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An Independent Life

At 92, Cheung Kwan-tue looks back over her life as an amah

By Kelly Wong

The year that Cheung Kuan-tue was born in Guangdong Province, China was ruled by warlords and the Chinese Communist Party held its Third Party Congress in Guangzhou where it discussed forming a possible United Front with the Kuomintang. In her 92 years, Cheung has lived through a brief marriage, war and decades of domestic service as an amah or “mahjeh” in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

closer
Cheung is fiercely independent at 92

Today, she lives alone in a tidy, self-owned apartment in an old building in Sai Wan Ho. She used to enjoy activities at a local community centre but for the past five or six years, walking has been difficult – it takes an hour to walk the 15 minutes it used to take her to the community centre.

Cheung does not complain of loneliness. Despite limited mobility, she is full of energy and is proud of her independence and self-sufficiency. She is also happy to share the bittersweet story of her life as a mahjeh.

Mahjeh were women employed as live-in servants in wealthy households. The women hailed from the Pearl River Delta Region and most of them had taken vows of celibacy and were known as “self-combed” women. Unlike their married sisters, self-combed women could work outside the home and were economically independent. Some worked in the then flourishing silkworm industry and supported their families. When the industry collapsed in the 1930s many went into domestic service, mainly in Hong Kong, Macau and the Nanyang region (now Singapore and Malaysia).

Cheung was married at an early age but her husband died soon afterwards. Rather than live out her days as a widow, who would have to serve her husband’s family, or remarry, she went to work as an amah when still a teenager. It is a decision she has never regretted. “I came out to work and relied on myself, and I am happy now,” Cheung says.

Cheung’s first job was to work for a rich family in Guangzhou where she was responsible for taking care of children and the elderly. “After the children were sent to school by car, we would wait in the school until they finished,” Cheung recalls with obvious pleasure. “There were so many windows [in the classroom]. I held a pen to learn how to write ‘human’ and ‘big’ in Chinese characters. That is how I know how to write my name.”

The job ended at the tail end of the Chinese Civil War. As Communist forces moved into Guangzhou, Cheung’s wealthy employers had to flee. Therefore, at the age of 26, she moved to Hong Kong alone to continue working as an amah. There she became a member of a community of mahjeh who had turned their back on marriage for various reasons.

Some women took the vow of celibacy because their families were poor and could not afford dowries or needed the fruits of their economic production. Others were themselves resistant to marriage. At a time when feudal traditions strictly governed women’s behaviour and position in society, becoming a self-combing woman was a socially sanctioned way to avoid marriage and be independent.

Self-combing women took a vow of celibacy in a ritual where they would tie their hair and pin it into a bun (sor hei), which is how married women wore their hair. The ceremony was meant to be solemn and it would usually take place in a house where other self-combed women lived. The new member of the sisterhood would take a bath, make food offerings to the gods, and listen to the advice of old self-combed women on the night before the self-combing ceremony.

But by the 1950s, fewer women were willing to take the vow and even those who did might not have taken it very seriously. As Cheung notes: “People could ‘sor hei’ today, and get married tomorrow.”

By Cheung’s time, the rituals were not that strict. “People would just light up the candle and offer incense to the gods. [The self-combed woman’s] hair would be tied into a bun…some actually did not perform the ceremony,” she recalls.

Made in Hong Kong

Made in Hong Kong local manufacturing industry


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Earthbound

Hong Kong Toyau rural life workshop

Discover simple living, from the soil up
By Zoe Lai

This is not a restaurant, this is not a ceramics workshop, this is not a farm. This is a space to
practise living” says the description on the Facebook page for Toyau, which means literally “mud
hill”.

The idea for Toyau came from 42-year-old “Mr Ko” (who prefers not to give him full name) who
moved to Ma Shi Po village in Fanling a few years ago. For Ko, the Sheung Shui space represents
simple living and a return to the basics. After ditching city life, he learned to farm, cook and to
make his own bowls and dishes out of mud. “We can make good use of soil to produce our daily
necessities,” he says.

In order to share this lifestyle with others he began to hold workshops at weekends but he knew it
would be hard for him to promote his message on his own. So he gathered friends he met in Ma
Shi Po to run Toyau. The friends have different talents and skills – there is a farmer, a
photographer, a ceramics artist and a pastry chef.

Visitors can take part in activities such as baking, pottery making and farming as a way to unwind
and learn about nature.

