Lam L. T.

At the end of December, 1941, Hong Kong was fell to Japanese rule. Lam's father was bayoneted to death by Japanese solider because they regarded him as disobedient due to a misunderstaning. Lam found 200 Hong Kong dollars and a HSBC passbook inside his deceased father’s sock. Lam hated the Japanese for destroying his family and forcing him out of school. He was saddened by the fact that his father died out of a misunderstanding.

Title	Childhood during the Second World War: 'This is a blood feud started by the Japanese.'
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Japanese Occupation
Duration	1m11s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-001

Deeply motivated by the nationalist sentiments against Japanese invasion into China, LT Lam had determined to serve his country. Before the war, one could often find Japanese toy dolls in the market that were made of a material called celluloid. With this in mind, Lam decided to devote himself to the plastic industry, hoping to manufacture toys that could compete with Japanese goods. This was his way to save the country. Lam regarded it a naïve but a meaningful idea. He was delighted that this objective had been achieved today.

Title	Saving China through industrial development: 'Those vile Japanese had made a great deal of money by exploiting us!'
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Japanese Occupation
Duration	1m49s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-002

Arriving back in Hong Kong in 1946, he worked as an assistant at Sun Sing Bookstores. His monthly salary was then 60 dollars. In a reunion, he knew that his old schoolmates had better income than him. However, their career prospect was not as bright as Lam’s. While working at Sun Sing Bookstore, he broadened his horizons from reading and his English skills improved speedily as he had the chance to come into contact with prominent people. He built up a social circle favourable to his career development.

Title	Knowing the effective way to find employment: 'I chose to work in a magazine shop where I could meet a lot of people.'
Date	29/09/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m45s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-003

Retrospecting his career of several decades, LT Lam believed that his decision of greatest risk was setting up factories in the Mainland again. From 1976 onwards, he joined study tours to Mainland organized by Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. He planned to invest in Mainland. His wife was lack of confidence in the political environment in China and opposed to Lam’s return. After PRC adopted the Open Door Policy, Lam set up a factory in Dongguan in April 1979.

Title	Taking the risk to go north: 'To run business in the Mainland is a real great risk.'
Date	19/10/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m30s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-004

In April 1979, LT Lam set up a factory in Dongguan, making it a testing ground for investment in the Mainland. Lam had to go to the factory every week to train up his staff about the work procedure and the skills they needed to know. At first the mainlanders despised capitalism, and Lam had to repeatedly explain to the local officials that his intent was to teach the locals to work diligently for a living, so that they in turn could also help Lam himself.

Title	Enlightening fellow compatriots: 'I help you to help me'.
Date	19/10/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m35s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-005

LT Lam treated his staff well. He depended on his trusted staff to run the many factories from afar that he set up in the early years. Workers from Winsome Plastic Works always wrote private messages to Lam, telling him about the unjust happenings in the factory. When Lam inspected the factories, he would pay attention to the informants. If this was found to be true, Lam would hand the matter over to the management team for further action.

Title	Management from a remote distance: 'Nobody had even realized how I have come to know so much.'
Date	19/10/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m30s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-006

LT Lam made use of his wide social network to develop his career. For example, he sought the help of his close classmate to set up his factory in Guangzhou before WWII. Lam had put efforts into cultivating his network, and thought that his connections would come in handy at times of need.

Title	Giving the right person the right job: ‘Those people came and found me as if we had a tacit connection between us.’
Date	19/10/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m20s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-007

In the 1950s, apart from engaging in raw material business at Yuen Hing Hong Co. Ltd, Lam also ran factories such as Winsome Plastic Works, Forward Products. Co and Alice Doll Fashions Limited. He met with clients frequently to obtain orders. Lam’s fine reputation in the plastic manufacturing industry helped him develop his business.

Title	Exploring customer base: ‘It was me alone who handled the orders.’
Date	19/10/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m35s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-008

LT Lam had operated his plastic manufacturing business for many years. The greatest challenge he found was the inflation in material cost. It was Lam’s belief that the success rate of applying for loans depended upon a factory owner’s credit he or she had built up over the past. With a letter of credit from the client, an owner could get a 50% loan from the bank (Editor’s loan that was equvilaent to 50% of the total price of the order) .

Title	Crossing trouble waters: ‘It is all about how much you can cope with it when you encounter difficulties.’
Date	12/11/2010
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-009

LT Lam believed that humility, conscientiousness and trustworthiness were the keys to success. Plastic factory owners used to be inexperienced, but if they humbly sought their clients’ advice, they would be able to improve their techniques and raise the supply of funds for moulding. However, if they made empty promises to clients and failed to keep to their words, this would harm their future business.

Title	The path to success: ‘Fighting spirit, conscientiousness, undying self-motivation and trustworthiness.’
Date	12/11/2010
Subject	Industry
Duration	1m47s
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.	LKF-LT-HLT-010