Lai Kan

In 1924 Lai Kan was born in Dongguan. His father was a farmer in his hometown and had dozens of acres of farmland. At about the age of 10 the Japanese invaded China and he was forced to quit secondary school and return to hometown as a farm worker. In 1946 at the age of 22 he came to Hong Kong. At the time his uncle was running a fruit and vegetable wholesale stall at Yau Ma Tei. Because his staff was not very helpful he hired Li Kan to work odd jobs at the stall. When Lai Kan arrived at Hong Kong he witnessed the Sun Yat Brigade of the Kuomintang troops stationed around Astor Theatre; the brigade later boarded a navy vessel at Jordan Road Ferry Pier and returned to the mainland. The wholesale stall ran by Lai’s uncle sold fruits from Canton such as lychee and star fruit. In those days oranges and apples came from the northeast and rarely from Guangdong. The vegetables wholesaled by his uncle included such common kinds as choi sum, pak choi and mustard leaf. About 2 years later his uncle had to close down the business out of losses. Lai Kan turned to work for other wholesalers and soon later opened his own business. In the early years he was busy with the business and was yet to involve in the Fruit and Vegetable Merchant’s Association. Later, upon persuasion of the senior wholesalers, he began to participate in the Association and had been Chairman for over 20 years.

Soon after the war the fruit market was still involved in the wholesaling of vegetables; the quantity even exceeded that of fruit. When the vegetable wholesale operations were moved away from the fruit market, around some 30 fruit wholesalers were in operation, with most fruits coming from Guangzhou, Shantou, Chaozhou and Xinhui. Xinhui was renowned for producing oranges. Kangle Yuen of Guangzhou grew fruits in great quantities, including lychees, wampi, longan, and muskmelon. Before 1949 Hong Kong had a limited supply of fruits from the north. It was only in August and September that Duck Pears arrived from Tianjin. After 1949 the state-run Ng Fung Hong was the agent for mainland fruits; supply of honeydew melon, watermelon, apple, and pears increased. In those years there were few train arrivals and fruits were transported to Hong Kong by lorries. After the disbanding of Ng Fung Hong (in the 1990s), local merchants went to the Mainland themselves to purchase goods. After the war the supply of fruit from Taiwan increased. In the old days Taiwan fruits were packaged using wooden crates, and during transport they crashed against each other and many became broken. When delegates of Taiwan fruit merchants came to Hong Kong for exchange, Lai Kan suggested that they learned from the Japanese way of packaging watermelons – using carton paper boxes. This packaging, while more expensive, helped keep the quality. In those days oranges from the U.S. were also packed in (wooden) crates.

When Lai Kan first came to Hong Kong he worked at his uncle’s wholesaling stall, earning HK$22 per month. He used his uncle’s stall as his lodge. Together with several business partners, his uncle rented a vacant lot some 1,000 to 2,000 sq. ft. in square. The staff of the wholesaler comprised shop assistant, merchandiser, sales and coolies (carrying labourers). Merchandiser and sales did not divide their work roles by fruit and vegetable. Fruits were transported to the market using boats and lorries. Upon cargo arrival coolies would unload the cargo from the boat (the pier was just next to the market at that time, on the nowadays’ Ferry Street) and cart the cargo over to the stall. Later he worked with other wholesalers, and not long after became a merchandiser. When he was 25 to 26, a certain wholesaler ended his business and he and his friend took up the operations, naming it “Yee Lee Stall”. Lai Kan began saving up when he was a worker, and when he became merchandiser he accumulated knowledge of purchasing and later opened a business with a start-up capital of several thousand.

Upon opening Yee Lee Stall employed only one helper; Lai was merchandiser and sales himself. Later he hired a partner to be the merchandiser. Helpers were paid HK$40, 50 to 70, 80 per month. Lai Kan did not discriminate workers from different hometowns when hiring, and he required only his employees to be helpful. Coolies were paid by piece rate (pieces of curate/basket/bag), and prices were negotiated on meeting with wholesaler. Charge for carrying fruits differed by the size and the weight of the contained fruits, and before moving the containers had to be weighed. Before the establishment of Ng Fung Hong, the fruit market sourced from mainland suppliers. The company first sold the fruit to larger wholesalers, and would negotiate in secret the pricing with several large wholesalers using an abacus and offer the cargo to the highest bidder. In the old days the pricing of fruit was calculated using Chinese measurements of “jin” and “ping”, now they are calculated using pound. After the large wholesalers bought in the cargo they would sell it to smaller wholesalers for a profit. Retailers would then buy from small wholesalers. After Ng Fung Hong became the sole agent for mainland fruits, fruit prices were monopolised and there was no need to negotiate prices when large wholesalers made purchases.

