Lo Lei Wo

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Family and education background. Moving to Hong Kong and working as a factory apprentice after t...
Lo Lei Wo was born in a village in Shunde in 1929. The only son in the family, he had three sisters. When he was 6 or 7 years old, he learned that his family went into poverty after the Japanese invasion and the fall of Shunde. Lo's parents was concerned about their son’s education. To have enough for Lo to start schooling (i.e. to treat relatives and friends a festive meal), they pawned cotton cassock. Lo studied 2 years Pitapat Lent when he was 12. During the prevalence of malaria, Lo unfortunately fell victim of the disease and he had no choice but suspended school for a rest. Lo's father had been running a yarn silk mill for living before the outbreak of Pacific War. His business was shut down when the war began and he became a casual worker. His father lost contact with the family when the Pacific War was over. Lo started to do agricultural work in the fields. He only obtained allowance for haircut and clothes, and was provided with daily meals without money income. One of his relatives worked at Hing Wah Factory in Hong Kong. He was referred by the relative to apprentice at Hing Wah factory and left his home village in the end of 1946.



Title Family and education background. Moving to Hong Kong and working as a factory apprentice after the war
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 7m50s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-001
Joining Hing Wah Battery Factoy which was run by Shunde natives
Hing Wah Battery Factory was located at Mong Kok Road in Tai Kok Tsui. It was a poorly-equipped factory with a tile roof and an A-frame. Tai Kok Tsui used to be an industrial area then. Poon Zhuang Sau, proprietor of Hing Wah, came from Shunde. He operated battery factories in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Wuzhou before the Pacific War. Pan moved all the production lines to Hong Kong during the Pacific War. He then set up two more production plants in Thailand and Malaysia. Staff working at Hing Wah Factory were mostly Shunde natives refered by their relatives. Mr Poon trusted his housemaid, who was Lo Lei Wo's relative, and thus gave extra care to Lo Lei Wo. Lo had worked hard since he joined the factory. He studied English and secretarial skills at an evening school. Mr Poon had five brothers who had different strengths. He admired Lo Lei Wo after close observations and promoted him to work at the laboratory as an exceptional case.



Title Joining Hing Wah Battery Factoy which was run by Shunde natives
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 3m46s
Language 廣東話
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-002
Expansion of Hing Wah Battery Factory in the early post-war years
After the Pacific War, Hing Wah Battery Factory had 300 or 400 staff. More staff were hired under subsequent expansions and the labour force had once been over a thousand . The factory was built in Lots 3099 at Mong Kok Road, occupying over 10,000 square feets. Poon Chuang Sau, the proprietor, graduated from the Electrical Engineering Department, Carl Digence University in Shanghai. After graduation he managed a power plant at Conghua. As he was still young then, he did not earn his father's trust. He spent days and nights devoting himself into battery research and started his first battery factory in Guangzhou. The next four plants were set up in Wuzhou, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia.



Title Expansion of Hing Wah Battery Factory in the early post-war years
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 2m53s
Language 廣東話
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-003
Accommodation and catering of Hing Wah Batter Factory workers
Hing Wah Battery Factory hired mostly female workers. Less than 10% were male workers, who were mainly responsible for manufacturing batteries and repairing machines. Both were filthy duties involving heavy workload. Most female workers had daily wages whilst monthly salary was normally paid to male permanent workers. Hing Wah did not provide staff quarters while workers could only sleep on cardboards laid on the work bench at night. Their beds were removed the next working day. Since those work tables were filthy and topped with manganese dioxide and graphite, workers had to try hard avoiding physical contact with these chemical dirts before sleep. Male workers who were single could stay in the factory while the married ones went back home after work. Lo Lei Wo also moved out from the factory after marriage. Two meals were provided for male workers. For breakfast, workers would buy white loaf and take sugar from the canteen for a better taste. They would have to eat plain bread when all sugar supply was short. Workers went to Chao Zhao teahouse and bought dumplings for food when they had more income.



Title Accommodation and catering of Hing Wah Batter Factory workers
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 3m15s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-004
Raw Materials and production process of a battery cell (1)
The raw materials required for making a battery cell included manganese dioxide, graphite powder, ammonium chloride, zinc chloride, etc. The production started by mixing manganese dioxide and graphite powder inside the battery. A specific department was in charge of this process. When the materials turned into a black compound, it became the battery core,  which was further pressed into a cylindrical shape by machine. The product was passed to female workers who would add chloride in ammonia, zinc chloride electro-hydraulics. The black material and the electro hydraulics would be mixed up to form into electric hybrid glue. The final product would then be packaged into boxes. The source of manganese dioxide and graphite was coal minerals, which could be ground into powder for battery manufacturing. Zinc chloride was a white chemical known as electric salt for fuel purpose.



