondary School Entrance Examination replaced Joint Primary Six Examination.)
Training method of Lok Sin Tong Primary School in preparation for Secondary School Entrance Examination.At Lok Sin Tong Primary School, day school students received ample training to improve their grades in Chinese, English and mathematics, so students attained good results in the Secondary School Entrance Examination. Primary five students were required to sit for tests every two to three weeks. They were also drilled by exercise frequently. Training for primary six students was even more frequent. More classes would be devoted to Chinese, English and mathematics. Classes would be cut for other less important subjects like music, arts, abacus and physical education. Sometimes classes would be swapped for the three major subjects.
Number of classes of each grade at Lok Sin Tong Primary School, and reasons of losing students at higher grades.Hui vaguely remembered class structure of primary school being shaped like a pyramid. There could be four classes each for primary one to three, and for primary five to six there would be two classes each. He was quite certain that there were two classes for primary six. Hui believed two reasons contributed to the phenomenon of fewer students at higher grades. At that time, living conditions were tough, so it was not uncommon for teenagers at the age of 14 and 15 to go to work. Children aged 13 and 14 would study primary one, and they would be 17 to 18 when they were at primary five. And if they could only get mediocre grades, they would probabaly give up schooling and go to work. The other reason was that primary schools at that time only allowed a student to repeat the same grade twice. If one failed the third time, he should quit the school. At that time, better-off families encouraged their children to continue their education. Apart from his parents' expectation, Hui also hoped to continue his education to secondary level.
Conditions of Repeaters and principal of repeating at Lok Sin Tong Primary School. At that time, repeating a grade was quite common. For each class there would be three to four repeaters every year. A student who failed three subjects would be required to repeat. Students with disciplinary problems were also prone to repeating. Hui believed Lok Sin Tong Primary School imposed a higher standard on students' conduct. Teachers would conduct home visits twice a year and they paid more attention on student's conduct rather than their academic results.
Hui's results at Secondary School Entrance Examination, and the famous secondary schools in Hong Kong attended by P.6 students of Lok Sin Tong Primary School. Hui remembered that his results at the Secondary School Entrance Examination were quite good. He attained first grade for Chinese and mathematics, and third grade for English. Students with first grade in three subjects could receive a $500 scholarship from an organization. At that time, those examination results would be posted on newspapers. Hui kept a newspaper which published names of students who received first grade in three subjects. At Lok Sin Tong Primary School, every year there would be students received first grade in three subjects, and they would be able to enroll in renowned schools such as Kings College, Queen's College, Belilios Public School and Wah Yan College (Hong Kong) on Hong Kong island, or Wah Yan College (Kowloon), La Salle College, Diocesan Boys' or Girls' Schools, and Queen Elizabeth School in Kowloon.
Proportion of work versus further study and options of work for primary school graduates' in the 1960s. Hui remembered his class teacher at primary six mentioned that only one fourth of primary school students in Hong Kong could continue to study in secondary school. The other four-thirds who could not be admitted in a government school would need to find a private school, or go to work. Hui believed half of the students from the mentioned four-thirds would go to work, and one-fourth would go to private secondary schools or take other paths, such as vocational training or work as an apprentice somewhere. Male and female primary graduates had differecnt choices of career. Girls had a wider choice such as finding jobs in garments (such as Hui's younger sister), plastic flowers factories, and also electronics factories in a later period. Boys usually became apprentices (such as Hui's elder brother).
Hui's elder brother and younger sister went to work without finishing primary school.Hui's brother and sister also studied at Lok Sin Tong Primary School. Hui's elder brother enrolled a few years earlier than Hui, and when he finished primary four, he was already 18 years old. Since he was older than other children at the same grade, and he did not think he could not catch up the study, and also because of family issues, he quitted school after primary four. He worked as an apprentice at the Aberdeen Shipyard. There were many shipyards in Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau. A lot of people were working as apprentices. Hui's younger sister quitted school at primary four or five since she was not interested in studying. She went on to work in a garment factory at the age of 14.
Title School Memories: turning point at Lok Sin Tong Primary School and pathways for further studies Date 04/06/2010 Subject Education Duration 14m18s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-004 School Memories: How Hui entered Diocesan Boys' School, assigning class, teaching languages, acti...The reason to choose Diocesan Boys' School. When Hui thought which secondary school to apply, he seeked his parents' advice. His father, considering that the son of his fellow townman who was a factory owner was studying at Diocesan Boys' School, and that La Salle College was close to theri home, asked Hui to pick Diocesan Boys' School as his first choice and La Salle College the second. Hui did not apply other schools. Eventually he was accepted at Diocesan Boys' School.Enrolling in Diocesan Boys' School. In August that year, Hui went to Diocesan Boys' School to register alone. Since his family condition was quite different from the elitist Diocesan Boys' School, the teacher who was responsible for registration persuaded Hui to apply Queen Elizabeth School instead. Queen Elizabeth School was just next to Diocesan Boys' School, and was considered more grassroot. Hui answered the teacher that he had to consult his father. Eventually, the teacher admitted him to Diocesan Boys' School. Hui said if he studied at Queen Elizabeth School, it woupld be a very different outcome for him for the years to come.
Assignment of Form One classes and Students' social background at Diocesan Boys' School, Hui's view on Secondary School. Hui believed there was a big difference between studying at Diocesan Boys' School and at Lok Sin Tong Primary School. At Diocesan Boys' School, students were assigned to different classes by their social background. There were four classes each form. Those who came from Diocesan Primary School would be assigned to class A or B, and those came from government allocation would be assigned to class C and D. Classes A and C were for arts subjects and classes B and D were for science subjects. Students in classes C and D were from different districts and usually came from grassroots. They had a common background and similiar interests so they would socialize with each other. Hui believed that Secondary School Entrance Examination gathered students of various background together. School seats was allocated according to academice reuslts, not social background.