In 1946 when Lai Kan came to Hong Kong, Hong Kong had a population of only some 500 thousand. There were only several dozens of fruit wholesalers. In the early 1950s Lai opened Yee Lee Stall wholesaling mainland fruits. In the beginning the operation was difficult and Lai Lee was constantly under the pressure of losing money. In the 1960s Yee Lee imported fruits from the US and Southeast Asia, and the kinds of fruits wholesaled grew in diversity. Business turned brisk. In those days oranges from the US were more expensive; Lai Kan was worried that his customers could not afford the American oranges and so he did not import oranges in great quantity. At the time besides running Yee Lee Stall, Lai Kan also opened fruit stores at Sai Yeung Choi Street and Jordan Road. The Jordan Road store opened 24 hours a day and arranged his staff to work in two shifts. During the 1967 riots a bomb was found at the street corner outside the store. The store was asked to close its door and Lai Kan was forced to do so. The staff remained inside the shop though.

In the 1960s to 1980s, there was an influx of illegal immigrants into Hong Kong. Lai Kan’s wholesaling stall and stores had employed immigrtants from his hometown. In the 1980s Lai Kan’s stall was wholesaling so many fruits that there was sufficient space for storing fruits in the stall. Lai Kan could not wholesale a wide array fruits from many countries. Upon the introduction of the father of Kam Hing-lam he became to focus on fruits from the US, mostly from California. Soon after Lai Kan’s partner quit from the joint venture, Yee Lee Stall was renamed Lai Kan Stall. The customers of American fruits were mainly retail stores and supermarkets. There were also wholesalers who supplied fruits to fruit stores, Chinese restaurants, restaurants and supermarkets. Park’n Shop and Wellcome also purchased fruits directly from the fruit market. They sourced from the few particular wholesalers. Supermarkets sometimes purchased by credit for up to 1 to 2 months. After the opening of Park’n Shop and Wellcome Lai Kan shut off the 24-hr store on Jordan Road.

In the 1940s when Lan Kan was working as a helper at the fruit market, the fruit market opened at 6 am every day. He was responsible for selling fruits to retailers until the break at 10 am. In the afternoon helpers had to stay and watch the stall, and pick and pack the less good fruits for sale. Lai Kan had dinner at 5 pm, and after dinner he would get on a bicycle to collect credit payment. He had to run to markets and sidewalk food stalls in Shum Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon City, Ngau Chi Wan and Kwun Tong. In those years one required a guarantor to issue bank cheques, so few customers issued cheques to settle payment, and thus only most of them paid cash. In those days there were no railings at the sidewalk on Nathan Road, and the traffic was sparse. Lai Kan could ride his bicycle at the middle of the road. Ngau Tau Kok and Kwun Tong were remote areas and not accessible via public transportation. Almost every night he would set off collecting credit payments, sometimes moving across several districts. Later he was promoted to merchandiser, which shared a similar day schedule: work began at 6 am every day.

In the 1950s he founded Yee Lee Stall. After becoming a wholesaler he had to consider every day the kinds of fruit to import, and also do day-to-day supervision in the stall and the fruits. Soon after he founded his business Lai Kan got married. After marriage he rented an apartment at an old building at Yunnan Lane. Every day at 11 am his wife would prepare lunch for the employees at the stall, bringing the lunch to the market directly from home. Around 1 to 2 pm he would go to tea houses with acquainted business peers and exchange business news. There used to be many tea houses on Shanghai Street; most opened on ground level. Now only Tak Yu Teahouse was left. He loved going to the 2nd floor Ben Sum Lou Teahouse at the corner of Shanghai Street and Man Ming Lane. During times of leisure he loved going to the Hong Kong Stadium to watch football. He had good memories of the match between South Africa and Brazil. The Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Association also organized a soccer team composing mostly employees of wholesalers. Coolies were busy making a living and barely joined the soccer team.

In the early years when Lai Kan came to Hong Kong, the fruit market wholesaled mostly fruit from Canton. They comprised mostly lychee, longan, wampi, star fruit, oranges and mandarin. Oranges and mandarin were produced in Xinhui and Shantou, and were particularly sweet. Later the supply was cut off. Rumour had it that during the “Great Leap Forward” campaign on the mainland orange trees were cut down and burnt to melt steel. Lychee and longan degraded easily and wholesalers had to sell them off quickly, sometimes at a loss. During the 1940s Taiwan fruit imported to Hong Kong included oranges, watermelon, mandarin, and bananas, which were shipped by sea. The fruit market also wholesaled bananas from Thailand, Panyu, other parts of the Mainland and local plantations. After 1949 the fruit market began wholesaling fruit from the northeast part of China. They include pears and apples from Beijing, Tianjin and Shandong, which arrived in good condition because transportation via train was swift. Fruit from the northeast came in measured batches and the quantity was larger than those from the south.