Title Raw Materials and production process of a battery cell (1)
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 3m37s
Language 廣東話
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-005
Raw Materials and production process of a battery cell (2)
Around 50-60% of the workforce at Hing Wah Factory were from Shunde. They were male workers referred by their relatives. Female workers were hired from the outside and assigned with various types of work according to their ages. Female workers aged 12 or 13 usually had finger dexterity, and could manually operate the moulding machines for producing paper wraps of batteries. Those aged 20-30 would be arranged to monitor machine operations, seated. If any flaws were spotted during the production process, the machines would be immediately powered off. Workers of 40-50 years old were assigned to do wrapping and packaging.  Inside the batteries were paper wrapping the electric pastes. Wax green or rosin was added to prevent vapourization of electrical pastes that would shorten battery life. Later the packaging and wrapping processes became semi-automatic. Every 3 or 4 workers were in charge of one machine. The machine would be switched off immediately if any flaws were detected. The batteries were made with a multi-layered internal structure, from the outside to the inside, paper wrap, zinc shell (cathode), paper pad (cardboard), black core (anode) and carbon rod (for conduting electricity).



Title Raw Materials and production process of a battery cell (2)
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 8m45s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-006
Apprenticing in Zinc Shell Department of Hing Wah to make shell case. Apprenticeship and employee...

When Lo Lei Wo first joined Hing Wah Factory, he apprenticed at Zinc Shell Department and learned soldering battery shells. The processing of shell case included cutting and rolling zinc chips, and heating and soldering tin so as to paste them together. An apprentice had to learn 4 work steps: rolling zinc chips, fixing cell bottom, soldering the cell body and soldering the circular bottom..  In the production process, apprentices would first roll zinc into cylindrical shape, and a senior staff would solder the battery into a tube. The circular tube would then be embedded into the bottom of the battery (soldering the circular tube would require more sophisticated skills, and was done by the senior). Then electric paste and powder would be injected into the battery cylinder, which was sealed into the final product.

All apprentices were required to remain at their positions for 3 years. Apart from working as a trainee, they had to take care of the daily living of their masters. The apprenticeship for carpentry and the bricklaying also lasted for 3 years in the old days. In the first half of the apprenticeship, the apprentices usually worked as handymen and they were provided for by the factory or their respective mentors. In the second half of the apprenticeship, the apprentices had to commit themselves to working for profits. Apprentices would waste the expensive ferrochrome in the work process as they were not sufficiently skillful. Usually they were required to work for 1 to 2 years more to recover the cost of raw material wastage during apprenticeship.  Since Hing Wah Factory was more established, better employee benefits were provided. Apprentices were not obliged to work for 3 whole years. Both apprentices and masters were hired by the proprietor and were employees of the factory.

Lo Lei Wu was required to sit for probation for 3 months upon his arrival at a monthly salary of 24 dollars, which was raised to 42 dollars upon passage of probation. Zinc Shell Department had two masters and over ten apprentices of over 10 years old. Lo Lei Wo had apprenticed for 2 to 3 years at the Zinc Shell Department to familiarize himself with the zinc shell production processes. Hing Wah Factory later saw a lack of workspace, and outsourced the battery shell production to other cottage factories. In 1955, Hing Wah Factory introduced the bullet case casting machines and adapted them for manufacturing battery shells. The welding process was then gradually eliminated and so was the outsourcing arrangement.




Title Apprenticing in Zinc Shell Department of Hing Wah to make shell case. Apprenticeship and employee benefits in Hing Wah
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 9m31s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-007
Transferring to laboratory analyzing raw material and products of battery. Markets and competitor...

After Lo Lei Wo had completed the apprenticeship at Hing Wah Battery Zinc Department, he was transferred to the Sales Department and was arranged to deliver products to the customers. He was then posted to the laboratory, doing chemical analysis for raw materials and products. Raw materials such as manganese dioxide and graphite powder were first being analysed at the laboratory. These raw materials were tested against any impurities inside and were assessed whether they were appropriate for battery production. Orders for more materials would be made after the analysis. Upon the arrival of the raw materials, further tests would be carried out for sampling analysis. Resistance discharge method was used to examine the durability of the newly made product. Products of average quality were sent for local sales. Products of excellent quality were exported to the markets in South East Asia. Lo Lei Wo was very excited about his new job in the laboratory.