Medium of Instruction at Diocesan Boys' School. Unlike Lok Sin Tong Primary School, Diocesan Boys' School was an English school. It's teaching language was English, except that Chinese language and history were taught in Chinese. Students were required to communicate in English outside classroom. Initially Hui found it difficult to cope with this. He often consulted a dictionary in order to finish his home work. Apart from Hui, there was only one student from Lok Sin Tong Primary School who was admitted to Diocesan Boys' School at the same year. Hui said he got to know other students at Diocesan Boys' School, but their firendship was not deep.
Inter-society competition and inter-class bazaar at Diocesan Boys' School. There were inter-society competitions and inter-class bazaars organized at Diocesan Boys' School. These activities were important in building students' team spirit. Inter-society competitions included athletic meet and swimming gala. The four societies would gather students from different classes to come up with a plan to excel in these competitions. This would help them to develop a sense of teamwork. The inter-class bazaar trained students' organizational skills to design and manage the booths. The bazaar was held in the school every October. Class teachers distrubuted fair tickets to the students for sale. Since students were from different social backgrounds, those from lower income class would find it difficult to sell their tickets, thus creating a huge difference in terms of ticket sales among students. Hui's neighbours rarely bought fair tickets from him. At that time Hui's brother changed his profession and became a barber. He helped Hui to sell the fair tickets to his clients, so Hui could feel better back at school. There were ten tickets in a set, and each ticket was worth $10. Hui was able to sell 20 sets. It was quite a good result. Students from rich families could sell over $10,000 worth of tickets.
Lunch subsidies and the lunch arrangement of Diocesan Boys' School's Students. Hui was also able to benefit from selling fair tickets. The majority of the proceeds from the sales were used for lunch subsidies for students in need. Hui was able to receive lunch subsidies for five years. It was only when he was in Form Six that he stopped receiving subsidies. At Diocesan Boys' School, tuition was $30/month. A lunch at the canteen would cost $2. Those who were subsidized did not have to pay for lunch. And when Hui was in Form Three, he had to pay fifty cents for each meal. The canteen provided ample food to the poorer students, which included soup and main course, and as much rice as they want. Hui estimated 80 to 90 per cent of students had lunch at the canteen, while the boarders would eat at their dormitory. Hui said that lunch was organized well at Diocesan Boys' as the Principal would eat with his students at the canteen. He and model students sat at the same table. Again he mentioned the arrangement of class assignment again.
Students of Diocesan Boys' School were assigned to different classes according to their grades. From Form Two onwards, students were assigned to different classes according to their examination results. Those with good grades were assigned to classes A or B, and those with lower grades would be assigned to classes C or D. Those who came from Diocesan Primary School were usually able to be assigned to classes A or B, but still some would be assigned to classes C or D.
Hui's impression on boarders at Diocesan Boys' School. Hui estimated that a quarter of Diocesan Boys' School's students were boarders. Obviously, they had a higher status than commuter students. They spent more time in the school and were more familiar with the school environment, and were quite familiar with teachers and school workers. In many respect they enjoyed certain privileges and they had more sources of news. They knew many trivial matters of the school. Boarders were assigned to different classes according to their examination results, but most of them were in classes A or B. Boarders were mostly foreigners, either they were Chinese with foreign passports or they came from other countries. Hui also mingled with some boarders and remembered two of them quite well. One was a Thai student he knew in Form Five. The Thai student's parents were living in Thailand, but wanted him to learn Chinese culture. The other was a Korean Chinese, who did not like to be a boarder. His parents were afraid he would forget his roots so they sent him to study in Hong Kong. When he was in Form Five, he moved out and stayed with two to three classmates at YMCA International House on Waterloo Road. He went back to Korea without taking the Certificate Examination. Both students' parents wanted their sons to learn Chinese culture so they sent them to study in Hong Kong.
Diocesan Boys' School's students study abroad. It was common for students at Diocesan Boys' School to further their studies abroad. From Form Two onwards, Hui would notice a lot of students getting prepared to leave Hong Kong at the end of the school term (after Easter).
Subjects at Diocesan Boys' School. Subjects in Diocesan Boys' School included Chinese language, mathematics, bible, geography, history, physics, chemistry, biology, arts, physical education and music. There were no civil education, ethics, hygiene, etc. Hui mentioned the syllabus of a few subjects. Chinese language included composition, but not calligraphy, dictation and classical texts. Mathematics included algebra and geometry. History was divided into Chinese history or world history. Students were only allowed to chose one. For biology, botany and zoology was not separated at first, it only took place in higher grades. Handicraft and arts were grouped in the same subject. There was also a grading system for students' conduct.
Ranking Methods of academic results in Diocesan Boys' School, and Hui's results. Students were ranked by their grades in the each subject, and the ranking was applied to the entire form. When Hui was in Form One, there were 41 students in his class, and altogether 160 students from the four classes. He was ranked beyond a hundred that year, and his parents were shocked when they saw his school report.
Title School Memories: How Hui entered Diocesan Boys' School, assigning class, teaching languages, activities, lunch, boarders Date 04/06/2010 Subject Education Duration 23m16s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-005 School Memories: Diocesan Boys' School's Principal, sports development, religoius education, mode...Impression on the Principal of Diocesan Boys' School. Hui remembered from Form One to Six the school Principal was the same person. He had a deep impression on the Principal, who was an British Indian named Lowcock. He was friendly to students and was never strict. Hui remembered the Principal wore Chinese cassock in the winter, and demanded the students wear their cassocks properly as well. The Principal was enthusiastic with sports. To promote athletic in school, he invited elite athletes from other schools, regardless of their academic results, to study at Diocesan Boys' School. Hui remembered that there were about 8 to 10 athletes accepted the invitation. For example, Chow Chen Lang was the record holder of 100M sprint in Hong Kong. His academic results were fair and he joined the school in Form Three or Four. Another one was William Hill. He joined the school one to two years earlier than Hui. He was also a record holder of 100M sprint in Hong Kong. And in 1964 he was one of the torch bearers for the Olympics when the torch relay was passing through Hong Kong. For a consecutive few years there were either teacher or student who were record holder of the 100M sprint in Hong Kong. The Principal was living in a house at the corner of the school complex (it was known us Little White House in the school). The Principal's residence was managed by a house keeper with workers. The Principal invited boarders or his favorite athlete students for dinner at the Little White House two to three times a week. Hui heard that they usually discuessed development of the school's athletic during these causal dinners. (Editor's Note: According to the school's website, the Principal's name was Mr S. J. Lowcock. He was the Principal from 1961 to 1983.)Chaplain who lived on campus at Diocesan Boys' School. Apart from the Principal, the other important figure in the school was the chaplain, who lived with his family just across the Little White House. Teachers usually lived off-campus.
