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Liu Ping Yuen
Liu Ping Yuen
Retired Restaurant Owner
Sex: Male Birthyear: 1946 Age at Interview: 65 Education: Primary Occupation: Worker Theme: Community, Social Life Liu Ping Yuen spent his childhood in Tin Sam Village. Farming in the dark countryside, he was innocent about the outside world and had never been to the wet market! As a boy, he was very naughty always roaming around. Trains left a very deep impression on him and he often played barefoot on the railway, placing soft drink bottle caps on the rail waiting for the running trains to press them into flat coins.
Title Liu Ping Yuen’s simple rural beginnings Date 02/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 1m27s 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-LPY-HLT-001 Liu Ping Yuen had to look after farm for his neighbours since he was small. He did not go to school until he was around 10 years old. Sadly, as he was older than the other children there, they cruelly mocked him for being a “big cattle turtle”. To relieve him from being bullied, Liu Ping Yuen’s teachers agreed to fast track his schooling and allow him to complete Primary 1 to Primary Three within two years. After completing Primary 3, Liu Ping Yuen went to the city with his elder brother to find the means of living. His elder brother was a machinery apprentice then.
Title Being teased as a “big cattle turtle” (“a big and clumsy boy”) because of his late schooling Date 02/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 1m12s 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-LPY-HLT-002 Liu Ping Yuen’s employer arranged his admission to Tin Sam Primary School, even paying the tuition of HK$2.Tin Sam Primary School started classes at 8:00 am every morning. Before attending class, Liu Ping Yuen tied up the buffalo with a rope so that they could eat grass in the vincity. He then led the buffalo back to the farm after school.
Title Liu Ping Yuen’s rural work-study years Date 02/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 47s 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-LPY-HLT-003 When Liu Ping Yuen worked in Kweilin Tea Restaurant, he normally rode a bicycle to deliver orders. As he was a simple and honest man, he initially refused to take tips offered by customers, making them misunderstand that they were too stingy. He finally learned to accept tips after his boss advised him to do so. But he did not keep these tips for himself but shared them with the workmates behind the restaurant counter.
Title An honest rural youth Date 02/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 1m11s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository 香港記憶計劃 Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. LKF-LPY-HLT-004 When Liu Ping Yuen first arrived in the downtown, he keenly felt that he was so backward compared to the lifestyle of the urbanites. He was humble to learn new knowledge at work. When Liu Ping Yuen worked in the May Wah garage, he carried a plastic bucket to the public toilet everyday so he could take a cold bath and use washing powder to wash his hair, body and clothes. After his clothes were washed, he would put them back on when they were only 80% dried.
Title Making efforts to cross the rural-urban divide Date 02/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 1m16s 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-LPY-HLT-005 Since the mid-1970s, Liu Ping Yuen tried different jobs at the same time, working in engineering, on construction sites, at restaurants and also as a driver, in order to increase his daily income to prevent from being unemployed and to secure better protection in livelihood. In case there were no jobs in restaurants, Liu Ping Yuen could find a living in construction sites or by driving taxi. By working at different trades at different times, he counted himself as fully employed despite economic ups and downs.
Title Engaging in various trades to secure his living Date 02/03/2011 Subject Community Duration 1m36s 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-LPY-HLT-006