He supplemented the procedure of battery production:  since manganese dioxide is an erosive chemical, it should not be put in direct contact with zinc pieces unless an electric paste was added to act as a binding agent. The main components of the paste were ammonia and zinc chloride. Ammonia and zinc chloride were firstly dissolved into water, and the solution was added with starch and heated into a paste.

The person in charge of Hing Wah's laboratory was Master Yeung, who had completed high school, He was hardworking and had great interest in reading chemistry books. Lo did not understand chemistry much. He had to rely on Master Yeung and self studies to learn chemistry. After his children grew up, he went to study English, Mathematics and Chemistry in the evening school. However, Lo's knowledge was confined to the raw materials for battery production and he did not have a solid foundation in chemistry. Hing Wah Factory produced “Five Rams” branded battery which had a strong market share in Southeast Asia. The local Hong Kong market was evenly shared by Hing Wah and Kai It, both of which were factories established in Hong Kong before the War. Kai It produced Bright Night branded battery with its factory situated at Muk Cheong Street, To Kwa Wan. The proprietor of the factory was Mr. Hui, who was a native of Chaozhao.




Title Transferring to laboratory analyzing raw material and products of battery. Markets and competitors of Hing Wah
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 7m39s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-008
Expansion of Hing Wah Battery Factory in Southeast Asia: founding new plant and feeding technology
Lo Lei Wo was transferred to work at the laboratory at Hing Wah Battery in 1955. In 1958, the laboratory master was sent to Bangkok to assist the opeartion of the new Hing Wah plant there. As Hong Kong manufactured battery was faced with protectionism in Thailand, a new factory was set up by Hing Wah to avoid heavy tax while at the same time enjoy the cheap salary packages. Lo Lei Wo was promoted to master and posted at the laboratory after the former master went to Thailand. He left Hing Wah Factory in 1973. In 1960, Lo Lei Wo was posted to Saigon, Vietnam, and was involved in technology transfer by coaching the local people for dry battery production. As the USA provided support for South Vietnam's industrial development in the 1960s, certain kinds of daily necessities had to be produced locally. Hing Wah Factory accepted production orders of Gun branded battery from Winchester company from the USA on OEM basis. The US government requested Winchester to arrange personnels to help develop the battery factory in Vietnam but Winchester stopped the battery production. Instead Winchester bought up the machinery and production technology from Hing Wah and commissioned Hing Wah to run a factory plant in Vietnam. Lo Lei Wo had stayed in Vienam for 3 years before returning to Hong Kong (meanwhile Hing Wah Factory was moved to To Kwa Wan). In 1965, due to trade protectionism again, Hing Wah established another new factory in Malaysia and Lo Lei Wo became the factory manager in Malaysia.



Title Expansion of Hing Wah Battery Factory in Southeast Asia: founding new plant and feeding technology
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 5m
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-009
Being posted to South Vietnam to provide technical assistance to local battery industry. Chinese ...

In 1960, Lo Lei Wo was posted to Saigon, Vietnam by Hing Wah Battery to provide technical assistance to the local battery plant. Hing Wah sent 3 staff members to Vietnam. 2 male staff members were in charge of machineries and productions and the female staff member supervised the production flow. Lo Lei Wo was selected out of over a thousand staff, which he was very proud of. He enjoyed a big farewell party held by Hing Wah before he made this trip. Lo Lei Wo signed a contract with Hing Wah at the Labour Department before departure. It was agreed that if Lo Lei Wo fell ill in Vietnam, all the medical expenses would be borne by Hing Wah in Hong Kong. Lo was married before going to Vietnam. He had 3 children but his family did not go to Vietnam with him. Lo Lei Wo received double salary for working in Vietnam. The battery factory in Saigon, Vietnam was monitored by the local staff, who were not so keen on production. They had beers at work as the business of the Vietnam factory was relatively slack. The local battery products were relatively less durable, and were all sold locally. Hing Wah protected sensitive technology information from being disclosed to the Vietnam factory: the components of Hong Kong and Vietnam made battery were just 80% identical.