Tradition of developing sports at Diocesan Boys School. The school took in elite athletes with the aim to achieve good results in the inter-school competition. Hui believed that it would enhance reputation of the school, or it might be a school tradition to demonstrate that it did not only emphasize academic achivements.
Mo huge pressure when studying at Diocesan Boys' School.Studying at Diocesan Boys', Hui had to spend a lot of time to cope with learning in English, but homework was not as heavy as in other schools, since the school did not just concentrate on academic achievements. In the same building as Hui lived, there were three other children the same age as him who were studying in Clementi Secondary School, Kowloon Technical School and New Method College. They all had more homework than Hui.
The Principal's attitude towards students at Diocesan Boys' School. The Principal at Diocesan Boys' was nice and gentle to the students and he never imposed corporal punishment on any student.
Bible education at Diocesan Boys' School. Hui says Diocesan Boys' put little emphasis on Chinese moral education and student's conduct. There were no family visits. Bible education was more important. Each morning the chaplain would give bible teachings, and one model student would read out a scriptural passage, followed by students' singing of hymns. The Principal would then speak on a few important points for the students to note and then classes would start.
Selecting model students at Diocesan Boys' School. At Diocesan Boys' School, model students were picked according to their grades and conduct. They were first nominated by the teachers, and then chosen by the Principal.
Model students chosen were quite acceptable to other students, but still there was a distance between them. Yet model students were not be isolated. They took the responsibility as prefects and patrolled the school to maintain order among the students. During lunch, each table was monitored by a model student. If a student violated school regulations and did not change his ways after a warning, model students had the power to punish the student regardless of which grade he was at. Model students would record the offender's name and the kind of punishment imposed in a special room. Normal punishment was to copy the school regulations. Students offended school regulations had to hand in the copies back to the special room. Hui said he had to copy as his punishment, but he could not remember the cause of the offense. Some repeated offenders even learned the skill of quick copying.
Common school rule violations of the students at Diocesan Boys' School. Most violations of the school rules were chasing and fighting. The common offense among senior students was truancy. Students would run away from school during such less important lessons as physical education, music or arts where teachers did not take a roll call. The campus was close to a hill and at that time there were no fences around the school complex. Students could run towards the railway tracks (i.e. nowadays' Mongkok Station) and escape school. Hui also ran away from school once.
Title School Memories: Diocesan Boys' School's Principal, sports development, religoius education, model students and bad students Date 04/06/2010 Subject Industry|Education Duration 13m52s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-006 School Memories: teaching methods, teachers, students, extra-curricular activities at Diocesan Bo...Activities of English classes at Diocesan Boys' School. At Diocesan Boys' the English teacher led his students to see a movie at cinemas every six months. They often saw the latest English-language movies such as Ben-Hur, Gone with the Wind, Graduate and My Fair Lady, etc. Students were free to join, or they could choose to stay in the classroom to study. Movie-going was usually arranged at the last two or one lesson of the day so students could go home directly after the movie. They also discussed the movie during class the next day. It was a light-hearted event for the students. Teachers usually brought the students to Dynasty Theatre in Mongkok to see the movies. The tickets they bought were a quarter or a fifth of the original price, and they sat at the special class on upper circle.Interesting experience of participating in the Geography Society outings at Diocesan Boys' School. Hui joined Geography Society when he was in Form Two, which provided him the opportunity to visit many places in Hong Kong to study geographical landscape. The most memorable event was when he was in Form Five and they went to Tsing Yi for a field trip. The group had to take a ferry from Tsuen Wan as there were no bridges connecting Tsing Yi at that time. During the event, students would draw the scenic coastline of Tsuen Wan from Tsing Yi hillside, including the serrated shapes of South Sea Textiles' factories. This trip was memorable to Hui because the following year he started working at South Sea Textiles.
At the Geography Society, students were given the chance to study different types of landscape including mountains and rivers, and rocks. The teacher who was the head of geography panel, Mr Lai, left a deep impression on Hui. Mr Lai's specialty was Hong Kong's fishery industry. He equipped his students with much knowlege of fishing industry of Hong Kong, and he also wrote books on the subject which included introductions to trawling and the fish commonly known as the Big Eye (The Big Eye Black Bar Soldierfish). Mr Lai later became the Principal of Diocesan Boys' School. (Editor's Note: According to the school's website, Mr Lai's full name is Mr J. Lai. He was the school's Principal from 1983 to 2000.)
Deep impression on Diocesan Boys' School's teachers, and their alternative teaching methods. From Form One to Five, Hui had the same teacher teaching Chinese literature and Chinese history. The teacher's name was Kang Tongjia, who was a cousin of Kang Youwei. Mr Kang taught Chinese history in his own way. For a consecutive few years, he spent 80 to 90 per cent of the time in class talking about The Coup of 1898 and the Hundred Days' Reform, and Kang Youwei's career from the his education to his global travel after the failure of Coup of 1898. The remaining time in class he left for students to study on their own. Interestingly, Kang's students achieved better grades in the Certificate of Education Examination than students from other schools. Hui got a C with Chinese history at HKCEE.