Unlike most workshops, Toyau does not give participants the materials they need for the classes.
In the pottery workshop, they first have to dig up soil from Toyau’s farm, then wash, filter and dry
it before kneading and clumping it into clay. Only then can they mould the clay with their hands to
make bowls. The whole process takes two Sundays.

Ko stresses Toyau is not just a venue providing weekend recreation activities for city folk. “I stay in
Toyau for the long term,” he says. “We open Toyau during weekends to tell the public about our
vision in life.”

Recently, Toyau reduced the numbers of workshops it holds so members can spend more time
cultivating the farmland and improving the soil quality. But Ko says there should be more activities
next year.

Toyau is at 7, Wah Shan Village, Sheung Shui. You can take the 73K bus or 59K minibus from the
bus station in Sheung Shui’s Landmark North to get there. Check their Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/toyau.wahshan/ for details on the latest workshops.

Edited by Godric Leung

The Sci-fi War

Lasermads laser tag Hong Kong

Enjoy the fun of laser tag at Lasermads
By Esther Chan

The room is dark, silent and cold. Wearing a bulletproof vest, you crawl along a narrow alley and
hide behind a roadblock. Suddenly, you hear footsteps approaching. You hold your breath, hold up
your laser gun and shoot – a laser beam.

If you have ever fancied yourself as a Stormtrooper or Jedi Knight, you might want to check out
Lasermads. The spaceship-themed laser tag station in Causeway Bay was opened by two post-90s
sci-fi lovers, Alan Ng Cheuk-lun and Zoe Wong Chun-yin in June.

Ng and Wong studied at high school in New Zealand and Australia, where they got their first taste
of playing laser tag. “Surprisingly, we found that there were no laser tag venues in Hong Kong at
all,” Wong says. “So we came up with the idea of getting one in Hong Kong by ourselves a year
ago.”

However, Wong and Ng did not want to just copy what they had seen overseas. Drawing on their
own knowledge of sci-fi movies, they designed the 2,500 sq ft space as a dark futuristic maze with
a spaceship theme.

To add to the experience, players are given the names of characters from movies, such as Ant-
Man, Iron Man and Black Widow. Wong says the customers are mainly young people who enjoy
the sci-fi atmosphere they tried to create.

In a game of 20 minutes, each player is given a phaser gun and a laser-sensitive vest. The game can
played as a team or solo match, with a maximum of 12 players in the room. The player or team
with the highest score wins.

Unlike conventional war games such as paintballing, laser tag will not make you sore or bruised.
What’s more, you can live out the fantasy of rising up and fighting again once you’ve been shot
down. Players need only wait four seconds to rejoin a game after being shot in Lasermads.

Apart from regular games, Wong says Lasermads also features one-off specials every two months.
For example, for Halloween Lasermads created a “Zombie Tag” series. Two players out of 12 were
randomly assigned as zombies at the start of the game and humans were turned into zombies
once they were tagged and vice-versa.

Are you ready to try your luck and test your skills in the laser tag war?
Lasermads is at 11/F, Ying Kong Mansion, Causeway Bay. You can call 2343-3033 to book or also
check out http://www.lasermads.com/ for further details on membership and prices.

Edited by Godric Leung

Next Term of the District Councils: Distribution of Seats by Political Affiliation

How will the political landscape of the next term of the District Councils be like? In this infographic we bring to you the distribution of seats by political affiliation according to 2015 election results.

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Results of Incumbent District Councillors in the 2015 District Council elections

While district councillors’ work mostly focuses on district affairs, they can also be elected as lawmakers in the Legislative Council through “super district council” seats. 2015 district council election is seen as a litmus test for both the pro-democracy and pro-establishment camps one year after the Occupy Movement. It can also affect the superseats race in next year’s Legislative Council election. Our graphic briefly summarises how incumbent super district councilors fared in the election.

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2015 District Council polls saw record-high voter turnout rate

The 2015 District Council elections saw a record high 1.47 million people voting, with a record-breaking turnout rate of around 47%. The highest turnouts were in the Tsuen Wan, Southern and Sham Shui Po Districts, while the lowest was in Tuen Mun.

Turnout Rate

Voter turnout rate as at 9:30 p.m. – one hour before poll stations closed – have already surpassed that of the 2011 District Council election.

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Past Statistics and Turnout rates

Sound Feature on Tuen Mun Lok Tsui – most contested constituency in the District Council polls

Tuen Mun Lok Tsui is one of the most competitive districts in this year’s District Council election. Six candidates from different political backgrounds are fighting for one seat.

Albert Ho Chun-yan from the Democratic Party is fighting for his fifth win in the district. Compared with previous elections, he says he faces a lot of pressure this year, but the radical democrats are not attacking him as much.