In the early 1960s, at the time when Ngo Dinh Diem took political control of South Vietnam, Ng banned the Chinese from going into trade in iron, garment and other necessities. The local Chinese were generally engaged in small scale trade. These Chinese in Vietnam were organised into various committees and associations by their origins. More Chinese were from Sanshui and Shunde whilst Hakka and Chao Zhao natives were of considerable numbers. Between 1960 and 1963, political instability arose and guerrilla wars sometimes broke out. The Chinese in Saigon were very aware of their national identity and were more identified with the Nationalist Party. They were keenly concerned about the new situations in mainland China after 1949, and so kept in close contact with people of Hing Wah Factory. Thus, the Hing Wah staff had little worry about staying in Vietnam and enjoyed being taken care of by the Chinese there.




Title Being posted to South Vietnam to provide technical assistance to local battery industry. Chinese community in 1960s South Vietnam
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 11m51s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-010
Being posted to Malaysia branch factory handling technical and personnel issues
In 1965, Lo Lei Wo was posted to Malaysia by Hing Wah Battery to assist in establising a new production plant at Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. The new factory plant at Petaling, Kuala Lumpur had an area of more than 10,000 sq feet. The factory was a single storey with a salable area of 5,000 to 6,000 feets. The factory was situated next to Shaw Brothers’ Studio. Panasonic was also located in the vicinity. There were also rubber, soft drinks, milk powder factories nearby. The Petaling factory hired some 300 staff, over 80% of whom were Chinese. The remaining 20% were Malayan, which was a requirement by the local government. Lo Lei Wu was responsible for both technical and personnel management. He had worked at the laboratory in Hong Kong and inspected the production process and product quality at the factory. He corrected workers' mistakes, maintained a good relationship with workers while at the same time earning management experience.

During the 1960s, the Communists had become more powerful in Malaysia. Labour protests were prevalent. There was one strike joined by 8 banks at the same time. The management of Petaling factory imposed salary penalty on staff who were late without good reason. Strike at work happened every 2 or 3 weeks because of the penalty and staff just walked away from work during working hours. Thus, electric pastes were wasted and the company suffered tremendous losses. The strikes were led by Chinese workers who were members of the electrical unionand chemical union. In face of the domineering status of the local workers, the factory could no longer bear the torments, the Petaling factory was sold to the Everready Battery Factory from Singapore. Lo Lei Wo returned to Hong Kong’s Hing Wah.




Title Being posted to Malaysia branch factory handling technical and personnel issues
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 9m56s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-011
Recollections of tenement housing experience in Mong Kok in the 1950s
In mid 1968, Lo Lei Wo returned to Hong Kong from Malaysia. Lo Lei Wo did not witness the riots in 1967 but he remembered the riots in 1956. Hing Wah Factory moved to To Kwa Wan and Lo Lei Wo lived in a tenement building on Reclamation Street and Shandong Street. 13 families, or 52 residents in total, lived on a single floor. There was a family of 6 living on one bunk bed on the corridor. Lo Lei Wo got married in 1955. Lo and his wife rented a room on the 2nd floor. All 13 households of leasees shared the kitchen. There was a night soil collection buckle inside the kitchen;male and female residents took turns to wash temselves in the same corner. The sub-landlady had two stoves in the kitchen while each household had only one. The residents used wood scraps for cooking and choking fumes were released. The households had breathing problems and the fumes blackened the house and the roof. A fire that broke out at the congee shop behind the apartment had claimed more than 50 lives. Lo Lei Wo had to flee for survivial at that time. He had lived in tenement buildings between 1955 and 1962. He earned a monthly salary of 150 dollars while his wife made a living by sewing.



Title Recollections of tenement housing experience in Mong Kok in the 1950s
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 5m50s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-012
His career development in Hing Wah Battery Factory: from apprentice, laboratory technician to for...
Lo Lei Wo did not officially complete his apprenticeship at Hing Wah Battery Factory. He was transferred to Sales Department to deliver products after the Zinc Shell Department was dissolved. His wage was about 60 to 70 dollars and the pay rise was performance-based. When Lo worked at the laboratory, his salary was more than 400 dollars. When he was seconded to the Vietnam plant, his salary rose to more than 800 dollars. His salary further rose to more than 1000 dollars when he worked in Malaysia. Hing Wah Factory stipulated that all their secondees were double paid. After Lo returned from Malaysia, he worked as a foreman in charge of production managment. He supervised the overall production of the factory after his colleague of the same post had migrated. The factory manager looked after personnel matters of the factory.  A foreman directly reported to facory manager and the proprietor. Lo lei Wo had been a foreman until 1973 when he left Hing Wah Factory. His salary rose to 800 dollars, which was equivalent to rank 2 salary at Hing Wah. Managers and senior engineers were paid rank 1 salaries. The salary package for engineers would be increased yearly based on experience. Some engineers had worked at Hing Wah since the War and most of them were relatives of the proprietor.

