You can argue all you want about Hong Kong's politics, but
making money is at the heart of this unabashedly capitalist
culture. The work ethic is the state religion, and there are few
agnostics. Hong Kong's people--from the modest department-store
doorman to the elegant antique-art dealer--are devoted
workaholics. There is a zest to labor rarely found elsewhere. In
the wet markets, skilled meatmen tear at carcasses with a
studied frenzy, while at the Star Ferry, crews of sailors,
resplendent in their blue suits, are perpetually on the move.
Here's a tribute to Hong Kong's working class.
Snake killer
Tam Sun knows a sure-fire crowd-pleaser: biting the head off a
snake. Call it good advertising. Although his body is scarred
from snake bites, the 32-year-old Tam--like many other Hong
Kongers--believes that snakes do more good than harm. He owns
several snake shops, selling soups, wines and elixirs that cure
rheumatism and a host of other ills.
Rickshaw puller
Precursors to the taxis that clog Hong Kong's streets, rickshaws
have all but disappeared. A few pullers--like Chan Chow Kee, 70,
pictured with his vehicle--wait at the Star Ferry Pier looking
for nostalgic tourists (he charges them HK$50--or about
US$7--for a spin around the block). Most travelers avoid
rickshaws, however, viewing a man-powered ride as politically
incorrect.
duck farmer
That Peking duck you ate last night is not only a Chinese
recipe, but the bird probably came from the mainland too. Only
5% of the 7,000 ducks consumed in Hong Kong on an average day
are raised here; duck farmers like Mr. Chan get theirs from
China. Chan's birds spend a few pleasant hours on his Tin Shui
Wai pond before they are ushered off to a fate of being waxed,
flattened and hung in storefront windows.
collector
Pearl Lam ranks among Hong Kong's most flamboyant personalities.
A passionate fine arts collector, Lam also runs a European
furniture design gallery, Contrasts. The gallery, which opened
in 1992, shifts to different residential homes to suit its
exhibits. Lam, shown with one of her pieces, says she's equally
at home in Paris or Hong Kong.
ferry crewMEN
This group of sailors, from left, Chang Kwong, San Hon, Chan Chi
Ming and Wong Ming Kit, know the ropes at the Star Ferry Co.
They dock the boats that carry 96,000 passengers across the
harbor daily. It's one of the best transportation deals in Hong
Kong: for HK$2, you can cross on the cheap and get a great view
of the facing city skylines.
Bomb disposer
Dominic Brittain's job is to stop things from going boom. The
36-year-old senior bomb-disposal officer is called two to three
times a week to defuse explosives ranging from old World War II
bombs to makeshift, but deadly, devices placed by contemporary
criminals. It's tough work, but Brittain can handle it; he gets
help from his Wheelbarrow Mark Eight Plus Robot, designed to rip
bomb casings apart before they explode.
pork engineers
Just follow the sound of the squealing pigs to find these
fellows: Mr. Tsang, right, is one of Hong Kong's most
experienced freelance decapitators. He figures he has severed an
average of 20 pigs' heads a day over the past three decades. The
carcasses are then shipped to butchers like Kwok Tung, 28, who
prepares choice cuts at his family meat shop in Aberdeen. About
7,000 pigs are slaughtered each day in the territory.
border patrol
Hong Kong is a crowded place, and it would be worse if not for
these guys. Every day, the trio--from left, Wong Kam Lun, Li Yik
Chung and Kan Man Sum--and their 170-strong patrol team monitor
the 32-km border with the mainland, stopping roughly 10 Chinese
fugitives a day from illegally hopping the barbed-wire fence
into Hong Kong. Even so, about 10 a day slip across undetected.
the Doorman
For the last five decades, Hong Kong's oldest department store,
Lane Crawford, has continually employed Sikh doormen like
Santokh Singh to carry parcels, hail taxis and open car doors
for arriving shoppers. This old-fashioned touch follows in the
footsteps of British department stores like Harrods. Singh and
his colleagues stand for nine hours at a time, all the while
greeting customers with a smile.
water women
Best friends, Miss Chow, left, and Mrs. Cheung have spent their
lives--and livelihoods--on the water. Raised in the Tai O
fishing village on Lantau Island, Chow operates a sampan, while
Cheung fished before retiring. Both in their 60s, the women are
part of a disappearing breed. Young people in Tai O are giving
up their rustic stilt houses for high-rise living.
the butler
If Margaret Thatcher checks into the Mandarin Oriental for this
year's handover, she will no doubt request her favorite butler,
Lai Ting Kar, 74. The hotel's oldest and longest-serving
employee, Lai is beloved by guests for his hard work and gentle
demeanor. The Mandarin reaps the benefits of such employee
loyalty: it was noted "Best Hotel in the World" for six years by
Euromoney and other business magazines.
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