“Radical democrats targeted me for supporting the political reform package in 2012. But this year, we opposed the fake political reform package and took to the streets to gain support after the Umbrella Movement. They don’t have as much of a case against us.”
“I think they just want to promote their vision and to increase their candidates’ popularity, so their opposition will have less of an impact.”

Cheng Chun-Tai from Civic Passion says his radical approach is just a way to achieve his political goal. He is optimistic about his chances of winning.

“My radical strategy is just a means to an end. I’m against the Communist Party and against Hong Kong becoming more like the Mainland. I think I’ll win.”

Instead of a radical approach, independent candidate Cheung Wing-wai offers a middle-of-the-road for voters and he is also optimistic about his chances.

“Unlike the other candidates, I don’t have any political baggage and can implement policies that will benefit residents.”

Another independent candidate Ho Kwan-yiu says he is a liberal and open-minded pro-establishment supporter.

“In Hong Kong, we all live and work under the system here. As a liberal person, I will work hard within the system, but when I see injustice, I’ll certainly speak out.”

While candidates are handing out leaflets and yelling slogans, retired civil servant Shum Kam-tim, who lost to Ho chun-yan by around a hundred votes in the previous election, is not promoting his campaign today.

“It is meaningless to shout slogans now. I would rather keep a low profile and be pragmatic. If the voters decide to vote for you, they will not be affected by the promotion.”

Yuen Wai-chung is the only candidate who lives in the district. He decided to join because he says Ho Chun-yan is not doing his job well. It is his fourth time running in the election and he says the turnout will be low this year.

“I was passing out leaflets at the mall in Richland Garden and the people didn’t really want them. Some of them were frowning, others might be annoyed, plus there’s all the talk of scandals….”

Lok Tsui has around 7,700 registered voters in total and 56.3% of them actually vote.

Key Terms of the 2015 District Council Polls

In a series of infographics, we explain to you some of the key terms you should know about the 2015 District Council elections: umbrella soldiers, parachute candidate, super district councillor and vote-rigging.

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Parachute Candidate

Super District Councillor

Vote-rigging

Veteran councillor Andrew Cheng is fed up with the district council elections

Veteran district councillor Andrew Cheng Kar-foo

Former Democratic Party legislator and district councillor explains why he decided not to stand in the local level elections anymore

By Vivienne Tsang & Julian Ng

After seven years of being a district councillor and 17 as a legislator 55-year-old Andrew Cheng Kar-foo says he is too tired and discouraged to run again.

That is because of the many injustices he has seen in the election system.

“The appointed district councillors are mostly pro-establishment, and they usually get more resources in a district. The current system is warped and many councillors who actually have public support can’t get a seat to reflect the voices of the community,” he explains.

Cheng is also a lawyer and one of the founding members of the Democratic Party. Between 1994 and 1999, he was a member of the Southern District Council. He was then elected as a Tai Po district councillor between 1999 and 2011. After that ended, he decided not to run in future elections.

As someone who had been elected to the district council before and after the handover, Cheng says he does not see many changes within the election process. He says the one major difference is that political corruption has worsened.

“It seems that bad habits from mainland China, such as giving out benefits or paying for meals to get elected, have changed the corruption-free tradition that elections in Hong Kong used to have…I fear future elections will only get worse.”

Cheng said he also felt powerless as a district councillor. Throughout his four terms in office, he provided local services such as facilities maintenance, welfare, and free legal consultations. But that was probably as far as he could go. “The system does not give district councilors enough power to change policies. The district council is like a ‘ornamental flower vase.’”

Cheng says district councillors mostly deal with district affairs.

“It would be much better if the council had more power to improve the environment of a community.”

Cheng has another reason for calling it quits – “we need some new ideas.” He wanted to give a chance to members of the younger generation who have been waiting a long time.

Cheng thinks that after the 79-day Occupy Movement last year, more young candidates are running in the upcoming district council election, and young voters are paying more attention to the political views of candidates.

But he also points out that young people are still outnumbered in a district, so they can hardly threaten the more experienced pro-establishment candidates.

“Votes for democrats will definitely increase, but not more than 10 per cent,” he says.

Cheng was also a member of the Legislative Council from 1998 to 2011. Currently he is a founder of and radio host at D100 and is still considering whether to run for a seat on the Legislative Council next year. But he says, ‘if I were to participate in the coming election, I’d run as an independent.”

Edited by Thomas Chan & Godric Leung