In the mid 1960s, university graduates from Taiwan were hired at the laboratory to do chemical analysis. The raw materials were at first imported from China, such as Guangxi, which was rich in manganese dioxide. The raw materials imported from the mainland were all natural materials. Hing Wah later imported raw materials from Japan because they had been electrolysed for higher purity and quality. It helped reduce the stress on experimental analysis. Hing Wah initially produced the most primitive battery (Primary cello). Then, alkaline battery was developed. Nowadays, there are lithium or potassium batteries in the market. There were no fundamental change in the production process and products in Hing Wah   between 1946 and 1973. In 1973, Lo Lei Wo left Hing Wah Factory and started a new plant manufacturing screws for radios.




Title His career development in Hing Wah Battery Factory: from apprentice, laboratory technician to foreman
Date 16/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 8m9s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-013
Leaving Hing Wah and running his own factory producing radio’s screws

During the 1970s, Hing Wah Battery Factory was taken over by the second generation of the Poon's. Due to the power struggles and quarrels among the Poon's brothers, Lo Lei Wo did not think his career prospect in Hing Wah would be good. He decided to start up his own business and left Hing Wah in 1973. He joined a cottage factory run by his nephew and produced screws to be used in radios. The new plant was located at Hing Yip Street, Kwun Tong. The location was recommended by the machinery agents. The cottage factory had more than 10 automatic lathes imported from Japan. They were easy to use and did not require technical competence. The radio factories in Hong Kong were mainly responsible for assembly whilst the accessories were either supplied by local factories or imported from Germany and Japan. Lo Lei Wo started the business with a capital of over 200,000 dollars in addition to a bank loan. In general, factories of smaller capabilities would request loans from local Chinese banks, such as Dao Hang, Yin Yae and Liu Chong Hing Banks. Lo Lei Wo knew nothing about radio factory at the beginning. He placed advertisements about his factory on the newspapers to invite sales orders. He also obtained referrals from his friends in the industry. The radio factory had a great start, enjoying growing prosperity in the business. Competition within the trade was not keen. There were regular tea gatherings among the mechanics of the trade to exchange information.

Owners of cottage factories did not join any association or union. Lo Lei Wo thought he was a small entrepreneur. In the end of 1974, the world oil crisis badly impacted the export of the locally manufactured radios. Lots of cottage radio factories in Kwun Tong were closed down. The purchase orders for Lo's factory also shrank, and they were unable to collect the payments in arrears from the other cottage factories. What's more, prices of raw materials from Japan increased, with that of copper rods rising from 700 to 1500 dollars per bucket. Lo Lei Wo 's business deteriorated and he closed the factory in the end of 1974. The screw factory lasted for almost a year. Lo Lei Wo focused himself in the actual production of the factory. He had little knowledge of the general economic trend of the larger society. He finally understood that there were economic recessions in Hong Kong and overseas. After Lo Lei Wei closed the screw factory, he was referred by a friend to work in Paraguay for a monthly salary of US$1000.




Title Leaving Hing Wah and running his own factory producing radio’s screws
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 16m5s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-014
Being sent to Paraguay developing the local battery industry

Paraguay was a small country in South America. The industrial development was relatively slow. The son-in-law of the President intended to develop the battery industry. He sought assistance from the local Chinese Embassy. The ambassador had a good relationship with the son-in-law of the President and advised him to seek technological support from Yong Gu Battery Factory. Yong Gu Factory recruited talents from Hong Kong and noted that Lo Lei Wo had worked for Hing Wah Battery Factory, which was a reputed factory in the industry. Lo was immediately employed and assigned to Paraguay. He was in charge of the production at the Pilas Paraguayas SA in Paraguay, and he taught the locals the skills of production. Lo was gifted in languages and he managed to use Spanish to ask about directions on the road and make counter offer within 3 weeks. After Lo had worked in Paraguay for one year, he want to leave Paraguay as the share market in Hong Kong recovered and he also missed his family. The son-in-law of the President had tried to retain him, but he rejected the offer and returned to Hong Kong.

Yung Gu Factory seconded 8 Chinese staff to Paraguay, 4 from Hong Kong (3 previously employed by Hing Wah Factory) and 4 from Taiwan (permanent staff). 4 staff returned to their home country after 1 year. Lo Lei Wo believed that the battery technology of Hong Kong was better than that in Taiwan. Taiwan batteries were mainly sold in the domestic market while Hong Kong's battery were marketed internationally. Tp catch up with the international standards, local battery factories in Hong Kong had tried to learn from overseas professional publications and studied the formulae of foreign products from dissecting their batteries.    Hing Wah In the early period, local Hong Kong factories did not do chemical analysis themselvesbut sent the materials to the laboratory at the University of Hong Kong for chemical examination.