When teaching Chinese literature, Mr Kang would recite the classical text once. Each time when he recited Zhuge Liang's Qian Chu Shi Biao and Hou Chu Shi Biao, he had tears in his eyes. That was the way how Mr Kang imparted emotion in what he was teaching.
Hui remembered when he was in Form Six, his chemistry teache from UK discussed the most popular science topics to arouse students' interest in the subject. China's Cultural Revolution was n full throttle at that time, and the Chinese government tested the first atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb. When it was April, the chemistry teacher spent 95 percent of time to explain how to make the two different bombs so the students could understand their difference. Most of the students, including Hui, were interested in the topic. Most of his classmates were interested in science, and from Form Five to Form Six they chose to study science.
Hui believed both teachers aimed to arouse students' interest in the respective subjects, and they covered other areas outside the mainstream syallabus. Students were encouraged to read their books on their own. Hui believed that might be an alternative teaching method.
Students assignment to science or arts classes at Diocesan Boys School. At Diocesan Boys' School, students from Form One onwards would be divided into science or arts classes, according to their grades from the Secondary School Entrance Examination. Hui was assigned to Class D since his grade in mathematics was better. In Form Two to Three he was also in Class D, as it was the science class. Those studying more arts subjects would be in Class C. Class C students took world history, but less one or two science subjects such as biology.
From Form Four onwards, arts subjects included Chinese history, English literature and economy, etc. Those in arts classes also had to learn some science subjects such as mathematics, and some would drop biology, chemistry and physics. Both science and arts classes covered geography. Those in science classes also had to learn history, but they could only choose either Chinese history or world history. No business subjects were taught at Diocesan Boys' School.
Hui's impression on students from well off families at Diocesan Boys School. The most memorable experience Hui had between his Form One to Five years was one day after school a schoolmate invited him and another fellow classmate to visit his home in Kowloon Tong. They walked from school, along Prince's Road and then Waterloo Road until they reached Kowloon Tong. This schoolmate told them on their way there he used to study at Diocesan Preparatory School. His family had hired an Amah (those who wore white top with black trousers), house workers and a gardener at home. This was certainly different than Hui's household. Hui said though he spent his school days with his classmates, but he seldom played with them outside school. Yet he could still feel the social disparity between him and his classmates. His father's friend from the same village who was a factory owner (Hui mentioned at that time this factory owner's hat factory was already closed), his son and Hui was in the same grade at the same school. His name was Hui Choh Yat (Hui said he knew Hui Choh Yat and him were from the same village, as they shared the same character 'Choh' in their name. It signified that they are of same seniority in Hui clan). He was in Class A, and lived at the Mid-levels with a private car to take him to school. Hui said it was obvious that they belonged to very different social strata. Though they knew each other, they seldom greeted each other.
After-school activities with friends from the neighborhood. After school, Hui seldom played with his schoolmates. Since he had to take care of household chores, it was much easier to play with kids living in the same building when he had spare time. From Primary Four onwards, he had to do housework including laundry, shopping for food and preparing dinner after school. His family lived in a room of the arcade in a tenement building. Hui had to go to the roof top to get water for cooking. After his parents retuned home from work, they would have dinner, and his younger sister washed the dishes. After seven o'clock, Hui played basketball at the court next to Sung Wong Toi with his neighboring friends. On Sunday when there was no school, he had more activities. Sometimes he would play three basketball matches in a day. If he would play two matches, then in the afternoon he would go to swim at the Kowloon Tsai pool.
Difference in teaching methods between Diocesan Boys' School and Queen Elizabeth School. Hui believed if he were to study at Queen Elizabeth School, his career path would be very different. There was a marked difference in teaching method and students' academic attitude between Queen Elizabeth School and Diocesan Boys' School. At that time, students at public schools put more emphasis on getting good grades at the HKCEE and they would do more exercise for preparation. At Diocesan Boys', since a lot of the students would go abroad for further study, they did not pay that much emphasis on attending the HKCEE. Hui's HKCEE results were just average, and not as good as his neighboring friends who attended public schools.
Title School Memories: teaching methods, teachers, students, extra-curricular activities at Diocesan Boys' School Date 04/06/2010 Subject Industry|Education Duration 20m27s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-007 The road to take after HKCEE. With his grades at the the HKCEE, Hui could continue to Form Six at Diocesan Boys' but not good enough to enter either the University of Hong Kong or the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His classmates had better grades than he had. Hui knew one classmate who went to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and another who went to the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Hui did not have many choices because of his family situation. He thought if he were to retake the HKCEE he might be able to study at either one of the universities. However, at that time his family wanted him to work so he could start earning income. The other option was to study journalism at the Baptist College. Hui's class teacher at Form Six went on to work at the Department of Communication Studies at the Baptist College. He was also recruiting Form Six students from Diocesan Boys' School. However, tuition was over $100 (his Form Six tuition was only over $30) which was too expensive for Hui. As he had to be mindful of his family's financial needs, he did not apply to Baptist College.Job duties of an apprentice at South Sea Textiles. Hui learned from newspapers that South Sea Textiles was looking for apprentices. The advertisement mentioned that an apprentice would get two years of education and then three years of practice. After that was over, the apprentice would became an engineering trainee. Hui only learned about his duties after he took the job. In theory, one would be able to get promoted from engineering trainee to assistant engineer to engineer. During that time, an engineer in the factory was called a supervisor, who was responsible for supervising the workers, or to lead a team of mechanics to repair the machines. For the first two years of training, the first year was spent in the classroom, and the second year would be an internship in the plant. Since there was a shortage of manpower, Hui was already working at production during his second year. (Editor's Note: Hui later clarified that the training period of an apprentice was two years. The first year was in the classroom, and the second year would be learning the production process in the workshop. After the training was over, one would be promoted to engineering trainee.)
