Training programme of apprentices at South Sea Textiles

Conditions of the dormitories at South Sea Textiles. Hui joined South Sea Textiles in 1969. The first year he was taking classes at the staff quarter. The company required the apprentices to live at the quarter and they could go home once a week. The were 20 in the class and they were all male. There were a small canteen, a classroom and an activity room on the ground floor of the staff quarter. Upper floors were living quarters. The staff quarter was only for men, and six men would occupy one room. There were six beds, six closets and six desks in one room. Other than the staff quarter, there were also male and female living quarters for workers.

Education background of the apprentices of South Sea Textiles. The apprentices were all secondary school graduates. They were around the same age with only two to three years apart. South Sea Textiles was the largest factory in Hong Kong at that time. The company also ran South Sea English Secondary School. The school took part-time workers as students, and provided free education from Form One to Five. Part-time workers would study at the school in the morning, and work in the factory for four hours each day. Free accommodation was provided. Among those who joined as apprentices with Hui at the same year, three of them studied at South Sea English Secondary School. They either started from Form One, or transferred to the school at Form Four or Five. They had worked at the factory for two to three years. The three apprentices all finished their secondary school, with five passes at the HKCEE, and then they joined as apprentices. Some twenty years later, Hui met a fellow apprentice in Shatin. He learned that this fellow apprentice studied at South Sea English Secondary School because he wanted to go to school but his family was poor. The school provided education and free accommodation even though the students were required to work at the same time.

Instructors of the training programme for apprentices, and programme schedule
Those who joined as apprentices a few years before Hui were trained at the Hong Kong Polytechnics in Hung Hom. Entrance requirement was also five passes at the HKCEE. The year when Hui joined, because of limited resources, the apprentices were trained by South Sea Textiles instead, with senior staff as instructors. The study period each day was long. Classes lasted from 9am to 6pm. They had to get up at seven, and gather at the open ground at eight for morning exercise, led by the quarter supervisor (i.e. Head of Human Resources). They had 30 to 45 minutes for breakfast. Classes started at nine, and there were three lessonss on both morning and afternoon.

Training programme for apprentices, and brief introduction on the production process. The apprentice's training programme was mainly about knowledge of production and human resources management. The latter was taught by the factory director. When Hui first joined South Sea Textiles, the factory director was a Shanghainese. He resigned later because he committed an error. His post was taken by Cheung Yim Man, who had a background in human resources. (Editor's Note: Cheung was one of the founding members of Hong Kong Management Association. He studied management in Japan.)

An introduction to the production process. Textiles was a labor intensive industry. It took over ten steps to produce fabric from cotton. Most of the spinners in Hong Kong had their production processes separated. South Sea Textiles was the only one that had a vertical set up of production. It had the biggest scale of production, with over 2,000 workers working in three shifts a day.

Work distribution for apprentices. There were two major parts in South Sea Textiles' production system. One was maintenance, which was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the machines. The other one was operation, which was responsible for production and management of workers. The 20 apprentices were mostly sent to operation, and the other quarter sent to maintenance. It took at least five to six years to understand the machines. They had to pick up the knowledge from books and working with the machines.

Textbooks used for the training programme of apprentices. At the training programme offered by the Hong Kong Polytechnics, all textbooks were in English. When Hui was studying as an apprentice, his textbooks were in Chinese, most of which were textbooks or reference books published in Taiwan, and some were prepared by the instructors. When designing the course, the factory concerned more on practical aspect. Apprentices were only required to learn basic knowledge of machines. Sometimes textbooks were not totally applicable.

The level where South Sea Textiles was among Hong Kong's textile manufacturers, and the company's standard on making fabrics. At that time, Hong Kong's spinning industry was ahead of the world, and South Sea Textiles was a leader in the business in Hong Kong. The US Army,the largest client of the company, had placed long-term orders of army uniforms to South Sea Textiles. South Sea Textiles was meticulous about the production process, which fulfilled the requirements of the US Army. The inspection unit had female workers inspecting every piece of fabric to make sure the number of defects would not exceed the requirements. If they did, the area of the fabric would be cut off. There was also a quality control department to take care of the testing of elasticity.

South Sea Textiles encouraged employees to learn management skills. South Sea Textiles encouraged their apprentices to take the Hong Kong Management Association's examination. One of Hui's fellow apprentices passed the examination, which was equivalent to Hong Kong government's recognized university degree. He later joined the Hong Kong Correctional Services. Human resources management was called modern management theory those days.

Learning experience at South Sea Textiles. In their second year of training, 20 apprentices were split into equal halves and were sent to either spinning or weaving section of the operation department of the factory. Hui was sent to the weaving section, and had to work in different procedures including sizing, drafting, warping, coping and weaving. He also had to work at maintenance and supervise workers. At each department he had to stay for one to two months. The practice period was originally designed for one year. But since there was a shortage of workers, after six months of practice, Hui was already assigned to supervise workers.

