Lee Lai

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Daily operation of letter stalls in Yunnan Lane. Services provided in a letter stall: writing let...

Lee Lai was born in 1928 and his hometown was in Panyu of Guangdong Province. In childhood he studied for 7 to 8 years of traditional tutorial school at his hometown, and became involved in the catering trade as an adult. Later, through referral by a relative, he joined the letter writing trade and kept his license by an annual fee of HK$100. From 1964 he began opening a letter writing stall at Yunnan Lane of Yau Ma Tei and has now been in business of 47 years. Yunnan Lane was at the side of the Yau Ma Tei Post Office, and in the 1950s to 1960s it gathered most of the letter writing stalls in Hong Kong. At its peak there were over 30 stalls. With many letter-writers retired, there were only about a dozen such stalls left. To have a letter written the customer had to tell the letter writer about the content. Because Lee wasn’t familiar with dialects of the north, of Chiuchow and Hakka, his customers were limited to Cantonese speakers. Some of customers were from outside Yau Ma Tei and had came from all parts of Hong Kong. His stall provided three services: writing letters, filling out forms, and filing tax return.

1.) Writing letters. During the 1950s and 60s many from the mainland had migrated to Hong Kong. They were separated from their family and could only communicate through letters. Most family letters were sent by children to parents, wife to husband or children, or husband to wife and children. Most of Lee’s customers were women. Lee also wrote letters sending to mainland enterprises, mostly about applying to migrate to Hong Kong. There was no need to write using classical Chinese, so he was able to handle these requests.

2.) Filling out forms. Lee had filled out forms for many boat families at the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter and residents of the squatters, to apply for units in the government’s 7-storey resettlement buildings. The customers came from as far as the New Territories and Tiu Keng Leng. He also filled out forms for small business proprietors to apply for business registration from the Business Registration Office. The application fee was $160 per year.

3.) Filing tax return. The customers were mostly small proprietors with business registration, for example lorry drivers, taxi drivers, jade traders, and fruit sellers. They operated in the form of unlimited corporation. Limited corporations for example large enterprises or factories needed to file their tax returns through designated accountants. They do not require the services of letter writing stalls.

The letter writing stall was placed at the sidewalk of Yunnan Lane close to the Yau Ma Tei Post Office. The stall, according to regulations, was 4 ft wide, 3 ft deep, and 8 ft tall. Lee built the stall using iron sheets and wood, and business opened from 8am till 6pm. Some letter writing stall opened until 8 or 9pm. The letter writers worked while enjoy the cool night breezes. They burn kerosene lamps for illumination at night.




Title Daily operation of letter stalls in Yunnan Lane. Services provided in a letter stall: writing letter, filling in forms and tax return
Date 25/05/2011
Subject Community
Duration 12m14s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-LL-SEG-001
Letter stalls and shops at Yunnan Lane in the 1960s
The letter writing stalls at Yunnan Lane first emerged in the 1950s. In the beginning there were only a few unlicensed, unsheltered stalls. These stalls were made up by a 3-legged table on which a wooden plank was placed, and two chairs. On rainy days canvas were used to shield the stall, and when a storm came they couldn’t work at all. Lee married in his hometown, and later applied to migrate in Hong Kong. He rented a squatter house at Tai Hang Tung when he first arrived, later moving into Yau Ma Tei. He lived in several locations at Portland Street, Temple Street and Shanghai Street. He began writing letters in 1964 and initially began the trade through a fellow letter writer who handed his stall over to Lee. The stall was on the sidewalk at the side of Shanghai Street, behind which was the Yau Ma Tei Post Office. Facing the stall were small stores of ironware, plumper and metal. Above the shops were tenement buildings built after WWII, some reaching 9 storeys in height. The residents of Yunnan Lane were mostly employees, with many working at the fruit market. Yunnan Lane was a narrow street and sometimes the letter writers had to move their stalls to make way for passing traffic.



Title Letter stalls and shops at Yunnan Lane in the 1960s
Date 25/05/2011
Subject Community
Duration 5m58s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-LL-SEG-002
Charges for services and customer connection of letter stalls in Yunnan Lane

In the early days of Lee’s business he charged 30 cents for each letter; later the fee was increased gradually to 50 cents, 80 cents and 1 dollar. Filling out forms cost 80 cents or 1 dollar; more complicated forms were charged 2 dollars. Visa applications to foreign countries would be charged 4 to 5 dollars. As such forms required the provision of detailed information of relatives in Hong Kong and on the mainland, filling them was highly time-consuming. Most applicants applied for emigration to the US, UK and Australia. The charges for filling tax returns were based on the volume of business of the propriety and the difficulty of filling. Taxi and minibus drivers would usually be charged 20 to 30 dollars, and the charges would be higher for stores and metal workshops. For highly complicated cases of tax return filling the store proprietor would commission an accounting firm.

In those days many local residents mailed materials such as sugar, oil, beans and clothing back to their hometown, and Lee would help them to write the addresses and details on top of the parcels. Mostly he wrote family letters for customers. Base on the intention of the customers, he would choose suitable expressions to enhance the emotional effect. In those days the letter writing business was highly competitive and Lee earned a mediocre income in the beginning. Mostly he relied on regular customers to refer new ones. Every time a business was done he would offer his name card to customers who would give it to their relatives or friends who could use the service. They would then come to the stall according to the address on the card. After the tax return or the form was submitted, customers usually do not come to thank the letter writer.




Title Charges for services and customer connection of letter stalls in Yunnan Lane
Date 25/05/2011
Subject Community
Duration 8m12s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-LL-SEG-003
The relocations of letter stalls and decline of the business
Lee’s letter writing stall was relocated twice. In 1964 when he began his business he set up a stall at Yunnan Lane. Later because of developments at the Lane he relocated to the present site of the Yaumatei Carpark Building. At the time it was a vacant lot left behind after the demolition of an old tenement building. He drew lots and was allocated the no. 17 stall. Upon moving he placed a relocation notice at the place of the original stall at Yunnan Lane, notifying his customers of the new address. He lost some of his customers after the relocation though, and didn’t recover his old customers after 1, 2 years. After operating his business at this location for 7 years, the letter writing stalls including Lee’s were moved to Jade Hawker Bazaar (now Canton Road Flyover). He was assigned the no. 8 stall upon drawing lots. At the beginning the Jade Hawker Bazaar has yet to be established, and the neighbouring jade stalls moved in only after 1 to 2 years. The letter writing stalls had to take care of all expenses of the two relocations, including the demolition and rebuilding of the stall. No compensation was received from the government. Letter writers like Lee dared not voice their objections. Every relocation forced many stalls to close down their business.



Title The relocations of letter stalls and decline of the business
Date 25/05/2011
Subject Community
Duration 4m50s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. YMT-LL-SEG-004