Career prospect of Diocesan Boys' School graduates. At that time, looking for a job after graduating from Diocesan Boys' School was not difficult. Most graduates would choose to work in banks or as a white collars in Central. Few would like to choose a government job as the salary was not that attractive. There was a big difference in terms of salary between working at South Sea Textiles and being a civil servant. When Hui started as an apprentice at South Sea Textiles, his starting salary was $350. Within a few months it was increased to $400. For someone who had passed HKCEE, if he would like to join the civil service, most common way was to start at level two clerk with a starting salary of $200. A police officer would earn over $100 at that time, or one could apply to be a police inspector. But it was common for the police to take bribes which tarnished the police force's reputation. That's why Hui did not consider joining the police force.
The reason behind Hui chose to work at South Sea Textiles. The 1967 Riot and leftist's ideology both had an impact on Hui's decision to find a job at South Sea Textiles. Hui was in Form Four when the 1967 Riot broke out. He went to San Po Kong to support the workers on strike, and saw how the police fired tear gas to disperse them. A neighbourhood friend who graduated from Heung To Secondary School took Hui to political rallies organized by left wing labor unions. His family was in the pharmaceutical business, and had close ties with the unions. Hui's friend took him and other neighbourhood friend to attend a political rally at the club house of a union in Ma Tau Wai Road. The club house was later raided by the police. Because of pressure from his parents and his elder brother, Hui stopped attending leftist activities. But Hui still liked reading leftist books and was interested in leftist ideologies. In order to understand the working conditions of the workers, he decided to work at South Sea Textiles.
Title Choosing whether to further study or get to work after finishing Form Six Date 04/06/2010 Subject Industry Duration 9m43s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-008 Influence of right wing labor unions, and Double Ten Day celebrations. South Sea Textiles was the major base of the Hong Kong & Kowloon Spinning Weaving and Dyeing Trade Workers General Union. At that time, the right wing unions were in control of the factories in Tsuen Wan. Hui was told by the older workers that during the 1956 Riot, right wing workers controlled Tsuen Wan and a lot of left wing workers were beaten to death. When Hui joined South Sea Textiles, it was controlled by the right wing unions. During his nine years working there, he did not join any unions, but he attended the Double Ten Day celebrations when he was working there. Double Ten Day celebrations were organized by the labor unions. At South Sea Textiles, they charged very little for these parties so as to attract workers to participate. The parties usually took place at King Wah Restaurant at Nathan Road, with more than a hundred tables and archways of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo also hung there. Singers such as Cheung De Lan was invited to perform. Three People's Principles were propagated which characterized right wing unions. (Editor's Note: 1956 Riot broke out in Kowloon and Tsuen Wan from 10th to 12th of October in 1956.)Experienced the ups and downs of Hong Kong industrial development. During the nine years when Hui was working in South Sea Textiles, he witnessed the ups and downs of Hong Kong's industrial development. In the early 1970s, Hui was supervising workers at the workshop. At that time, management were respected and workers cherished their jobs, so it was easy for spinners to hire workers. After 1972, there were more factories including electronics and garment factories. Workers then had more choice. Working in spinners were quite tough with inferior working conditions. When Hui was working at South Sea Textiles, cotton fiber was flying around in the factory, and the noise of the machines would damage the hearing of some of the workers. It led to factory losing their workers seriously. It was a challenge for Hui to find enough workers so the machines could operate 24 hours a day and production would not be stopped. Sometimes he had to operate the machines himself.
Title Right wing unions and the development of Hong Kong's textile industry (1) Date 04/06/2010 Subject Industry Duration 4m58s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-009 Conditions of the dormitories at South Sea Textiles. Hui joined South Sea Textiles in 1969. The first year he was taking classes at the staff quarter. The company required the apprentices to live at the quarter and they could go home once a week. The were 20 in the class and they were all male. There were a small canteen, a classroom and an activity room on the ground floor of the staff quarter. Upper floors were living quarters. The staff quarter was only for men, and six men would occupy one room. There were six beds, six closets and six desks in one room. Other than the staff quarter, there were also male and female living quarters for workers.Education background of the apprentices of South Sea Textiles. The apprentices were all secondary school graduates. They were around the same age with only two to three years apart. South Sea Textiles was the largest factory in Hong Kong at that time. The company also ran South Sea English Secondary School. The school took part-time workers as students, and provided free education from Form One to Five. Part-time workers would study at the school in the morning, and work in the factory for four hours each day. Free accommodation was provided. Among those who joined as apprentices with Hui at the same year, three of them studied at South Sea English Secondary School. They either started from Form One, or transferred to the school at Form Four or Five. They had worked at the factory for two to three years. The three apprentices all finished their secondary school, with five passes at the HKCEE, and then they joined as apprentices. Some twenty years later, Hui met a fellow apprentice in Shatin. He learned that this fellow apprentice studied at South Sea English Secondary School because he wanted to go to school but his family was poor. The school provided education and free accommodation even though the students were required to work at the same time.
Instructors of the training programme for apprentices, and programme schedule. Those who joined as apprentices a few years before Hui were trained at the Hong Kong Polytechnics in Hung Hom. Entrance requirement was also five passes at the HKCEE. The year when Hui joined, because of limited resources, the apprentices were trained by South Sea Textiles instead, with senior staff as instructors. The study period each day was long. Classes lasted from 9am to 6pm. They had to get up at seven, and gather at the open ground at eight for morning exercise, led by the quarter supervisor (i.e. Head of Human Resources). They had 30 to 45 minutes for breakfast. Classes started at nine, and there were three lessonss on both morning and afternoon. Training programme for apprentices, and brief introduction on the production process. The apprentice's training programme was mainly about knowledge of production and human resources management. The latter was taught by the factory director. When Hui first joined South Sea Textiles, the factory director was a Shanghainese. He resigned later because he committed an error. His post was taken by Cheung Yim Man, who had a background in human resources. (Editor's Note: Cheung was one of the founding members of Hong Kong Management Association. He studied management in Japan.)