In the early years there were no cold storage facilities at the fruit market. Wholesalers took the apples and pears to the cold storage of Tin Chu Company at Pak Tai Street of To Kwa Wan. No matter the quantity of the goods they could all be placed in the cold storage and the charges were counted by piece. The District Councillor Wan Choi-bong used to work at Tin Chu Company, and was responsible for the rental of cold storage facilities. Lai Kan was familiar with him. Such southern fruits as lychee and longan could not be frozen. Lai Kan’s Yee Lee Stall sourced from everywhere, mostly dependent on market demands.

In the 1960s the supply of fruits from Southeast Asia increased, mostly bananas and durian. In the early years durian was shipped to Hong Kong, and was stored in iron cases on the ship. Because of the long period of transportation the durian was mostly degraded upon arrival at Hong Kong. The situation had improved since fruits were transported to Hong Kong by air, but the transportation cost rose. Now they were transported in cargo container vessels. In the beginning when durian was marketed the strong taste deterred many. Lai Kan used to run a fruit store in Mong Kong. In the beginning they managed to sell only 4 durians; the response was poor. Later durian lovers grew in numbers. Bananas were mostly sourced from the Philippines, which was near Hong Kong, so transportation by sea was cheap. Del Monte Foods company arranged the export of Del Monte bananas in the Philippines to Hong Kong.

Among all South East Asian countries the quality of fruit from Thailand was the best. Before the World War II, the US was already exporting fruits to Hong Kong; the most typicals were apples from Oregon and oranges from San Francisco. Fruits from the US were stored in crates and shipped to Hong Kong by sea. The cold storage facilities on the ship were technologically backward. Since the 1960s Washington apples replaced Oregon apples and became the mainstay of US apples. The taste was however not as good as the latter. California was the major production base of US fruits. Fruits from Europe were rarely exported to Hong Kong; Spanish oranges were once exported to Hong Kong but the quality was not as good as the oranges from the US. In the 1960s Australian apples were wholesaled in the fruit market.

In the old days there was a pier extending from the harbour side of Waterloo Road to the water. There was a cargo dock specially for unloading fruit cargo from outside Hong Kong. In those days fruit from Canton and Xinhui was delivered to Pier no. 7 at Sai Wan before transported to Yau Ma Tei. Now the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market took up 80% of the fruit wholesale market of Hong Kong; its importance far exceeded that of the old days. Ocean liners transporting fruit from the US could not berth close to shore and had to anchor offshore. Boats were sent to unload the cargo and upon returning to the pier coolies would move the cargo into the market. In the old days the Mong Kok train station was called Yau Ma Tei Railway Station. When fruit cargo arrived at the station by train, coolies employed by wholesalers would use heavy wooden carts to move the cargo back to the market. When Hung Hom Station opened, lorries were used for transportation.

In the early days fruit from the mainland was imported under the management of Ng Fung Hong. Wholesalers of the Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Association formed the Fruit Company as the designated agent of Ng Fung Hong in Hong Kong. The company set a single price for each type of fruit and distributed cargo to all wholesalers, earning the commission in the process. After Ng Fung Hong closed down, The Fruit Company also closed down. Now wholesalers were required to purchase goods from the mainland by themselves. When Lai Kan was a member of the merchant’s association, he invited fruit merchants from Taiwan to Hong Kong to exchange experience and ideas. Members of the Association also organized exchange tours to visit fruit plantations in the US; Lai Kan often joined these tours. After Yee Lee Stall specialized in US fruit, it imported fruit directly from US exporters. Sunkist oranges were sold at a single price, and the wholesalers bought in with the same price.

In the 1970s Lai Kan was chairman of the Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Association. Before that he was busy with his wholesale business. Upon repeated invitation from the seniors of the industry, he finally agreed to join the Association. Lan Kan pointed out that the main functions of the association were to maintain an order in the operation of this industry order and to arrange work to the coolies. The coolies of the fruit market also organized a workers’ union, most of the members of which were coolies of Ng Fung Hong. The merchant’s association often communicated with the worker’s union to ensure that work was smoothly arranged. In recent years guards were hired by the merchant’s association to keep the transportation of fruits from container terminals to the market in good order and to prevent disturbance from scoundrels. Lai Kan wasn’t part of his hometown fraternity association. His work with the Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Association, the Yau Ma Tei Kaifong Association, Yau Tsim Mong District Festival, and Kowloon Chamber of Commerce kept him occupied.