Wong Chun Por

Wong Chun-por was from Raoping Township of Chiuchow County. He was born in his home town in 1959. The Wong family was farmers in a rural village. In as early as 1950s Wong’s father came to Hong Kong as an illegal immigrant. In the beginning life was difficult; he worked at grocery stores and rice shops at Kowloon City and Causeway Bay, delivering rice and kerosene for them. He earned only $40 per month. He sought out higher paying jobs and changed jobs often. Later he opened a stall selling fruit at Nelson Street of Mong Kok. In 1975/1976 because of MTR construction works the stall moved into Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei (behind Peace Building). Wong Chun-por grew up in his hometown. He was unwilling to become a farmer so he learnt carpentry in secret as a means of living. He graduated from a rural secondary school, which mainly taught agricultural know-how which he wasn’t interested in.

In 1978 Wong’s father applied to reunite with him in Hong Kong and was approved in 1980. Wong came to Hong Kong on 1 October, 1980. At 21 he was already longing for freedom of life in Hong Kong. Wong joined his father upon coming to Hong Kong. The two of them were unable to afford renting a unit and lived at their fruit stall in Yau Ma Tei for over a year. The stall was 1.27 sq meters. After closing up shop at night a bunk bed was placed in the stall facing the signboard of the stall. Despite the toughness of living Wong was glad for the freedom in Hong Kong. After the reforms and opening up on the mainland in the late 1970s, many acquaintances from Wong’s hometown came to Hong Kong; they would occasionally gather to have tea and chat. Speaking only mandarin it took him years to integrate into the Cantonese-speaking society of Hong Kong.

After coming to Hong Kong Wong helped out at the fruit stall of his father. Each day they worked from the morning to 2am at night. In the 1980s ordinary citizen rarely bought fruit, and the patrons mostly come from night entertainment establishments like discos so they had to work until 2am. Every morning at 7 to 8 his father went to the fruit market to purchase goods. The stall sold mostly foreign fruit from the US. Wong was unused to such busy work and fell sick a few months after coming to Hong Kong. He suggested his father to change the model of operation. In around 1981 the fruit stall changed to selling leather travel cases and travel bags. The operating hours shortened to 10am to 12 at night.

Temple Street never slept and business continued after nightfall. In those days the mainland was undergoing reforms and opening up, and visitors from the Mainland often made bulk purchases as gifts to families and friends in their hometown. Daily necessities such as socks, clothing, lighters and fabric sold well. Business was brisk at Temple Street. Customers came from within and outside the district and it usually took them 1 to 2 hours to tour the entire street. Wong remembered that in the beginning when they changed to selling leather goods, it was a trial-and-error process. He learned from local friends and checked the phonebook for addresses of suppliers which he then visit to browse the samples. The goods came from the Mainland. The suppliers were in Sheung Wan, which included Wing Tung Hong, Wah Kong Hong, Hoi Chau, and Yi Hop. After making orders, the goods were delivered directly to their stall.

From 1980 to 1985 there were no designated stall locations at the sidewalk of Temple Street. The merchants would occupy any position or buy from the triads. The management was chaotic. In 1985/1986 the Urban Council gave designated stall locations. The stall owned by Wong’s father was assigned by the Urban Council in 1975/76, and has been operating until today. The stall never took holidays and business gone on as usual even on Chinese New Year’s Day. Wong lamented of not getting a day of rest for the past 20 to 30 years. He got up at 9 every morning and had simple breakfast cooked by his mother or wife. After that he walked a few minutes to the stall at the corner of Temple Street and Woosung Street. Business opened at around 10. Lunch was at around 12 and dinner around 6 to 7, mostly brought to the stall by his mother. After dinner, business continued until 12am. Many other stalls closed at around 1 to 2am in the morning.

Wong’s mother and elder brother came to Hong Kong in 1981 and 1983 respectively. The family helped to run the stall. With the number of family members increased the Wong family no longer lived at the stall but rented a 600 ft unit at a monthly rent of $1300 at Tak Lee Building at the corner of Woosung Street and Nanking Street. In those days business improved and income for the Wong family was stable. Through referral Wong met his wife and the two dated in Tsim Sha Tsui East. The couple got married in 1983 and their son Wong Peng-fei was born in 1984. In 1986 after their daughter was born the family moved to Mau Lam Street and in 1991/92 the family moved to Peace building.