Title Being sent to Paraguay developing the local battery industry
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 8m47s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-015
Founding and running National Battery Factory with his former workmates from Hing Wah
Lo Lei Wo finished his job in Paraguay and returned to Hong Kong. He and a couple of former workmates from Hing Wah Battery formed a joint venture with a capital of 400,000 to 500,000 and started up the National Battery Factory in Heung Fan Liu in Shatin in 1977. Heung Fan Liu was formerly a farmland for watercress and ginger flower. It was severely polluted and then abandoned, and was then reclaimed for industrial uses. Zinc and iron sheets were used to build a temporary factory for Lo's joint venture. The raw materials used by the new factory were imported from Germany and Japan. They bought new machineries and assembled tailor-made ones themselves. There were as many as 50 to 60 workers in the hay days. The products sold locally at first, but were later exported to Middle East and other places through trading companies. The company put up advertisements in newspaper, and also the "Hong Kong Industrial", a publication of the Productivity Council. This attracted production orders from importers and exporters. Though the local battery industry had to compete with the factories in mainland China, the shareholders of International were still ambitious. They hoped that their perseverance would make the business a success. Apart from the large export volume of battery made in the mainland, the cost of labour also increased due to the development of MTR, which had attracted tremendous manpower to join it. The rising cost made the battery operation increasingly difficult.

In 1980, the government recovered Heung Fan Liu Lot and planned to build Mei Lam Estate. National Battery Factory was forced to move. Later with the assistance of an importer/exporter who did property businesses exclusively on Portuguese territories, Lo Lei Wo and his partners moved International Battery Factory to Macau. Their products were exported to Portuguese territories to enjoy free import duties. International Factory lasted for a few years in Macau, and had hired up to 300 people at maximum. Subsequently the import duty concessions were cancelled. The free trade of battery made in china were exported in large quantities into the Portuguese territories, which had intense competition of battery markets globally. As the business had contracted drastically, Lo Lei Wo returned to Hong Kong in 1983/84. He passed on the factory operations to the importer/exporter, and the International Battery Factory as well as its equipment were finally sold to a battery factory in Guangzhou.




Title Founding and running National Battery Factory with his former workmates from Hing Wah
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 9m21s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-016
Founding Hua Shan Battery Factory in his hometown. Difficulties of running a factory in the Mainland
Lo Lei Wo left Macau in 1983/84 and returned to Hong Kong. He made a living by buying and selling stocks. Law Chun Hong, a staff from Taiwan Gold Peak Battery Factory, encouraged Lo Lei Wo to join the battery industry again after one year. Another ex-colleague of Lo Lei Wo joined Lo and Law to form a joint venture, Kam Fai Wah Corporation, in Hong Kong. They planned to set up a new factory in Shiwan District, Foshan, with adequate preparations. All the 3 partners were natives of Foshan. They believed setting up a factory at their native home would both bring pride to themselves and jobs to the locals. They worked with the Shiwan Government and set up a factory named Hua Shan, which was jointly managed by Hong Kong and mainland partners, producing cylindrical battery branded Hua Shan. The venturers from Hong Kong supported technology and skills whilst Foshan’s land company provided the factory premise. Lo Lei Wo focused on production in Hua Shan Factory and provided technical guidance and support. The machinery master was from Hong Kong and he had accumulated much experience in Gold Peak Battery Plant in Taiwan. The workforce were mainly recruited locally. The machineries from Hua Shan came from Hing Wah Battery Factory because Poon Chuang Sau, director of Hing Wah Factory, had opened a factory at Nan Tau but closed it down shortly afterwards. The machineries were all sold to Hua Shan Factory.