An introduction to the production process.Textiles was a labor intensive industry. It took over ten steps to produce fabric from cotton. Most of the spinners in Hong Kong had their production processes separated. South Sea Textiles was the only one that had a vertical set up of production. It had the biggest scale of production, with over 2,000 workers working in three shifts a day.
Work distribution for apprentices. There were two major parts in South Sea Textiles' production system. One was maintenance, which was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the machines. The other one was operation, which was responsible for production and management of workers. The 20 apprentices were mostly sent to operation, and the other quarter sent to maintenance. It took at least five to six years to understand the machines. They had to pick up the knowledge from books and working with the machines.
Textbooks used for the training programme of apprentices. At the training programme offered by the Hong Kong Polytechnics, all textbooks were in English. When Hui was studying as an apprentice, his textbooks were in Chinese, most of which were textbooks or reference books published in Taiwan, and some were prepared by the instructors. When designing the course, the factory concerned more on practical aspect. Apprentices were only required to learn basic knowledge of machines. Sometimes textbooks were not totally applicable.
The level where South Sea Textiles was among Hong Kong's textile manufacturers, and the company's standard on making fabrics. At that time, Hong Kong's spinning industry was ahead of the world, and South Sea Textiles was a leader in the business in Hong Kong. The US Army,the largest client of the company, had placed long-term orders of army uniforms to South Sea Textiles. South Sea Textiles was meticulous about the production process, which fulfilled the requirements of the US Army. The inspection unit had female workers inspecting every piece of fabric to make sure the number of defects would not exceed the requirements. If they did, the area of the fabric would be cut off. There was also a quality control department to take care of the testing of elasticity.
South Sea Textiles encouraged employees to learn management skills. South Sea Textiles encouraged their apprentices to take the Hong Kong Management Association's examination. One of Hui's fellow apprentices passed the examination, which was equivalent to Hong Kong government's recognized university degree. He later joined the Hong Kong Correctional Services. Human resources management was called modern management theory those days.
Learning experience at South Sea Textiles. In their second year of training, 20 apprentices were split into equal halves and were sent to either spinning or weaving section of the operation department of the factory. Hui was sent to the weaving section, and had to work in different procedures including sizing, drafting, warping, coping and weaving. He also had to work at maintenance and supervise workers. At each department he had to stay for one to two months. The practice period was originally designed for one year. But since there was a shortage of workers, after six months of practice, Hui was already assigned to supervise workers.
Title Training programme of apprentices at South Sea Textiles Date 04/06/2010 Subject Industry Duration 17m40s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-010 Production process, plants, setting of weaving department. Salary and career path of workers and ...Structure of weaving section of South Sea Textiles, and the challenge of working in a textiles factory. At the weaving section, the morning shift was from 7am to 3pm. Mid shift was from 3pm to 11pm. Night shift was from 11pm to 7am the next day. Hui led the mid and night shifts, each for six months. There should be 50 workers per shift, but usually a few were missing at Hui's shift. As a supervisor, the main job was to find enough workers to handle the production. Hui was able to hire enough workers from the Human Resources in the first and second year. However, recruitment became more difficult and the supervisors had to find the workers themselves, which was quite a challenge. The worse was between 1973 to 1974, when Hui had to go to Sam Tung Uk, Tai Pei Square, Yi Pei Square and Tai Wo Hau to look for ex-workers to work or to ask if they could recommend someone. Sometimes he had to go as far as Yuen Long and Tuen Mun to look for workers. The alternative was to go to the workers quarter and look for after shift workers to work overtime, so as to keep the machines in operation. At that time, no one paid attention to the dangers it might pose if workers were overworked. The company provided shuttle buses with more than 10 routes to pick up workers throughout Kowloon and the New Territories to work and to bring them home.The cost of in case a machine had to stop operating. If the machines were ever stopped, when they restarted defects were easily made to the fabric, which would cost the company a lot of money. If the machines could keep operating, even if they stopped periodically, it was still better than the machines were stopped for eight hours.
Production process and division of labour of different departments of South Sea Textiles. South Sea Textiles had its own pier at Nine Miles to Nine and a Half Miles in Tsuen Wan. Bundles of cotton were sent from the pier to the factory's cotton-opening workshop, where a cotton slitter would break them up. Loosened cotton would then be sent to stripping workshop to make thick slivers. In the spinning workshop, thick slivers would be pulled to finer form. And the finer yarn with one or two yarn will be spun into a thread. Spinners were used to produce yarn and thread. At weaving workshop, there were two steps. At warping, thread would be made into fabric shafts. And the fabric would need to go through sizing so it could be more durable. At wefting, the yarn would be made into five to six inches cops. These would be put into the yarn to make fabric.
There were simple to complicated ways to weave a fabric into different patterns. The khaki for US Army's uniform employed a more complicated weaving so as to make the fabric more durable.Finished fabrics would be sent for inspection, and to make sure the length would be up to the buyers' requirements. Afterwards they would be packaged and then either sent to the pier or to container trucks for export.
Type of plants at South Sea Textiles. Each department would occupy its own factory space. At South Sea Textiles, the spinning factory was divied into three parts. The large workshop had the the largest number of machines. There were also second and fourth spinning departments. Each process would also occupy one individual factory space, which included cotton opening and stripping. The spinning section had at least 10 factory spaces. The weaving section was divided into first, second and third departments. It was mainly for easier management. First department's machines were mainly from US, and at second department the machines were from US and Switzerland. Those in third department were from Japan. Hui was responsible for the third department, with over 200 weaving machines. It also had independent sizing and coping workshops.