Wong seldom left his stall. On ordinary days he learned Cantonese by listening to the radio, or by chatting with others at his stall. The Wong family stall became a gathering place for members in the Chiuchow community; they would gather to chat and have tea here. The older generation of Chiuchow people came here as stowaways and they identified each other by accents. They were not well educated and unable to change their accent even after living in Hong Kong for years. For fear of being scorned for their accent they rarely made friends among locals. Thus the Chiuchow people formed a small community to exchange news about their hometown and reminisce the past. Each year the community would play an active role in the Yulan Festival held on the 15th of the 7th Lunar Month, or donate to organize the festivities, or to help to distribute free rice and other auspicious items. The Yulan Festival was not only a religious event but also an opportunity to fraternize among the Chiuchow community. The organizers of the Yulan Festival owned a place, which became the gather place for the Chiuchow community.

Before Wong Chun-por came to Hong Kong the vacant lot outside Tin Hau Temple was already cleared of Dai Pai Tongs. There remained some cooked food stalls on the outside, which sold glutinous rice, civet soup, and snake soup. Temple Street sold mainly daily necessities, including cheap shirts, suits, pants, nylon shirts, decron wear, and various medicinal oils. These made great gifts, and many would stock up on such goods before returning to their hometown. In the old days there were no designated stall locations and the stalls were all over the place. Sometimes customers made purchases in bulk and would carry the goods away on shoulder poles and hemp bags.

In his youth Wong Peng-fei (Wong Chun-por’s son) stayed mostly at his father’s stall, at times going to play at the small park at Gansu Street (now carpark), where there were wooden horses and a merry-go-round. Sometimes he would buy snacks nearby like ice-cream from Mr. Softee Trucks; he would also get snacks from his grandfather and the community elders. Wong Chun-por would remind his son and daughter not to roam around in Yau Ma Tei. He was afraid they would be scalded at the hotpot shops which operated on the sidewalk at night; he also warned them away from the drug addicts at Temple Street. Wong was working almost all the time and every month he would take his children to Shatin; he didn’t get the chance to watch movies after coming to Hong Kong. After Wong Peng-fei entered secondary school he took his classmates on their first trip to Temple Street. In those days miscellaneous goods like toys, garments and sex toys were sold on the street. It felt more like a tourist district.

Wong believed that the boundary of Yau Ma Tei began in the south from Austin Road and Pitt Street in the north; from King’s Park in the East and Canton Road in the west. At night the centre point of Yau Ma Tei was Temple Street, and there used to be no distinction between northern and southern sections of Temple Street – garments and daily goods were sold on one section, cooked food on another. In the past the Urban Council organized raids at Temple Street only once or twice every month; later the Food and Hygiene Bureau organized daily prosecutions and the cooked food stalls at the sidewalk became extinct. In the old days the triads were rampant; many had to pay “protection fees” and the cooked food stalls were most seriously affected. Wong Wah-sang, Director of the Washington Night Club cared for the Wong family, saying that their money was hard-earn and did not want to see them bullied. Every week after dinner, Wong Wah-sang would wait for his private ride at the Wong family stall. He told them he could refer friends in high places in triads who could offer assistance if necessary. Wong found him to be very personable and friendly toward commoners even though he was the president of a listed company (Chung Wah Shipbuilding & Engineering Company).

The part of Yau Ma Tei that Wong Chun-por had the deepest impression of was heroin. In 1980 when he came to Hong Kong, there were 4 youngsters who made a living beside his stall. They made dwellings using cardboard and wooden planks, and ran a business parking and cleaning cars. The shop was named “Friends of the Dragon”. The four of them were drug addicts. Wong saw that they were weak and drooling at work. But after staying a while in the shop they went out and possessed great strength. Later the proprietor switched trades, running businesses like catering, fashion and supermarkets. Wong Peng-fei loved to visit the stall in his childhood and listen to stories from Chiuchow elders. Now many of them have moved away from Yau Ma Tei into public housing. To care for their children Wong Chun-por did not apply for public housing. He rented apartments at Yau Ma Tei and several years ago bought his own place in the district.

Wong Chun-por and his son both found shopping and having meals in Yau Ma Tei very convenient, and often shopped in the district. They could buy food even in the midnight. Talking about sounds of Yau Ma Tei, both father and son were reminded of the human voices of Temple Street. From the 1980s to mid-1990s Temple Street was the gathering place for commoners. It was packed with people from 5pm to 2am; the lights were bright and traders and tourists shouted bargains. In the old days clay pot rice has yet to grow popular and the fragrance of oyster omelets pervaded the street. It was the Chiuchow people who pioneered the selling of oyster omelets on Temple Street. Wong Chun-por found Yau Ma Tei in the day time lacking lustre. From 1981 to 1993 Yau Ma Tei was prosperous, but in the 1990s Mong Kok took its place; Yau Ma Tei was relegated to an old district.