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Interviewee	Hui Chor Tin
Company	South Sea Textiles Manufacturing Co. Ltd
Date	1960s
Subject	Industry
Duration	17m40s
Language	Cantonese
Material Type	Audio
Collection	Post-war Industries
Source	Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview
Repository	Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright	Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No.	TW-HCT-LIFE-010

Conditions of the dormitories at South Sea Textiles. Hui joined South Sea Textiles in 1969. The first year he was taking classes at the staff quarter. The company required the apprentices to live at the quarter and they could go home once a week. The were 20 in the class and they were all male. There were a small canteen, a classroom and an activity room on the ground floor of the staff quarter. Upper floors were living quarters. The staff quarter was only for men, and six men would occupy one room. There were six beds, six closets and six desks in one room. Other than the staff quarter, there were also male and female living quarters for workers. Education background of the apprentices of South Sea Textiles. The apprentices were all secondary school graduates. They were around the same age with only two to three years apart. South Sea Textiles was the largest factory in Hong Kong at that time. The company also ran South Sea English Secondary School. The school took part-time workers as students, and provided free education from Form One to Five. Part-time workers would study at the school in the morning, and work in the factory for four hours each day. Free accommodation was provided. Among those who joined as apprentices with Hui at the same year, three of them studied at South Sea English Secondary School. They either started from Form One, or transferred to the school at Form Four or Five. They had worked at the factory for two to three years. The three apprentices all finished their secondary school, with five passes at the HKCEE, and then they joined as apprentices. Some twenty years later, Hui met a fellow apprentice in Shatin. He learned that this fellow apprentice studied at South Sea English Secondary School because he wanted to go to school but his family was poor. The school provided education and free accommodation even though the students were required to work at the same time. Instructors of the training programme for apprentices, and programme schedule Those who joined as apprentices a few years before Hui were trained at the Hong Kong Polytechnics in Hung Hom. Entrance requirement was also five passes at the HKCEE. The year when Hui joined, because of limited resources, the apprentices were trained by South Sea Textiles instead, with senior staff as instructors. The study period each day was long. Classes lasted from 9am to 6pm. They had to get up at seven, and gather at the open ground at eight for morning exercise, led by the quarter supervisor (i.e. Head of Human Resources). They had 30 to 45 minutes for breakfast. Classes started at nine, and there were three lessonss on both morning and afternoon. Training programme for apprentices, and brief introduction on the production process. The apprentice's training programme was mainly about knowledge of production and human resources management. The latter was taught by the factory director. When Hui first joined South Sea Textiles, the factory director was a Shanghainese. He resigned later because he committed an error. His post was taken by Cheung Yim Man, who had a background in human resources. (Editor's Note: Cheung was one of the founding members of Hong Kong Management Association. He studied management in Japan.) An introduction to the production process. Textiles was a labor intensive industry. It took over ten steps to produce fabric from cotton. Most of the spinners in Hong Kong had their production processes separated. South Sea Textiles was the only one that had a vertical set up of production. It had the biggest scale of production, with over 2,000 workers working in three shifts a day. Work distribution for apprentices. There were two major parts in South Sea Textiles' production system. One was maintenance, which was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the machines. The other one was operation, which was responsible for production and management of workers. The 20 apprentices were mostly sent to operation, and the other quarter sent to maintenance. It took at least five to six years to understand the machines. They had to pick up the knowledge from books and working with the machines. Textbooks used for the training programme of apprentices. At the training programme offered by the Hong Kong Polytechnics, all textbooks were in English. When Hui was studying as an apprentice, his textbooks were in Chinese, most of which were textbooks or reference books published in Taiwan, and some were prepared by the instructors. When designing the course, the factory concerned more on practical aspect. Apprentices were only required to learn basic knowledge of machines. Sometimes textbooks were not totally applicable. The level where South Sea Textiles was among Hong Kong's textile manufacturers, and the company's standard on making fabrics. At that time, Hong Kong's spinning industry was ahead of the world, and South Sea Textiles was a leader in the business in Hong Kong. The US Army,the largest client of the company, had placed long-term orders of army uniforms to South Sea Textiles. South Sea Textiles was meticulous about the production process, which fulfilled the requirements of the US Army. The inspection unit had female workers inspecting every piece of fabric to make sure the number of defects would not exceed the requirements. If they did, the area of the fabric would be cut off. There was also a quality control department to take care of the testing of elasticity. South Sea Textiles encouraged employees to learn management skills. South Sea Textiles encouraged their apprentices to take the Hong Kong Management Association's examination. One of Hui's fellow apprentices passed the examination, which was equivalent to Hong Kong government's recognized university degree. He later joined the Hong Kong Correctional Services. Human resources management was called modern management theory those days. Learning experience at South Sea Textiles. In their second year of training, 20 apprentices were split into equal halves and were sent to either spinning or weaving section of the operation department of the factory. Hui was sent to the weaving section, and had to work in different procedures including sizing, drafting, warping, coping and weaving. He also had to work at maintenance and supervise workers. At each department he had to stay for one to two months. The practice period was originally designed for one year. But since there was a shortage of workers, after six months of practice, Hui was already assigned to supervise workers.

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