Lo Lei Wo stressed the importance of having social connections for setting up factories in Mainland. The referee of the Hua Shan Factory was the Party Secretary of Shiwan District. Therefore, problems of water and power supply and even pollution control were smoothed out. Since manpower in the mainland was plentiful and workers were too used to the old collective mentality, they were not working as hard as expected. Law Chun Hong, the major partner, passed away, which brought about many operational problems. Lo Lei Wo resigned from the business in 1990 for retirement. As there were no improvements in technology, Hua Shan failed to compete with the industry peers and terminated its operation. Hua Shan Battery used the same product formula of Hing Wah Battery, but in fact the masters from Hong Kong did not reveal the whole production technology to the workers. The proprietor of Hing Wah Battery, Mr. Poon, felt uncomfortable about disclosing the formula of battery production to the mainland. Poon did not encourage Lo Lei Wo to start up his own businesses due to the potential exposure of Hing Wah's technology to others. For instance, when Lo worked in Paraguay, Poon asked the seconded staff to remind Lo not to completely disclose the battery technology with the locals. Lo believed that setting up new business could be a great start of an entrepreneurial career. He would have more opportunities of meeting different people and businesses. In contrast, when working in Hing Wah, life was more monotonous and regular as he had to stay in the factory for the whole day.




Title Founding Hua Shan Battery Factory in his hometown. Difficulties of running a factory in the Mainland
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 13m15s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-017
A review of his career in Hing Wah Batter Factory. Preset destiny of being a worker rather than a...

In 1990, after leaving Hua Shan Battery Factory, Lo Lei Wo went on retirement and devoted himself to stocks trading. Looking back to his career in the battery industry over the decades, he felt a strong affection towards Hing Wah Battery Factory, and regarded it his second home. He was on good terms with the owner Poon Chuang Sau, and called Poon as Sam Gor (Brother Three). When Pan failed to dissuade him from leaving the factory and starting his own career, Pan sighed with regret. In 1976, having learned that Lo's business was bad, he asked Lo to go back to Hing Wah. Pan and Lo kept in touch even when they no longer worked together. Lo's career reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, during which time Hing Wah's business prospered, especially in the USA. Battery orders from the supermarkets there kept coming in. In Hing Wah's hay days, bonuses for staff could reach half a year's salary. This was how Lo earned his capital for business start up. Lo led a decent lifestyle. He never played mahjong or danced at night clubs. He reviewed that after he came to Hong Kong from his native village, he had gone through so much to build his career. He had a family, and everything he did was for his children.

Lo regarded “worker” a better term than 'boss' when describing himself. He recalled that many people believed in a preset destiny, which means everyone was predestined to be a worker or a boss. After Lo's business failed, many pointed out with hind sight that he was born to be a worker, i.e. he made a successful worker but not a business owner. To Lo, the main cause for his failure in his business was his lack of knowledge and understanding about the commercial situation, e.g. he was unable to assess the changes in the Certificate of Origin Ordinance. He took no regret for leaving Hing Wah. He recalled that he could get through the hardship every time he was faced with difficulty. Lo bought properties when financially sound, which laid a good foundation for his children. He was emotionally attached to the battery industry. Starting from scratch after coming to Hong Kong, he worked at junior positions in Hing Wah, and was admired and trained by the boss, and gradually got the reputation of the 'Five Rams Brand Master', and was stationed overseas to manage factories. All this made him proud and soothed him whenever he looked back to his past.




Title A review of his career in Hing Wah Batter Factory. Preset destiny of being a worker rather than a boss
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 13m54s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-018
The beginning of Hong Kong batter industry: major factories founded before the war and their prod...
In pre-war Hong Kong, major battery factories were Hing Wah (Brand: Five Ram), Kai It (Brand: Bright Night) and Yong Gu (Brand: Flying Elephant). They were operated by families on rented residential units on the ground floor for production. In pre-war Hong Kong, productions were mainly operated manually, and since the end of the World War II, the machines used for military productions in Germany were left idle. A large quantity of these machines were introduced into Hong Kong factories, which had enabled the semi-automation of the production processes, for example, the making of zinc shells and carbon rods by molding machines. Batteries were wrapped with paper tubes in the early years and the packaging itself involved multiple manual procedures. These German machines were initially confidential in Hong Kong and the battery plants were required to spare separate rooms where the machines were installed for production. Only production staff were permitted entry into these rooms. Panansonic in Japan applied full automation in production in an earlier stage and was a pioneer in the industry.

Hing Wah and Kai It continued with production during the war and expanded their businesses. Hing Wah's factory was in Tai Kok Tsui (relocated to To Kwa Wan in 1951) while Kai It's factory was also in To Kwa Wan. Yong Gu used to run a factory in Shanghai before the World War II and moved the factory from Hong Kong to Taiwan after 1949. During the 1960s, someone surnamed Ding set up Colliers Battery Factory in Sam Ka Tsuen and registered the trademark "HW", an initial identical with Hing Wah. Thus, people always thought the "HW" brand was produced by Hing Wah. Large scale  manufacturers in the same period included Gold Peak and Golden Power. Gold Peak at first manufactured 9W batteries to be used in lighters in Hong Kong. It had been temporarily relocated to Taiwan and then back to Hong Kong, in Kwai Chung. The factory produced cascaded batteries. The founder of Golden Power, Mr Chan, was a former employee of Gold Peak. He then started up his business at Ting Kok Road, Tai Po, producing cascaded batteries.  He switched to doing electronic business afterwards.