Wong Peng-fei, son of Wong Chun-por, was born in 1984. Because Wong Chun-por wanted his son to receive English education, Wong Chun-por entered the prestigious York Kindergarten in Kowloon Tong at the age of 3. Upon completing kindergarten Wong tried and failed to apply for his son a place in the Methodist Primary School nearby. Wong Peng-fei was admitted to afternoon classes of Kei To Primary School in 1992. In 1996 he studied at Kowloon Technical School and graduated in 2002. When Wong Peng-fei was studying primary school, he would pass by Shanghai Street, Public Square Street and Reclamation Street. He found the streets near the fruit market filthy. He saw the wooden carts moving fruit when he was on his way to school; and at 6 after school ended he would see the merchants opening their business on handcarts.

Since primary 5 he commuted between school and home on foot on his own, and would dally around the toy shops, stationery shops and convenience stores after school ended. Wong Peng-fei noticed that there were more toy stores in Yau Ma Tei in the early 1990s. Before returning home he would go to watch people play soccer at the soccer pitch beside Henry G. Leong Yaumatei Community Centre, and sometimes accompanied his classmates as they waited for bus at the bus stop. He had deep impressions of Temple Street as a child. He was fond of the many varieties of snacks at Temple Street, where there used to be handcarts selling glutinous rice, fish balls, satay, and pig’s entrails. Now many of the snack stalls have disappeared. He considered the early 1990s the peak of activity of Temple Street. When he was returning home from school Temple Street was already bustling with activity; there were people waiting even though the stalls had yet to open. The streets were packed with people and it was difficult to leave once you joined the crowds. He also noticed that the people there come from all walks of society, and often saw tattooed men on the street.

Wong Chun-por believed the fruit market to be a landmark of Yau Ma Tei, which took up 70 per cent of all fruit wholesale business of Hong Kong. The wholesaler stalls of the fruit market were uniquely designed and resemble the market places on the Mainland in the old days. They were now rarely seen in the area of Canton. In the 1980s the Ferry Street was the harbour front, and outside the Man Wah Sun Chuen dragon boat races were held in the harbour. The area was reclaimed in the 1990s. In the old days there were many drug addicts in Yong Shue Tau Park. They stumbled around in the iron fences surrounding the banyan trees, drooling. Now there were more senior citizens at Yong Shue Tau and fewer drug addicts. Wong Peng-fei believed Temple Street to be the landmark of Yau Ma Tei. Most young people only knew that there was a Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei.

Wong Chun-por and his family mostly focused their area of activity in Yau Ma Tei. His wife often shopped at the Yau Ma Tei Market and his children played at the small parks nearby, which used to have slides and merry-go-rounds. In childhood Wong Peng-fei enjoyed little material riches unlike today’s children. Playing marbles, chess, spin-tops and yo-yos were great forms of entertainment. The Wong family had rural roots and maintained the custom of worshipping deities after they came to Hong Kong. Wong Chun-por’s father has participated in the Yulan festivities in the early years, dedicating both money and effort. Now, in every 5th, 7th and 8th lunar month, the Wong family would worship their ancestors. They would burn joss paper outside their stall in the 7th month.

Wong Chun-por migrated to Hong Kong in 1980. In the first ten years he made friends only among the Chiuchow community. When events of celebration were held word was passed among the community and the community members were invited. When he first came to Hong Kong he found it difficult to make local friends, finding that the locals were discriminative against new migrants. In those days there was no organization to help new migrants. In the beginning Wong lived in his father’s stall and learned about the city through the radio; he feared of meeting strangers on his own. Now his social circle comprises both Chiuchow people and locals. He would go to teahouses and chat with locals near his stalls, but rarely talk about family matters; the relationship was less close with that with his Chiuchow friends.

Wong’s wife was also from Chiuchow and they had no difficulties getting along. The wedding ceremonies were simple and there was no banquet; Wong’s parents did not attach much emphasis on rituals. Wong said that in the 1980s it was a form of “robbery” to invite people to banquets. In those days people placed high emphasis on banquets and would dress up, and the costs were high. When his children were young Wong would only them to the countryside once or twice every month. On ordinary days Wong stayed and worked in Yau Ma Tei; he founded it no different from serving a life-long sentence. He believed that he belonged to the lower class of the society and was destined to stay in such lowly places as Yau Ma Tei.