Different machines produced different fabrics. At the weaving section, machines from different places were used to weave different fabrics. Japanese machines were mainly used to make lighter and thinner fabrics, while machines from US were heavier so they were used for weaving heavier fabrics such as denim. Machines from Switzerland were used to produce fabrics in between the two, such as blended fabrics.
Layout of the factories at South Sea Textiles. The ten factories of the spinning section of South Sea Textiles were interconnected, laid out in a serrated pattern. Each factory were divided into many rooms, with a corridor connecting them. Each room would be dedicated to a different procedure, and the procedures were laid out according to the production process. The third department of weaving occupied a separated factory building.
Production process and products of the third department of weaving at South Sea Textiles. At the third department of weaving, it had rooms for warping and wefting, but during the production process there was no drafting. At the third department, yarn and thread were woven for the production of greige fabrics. Patterns were simple and the fabrics were not dyed. For dyeing, one could color the yarn before weaving, or dye the fabric after it was already woven. South Sea Textiles had no dyeing facilities so provided no dyeing services.
Structure of third department of weaving section at South Sea Textiles. Hui was assigned the supervisor of the third department of weaving at South Sea Textiles. At the third department, each shift should comprise 55 workers. Maintenance team on morning shift was responsible for overall maintenance of the machines so there were more workers there. For mid and night shifts, team workers were only responsible for basic maintenance, so fewer workers would be required. During each shift of the third department, there were 50 to 55 workers. They were responsible for different production processes. Technicians were supervised by the engineering trainee. There were two floors at the factory of the third department. On one floor there were over 60 weaving machines, and there were rooms for sizing, coping. Several drafting machines were also installed. On the other floor there were over 100 weaving machines. On each floor there was one “Bangjie” (a term taken from Shanghainese) to assist the engineering trainee in supervising the workers so as to make sure the weaving machines would operate smoothly. For example, if the fabric was clipped in the wrong way, Bangjie had to re-attach the thread so the weaving machine could continue to operate.
Calculation of salary for the workers and Bangjie at weaving section of South Sea Textiles, and the work of a secretary. At the weaving section of South Sea Textiles, salary was calculated in piece rate. At each machine there was a meter. The meter recorded the number of rotation of each weaving machine. The company would pay each worker according to the figure on the meter. Salary of Bangjie was calculated by adding 20% to 30% to the workers' salary. There was once a change in the managerial structure where an assistant Bangjie was added, and the salary calculation was adjusted by grade. Each shift there was a secretary to assist the engineering trainee. The secretary was responsible for clerical duties and copying the reading of the meters.
Job duties and requirements of a Bangjie at the weaving section, and the ratio of male and female workers of South Sea Textiles. At the weaving section of South Sea Textiles, the position of Bangjie was taken up by experienced workers who were qualified to a certain level of technical expertise. In the earlier days they had to pass an examination. Technical requirement of a Bangjie was high. For example when threads needed to be re-attached at a weaving machine, the re-attachment had to be undetectable. Bangjies were responsible for training new workers and inexperienced supervisors (i.e. engineering trainees). South Sea Textiles had a training facility for new workers. They had to take a month's training before getting on the job. If a new worker did not reach the necessary technical level, the Bangjie had to teach him. The Bangjie in the main workshop of spinning department was the most experienced. Male and female workers all wore aprons at work. Male aprons were half length, and female aprons were full length. Their grades were marked with the color of their aprons. Chief Bangjie wore red (or red-lined as workers called it), while other Bangjies' were blue. General workers' wore white. Bangjies could be male or female, but most of them were female. There were more male workers at the spinning section, while more female workers at weaving section. Female workers were the majority at the morning shifts of the weaving section, while there were more male workers for the mid and night shifts. Technical requirement, promotion and shortage of workers at weaving section of South Sea Textiles. Workers of the weaving section with outstanding performance had the opportunity to be promoted as Bangjie or Chief Bangjie. In the earlier days they had to pass an examination, but it was later canceled. Once their technical level can be ascertained they would be able to get a promotion. At the later stage when there was a shortage of workers, the technical requirement of a Bangjie became lower. More important was that there would be a worker to fill the vacancy. During the 1970s there was a serious shortage of workers. The problem alleviated in the two to three years before Hui left his job. Hui said that at that time there were a lot of factories moving out of Hong Kong. Both workers and factory owners had lost interest in Hong Kong's textile industry.
The challenges of managing third department of weaving, and the remuneration of a supervisor. When Hui became a supervisor (i.e. engineering trainee), he managed the third department of weaving, and had authority among the workers. At that time there was no emphasis on workers' rights so Hui did not face much pressure. After two to three years, challenges came as there was a shortage of workers. Supervisor became less of an authority figure, and he had to show his leadership in order to manage the workshop. His boss put production as the first priority so Hui had to look everywhere for enough workers to meet the production level. At the factory, production figures and duration of machines being laid idle of the three shifts were announced every day. This created a sense of competition. There was a time when there was a shortage of three workers to handle the machines. Hui had to take care of three to four tasks each day. As a supervisor (i.e. engineering trainee), Hui received a better package than a normal desk job. He received bonus every year. He got the highest bonus during the Oil Crisis. His annual income was up to 20 months of his monthly wage. The lowest bonus he received was still up to two to three months' monthly wage.The way to attract workers to come to work, and workers' benefits at South Sea Textiles. There were quite a number of ways that supervisors of South Sea Textiles used to attract workers to work. They would pay meal and play mahjong with the workers to get them to work. For male workers, salary advance was a popular strategy. At that time illegal gambling on horse or dog racing was common and a lot of male workers had incurred debts. If a worker needed a few hundred dollars of loan, a supervisor would be able to provide for that. Or if a worker needed at least a thousand, then the supervisor would ask his senior to get money to lend to the worker. Senior supervisors had the authority to borrow from the company for lending to the workers in need. The amount of the loan depended on the creditability and skill level of the worker. As reputation was important, workers would pay their debt or pay in installments. Very few of them would withhold their debts. Hui had never met a worker who was unable to repay his debt. For female workers, he had to rely on private relationship only. The supervisors would go to the female quarter and ask the matron to find workers who were willing to work overtime. Female workers would usually put up four hours of overtime. The salary level of South Sea Textiles was in the middle-stream among the other factories. But the company had good management. Salary was paid on time and the company reputation was good, so workers would trust the company. spinning section usually provided better benefits such as a canteen, shuttle buses and lots of leisure activities. Hui believed that other smaller factories would attract diligent workers by paying them a higher salary.