Title The beginning of Hong Kong batter industry: major factories founded before the war and their products
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 10m8s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-019
Product evolution of the local batter industry: from round shaped zinc carbon batteries to cascad...
There were 3 main types of batteries manufactured locally in Hong Kong, 1.5W, 9W and 12W. 1.5W batteries were round shaped zinc carbon batteries numbered 1 to 5 according to size. The 9W and 12W batteries were 6 and 8 layered cascaded batteries respectively, each layer being 1.5W in power. These cascaded batteries were first launched in Germany and were copied by the manufacturers in Hong Kong. Cascaded batteries were available in Hong Kong between 1958 and 1960. They were widely used in electric lighters and transistor radios, as well as toy cars and smoke detectors. Hing Wah and Kai It initially produced cylindrical batteries and had major market shares. Colliers also made cylindrical batteries at first but switched to producing cascaded batteries to avoid competitions with the two battery giants. Gold Peak also made cascaded batteries as their major product. Hing Wah and Kai It joined the production of cascaded batteries as they went popular. Hing Wah had 2 factory plants at To Kwa Wan Road, which were 4 and 6 storey tall respectively. Each level was arranged for specific production process. The productions of cylindrical and cascaded batteries were similar in principle.

Lo Lei Wo was the chief engineer of the Production Department at Hing Wah in the 1960s. He mastered the skills in producing cascaded batteries.  Large factories had turned semi-automated since 1958, and cottage factories producing accessories such as metal caps and battery cases were phased out gradually. There were no more cottage factories at around 1965. In the 1960s, electric torches were used widely in rural areas for preventing theft, hunting, harvesting and other purposes. Radios and electrical toys became common among Japan and China in the 1960s, leading to consistently rising demands in batteries. Further, the giant American battery factories such as Eveready and Winchester stopped their productions and switched to importing batteries from Hong Kong by means of OEM. The large demand brought about the golden era of the battery industry in Hong Kong. Batteries became more diversified, and alkaline batteries and lithium batteries were developed afterwards.




Title Product evolution of the local batter industry: from round shaped zinc carbon batteries to cascaded batteries
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 14m44s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-020
The decline of Hong Kong battery industry after 1970s
The battery industry in Hong Kong began to decline in the 1970s. It was due to the large number of cottage plants set up by individuals in mainland China. They purchased battery formulae from large factories and worked on the packaging before exporting the batteries to Hong Kong and South Asia. This created competitions with Hong Kong made batteries. For example, "555" branded batteries produced by a Guangzhou factory were popular in Hong Kong. (However, as there were various quality issues with the mainland brands, some countries rejected these products being imported their markets.) The decline of the industry was also due to rising wages of local workers in Hong Kong. Lo Lei Wo operated National Battery Factory around the mid 1970s. He met with competitions for workers with other industries. The daily salary of women workers had increased from $7.5 to $12.5 in few years. This combined with the falling selling prices of batteries that made the business unprofitable. Hing Wah and Kai It diminished the production scales thereafter.

Further, battery factories were not environmentally friendly. Graphite powder could create serious air pollution and cause pneumoconiosis as well as other occupational diseases. The factories also contained lots of combustible materials such as cardboard and motors. The use of towngas in heating wax could easily lead to fires. Thus, the government tightened the health and fire regulations, which also led to rising running costs. The increasingly unfavorable business environment caused lots of factory owners to sell or rebuild their factories and switch to property business. For example, when Hing Wah Factory was closed down, the factory premises were sold to Sun Hung Kei. Gold Peak also switched to producing higher quality batteries while developing the electronic business at the same time. Golden Power was acquired by Guangzhou Battery Factory, and was kept in Hong Kong to process some parts outsourced from the Guangzhou factory. These products would be labelled as products of Hong Kong so as to enjoy the quotas under the Imperial Preference. Nowadays there were no more large scale battery factories in Hong Kong.




Title The decline of Hong Kong battery industry after 1970s
Date 23/11/2010
Subject Industry
Duration 15m14s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LLW-SEG-021