Career path of an engineer trainee and how they were called within the business. The apprenticeship at South Sea Textiles lasted for two years. The first year was classroom learning, and in the second year apprentices worked in plant. When an apprentice was hired after the training, he would be an engineering trainee for the first two years. Then he would be promoted to engineer-in-practice and then assistant engineer. With five years of experience he would be promoted to engineer. In the business, those from engineer trainee to engineer were called supervisors. One level higher than engineer would be section head, and then section head of threee shifts. Further up would be deputy chief engineer in spinning and chief engineer in weaving. These were high-ranking staffs. When Hui left the factory, he was an engineer. At South Sea Textiles bonuses were paid according to one's grade. Engineer trainee and engineer-in-practice were not counted as formal employee so they could only receive a bonus half of that of a formal employee. From the fourth year onwards when they became a formal employee, and then they could start to receive full bonus.
Title Production process, plants, setting of weaving department. Salary and career path of workers and supervisor Date 04/06/2010 Subject Industry Duration 34m16s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-011 Relationship between right wing unions and South Sea Textiles. After the 1967 Riot and until Hui left the company, South Sea Textiles was under the influence of right wing element. Traditionally, right wing unions kept a good relationship with the factory owner. The union did not ask for wages increment or start any industrial actions. The management would not interfere with the unions. Hui never joined any unions' activities. From 1975 to 1976, a lot of textile factories moved out of Hong Kong. South Sea Textiles also ceased operation and laid off the first batch of workers. Unions did not make a stance at that time. The factory did not go through the unions to hire worker. Union activities were usually for recreation or political propaganda.Experience the ups and downs of Hong Kong's textile industry, and production shrinking of South Sea Textiles. When Hui joined South Sea Textiles, the company was developing quite well and the management was respected by the workers. Hui believed the textile industry had a good prospect for long term development, and never expected to see its decline. After the Oil Crisis, the textile industry was at its heyday. At its peak period, South Sea Textiles hired over 2,000 workers. In the 1970s, the land where the factories occupied grew to become very valuable. The owner was planning to sell the land so he started closing down some of the factories. The first move was in 1976 when the third department of weaving was closed. Machines and part of the management team were sent to Indonesia to set up factories there. Hui did not follow the move, but stayed on as a temporary substitue staff at the main workshop until he left the company in 1978. At that time, the main workshop included first and second factories, with over 10 employees from first and second weaving deartment. The main workship was divided into seven department including warping, coping, sizing, drafting and inspection. In 1980, the factory of the main workshop was demolished. The site became today's Belvedere Garden. Machines were moved to Tuen Mun to continue production, but the scale was only at one-third or one-quarter of its peak in Hong Kong. The Tuen Mun factory was closed a few years ago. Hui heard from other workers that South Sea Textiles first moved to Indonesia, East Africa and the Philippines and finally it settled in mainland China.
Factories closing down at South Sea Textiles and laying off of workers. When South Sea Textiles started to close down its factories, it only laid off office staff and let the workers to leave their jobs naturally. Office staff would receive severance packages better than what the labor law required. Hui said that he knew the first batch of laid off employees were compensated according to their duration of work in the company. Each year of service would translate into two months' pay, with a maximum of 20 months' pay. With each layoff the compensation would be different. As workers were paid according to number of machines they worked on, since there were less work and less machines, the workers' pay gradually dwindled and eventually they left their jobs because of that.
Title Right wing unions and the development of Hong Kong's textile industry (2) Date 04/06/2010 Subject Industry Duration 14m54s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-012 Summary of career and changing class status. Hui believed his career experience reflected how the the Hong Kong economy had changed. He hoped to develop an industrial career, but had to reluctantly changed his career to the service industry. This showed the ups and downs of Hong Kong's industrial development, as the city became more reliant on the service industry. Hui said a lot of the people like him had to change jobs. He was glad that he made the move when he was young. A lot of his workmates stayed on and they had to find another job when they turned 50. Fewer opportunities were available when one reached that age. Hui was also glad that he was able to move from the grassroots to the middle class. He had a stable job and was able to become a property owner.Hui's views on Hong Kong's education system. Hui believed Hong Kong's education was too examination-oriented, which was regrettable. Students had to surpass others in order to secure a better future. Most of the students were unable to break away from studying for examination. Hui admited that he suffered from the results of his examination. He thought if his results were better, he would be able to study at a university and his career would be very different.
Class Assingment at Form Six at Diocesan Boys' School, and Hui's options after finishing Form Six. With his HKCEE results, he could study Form Six at the same school but was not able to apply for the universities. At Diocesan Boys' School, Form Six had three classes. Two of them lasted for two years. Hui was in the class that only took one year to finish. Form Six students had three options. They could chose to study at universities abroad or at colleges in Hong Kong, or they could retake the HKCEE. Hui also retook HKCEE when he was in Form Six.
His experience with different education methods. Hui believed that teacher's encouragement would enlighten the students. Hui was able to learn from teachers like that, such as his teacher in Primary Five. On the contrary, if a teacher only criticize studnets, that would impact negatively on them. The English teacher when Hui was in Form One used that method, and Hui became fearful of English. He said the education system in Hong Kong should not be like an industrial process and treat students like finished products.
Title Change of profession, reflection on career, education and life Date 04/06/2010 Subject Education Duration 10m10s 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. TW-HCT-LIFE-013