木匠

CARPENTER

Louis

Yau Ma Tei (油麻地)

09:00-18:00

“This shop has been around for over 100 years. I am a third generation carpenter running this shop. My grandfather started the workshop to make wooden ship pulleys for boats and cargo ships. As a booming shipping port, the city needed a lot of pulleys to help raise the boats up or to lift the heavy masts. Over the years the demand for these pulleys declined, and in the Eighties we pivoted our business to create wooden wheels that secure, cover and insulate pipes - which are used often in construction. We also make wooden mallets - you know, the ones that you see in courtrooms and auction houses? I don’t think there will be a fourth generation taking over the business as my kids all have their own careers. One of my sons is a pilot! I am the one and only person doing this in the whole of Hong Kong now.”

「呢間鋪喺​呢度有超過​100年了。我係呢間舖嘅第三代木匠。我阿爺開呢間舖嘅時候係專門造俾船用嘅『律囉』，嗰時香港嘅航運業發展好蓬勃，需要好多『律囉』去吊貨同埋起帆。之後航運業式微，少咗人用『律囉』，喺80年代我哋就轉型去造呢啲用嚟箍水喉嘅木餅，時常喺建築工程會用到。我哋仲會造木槌，喺法庭同埋拍賣行用嗰啲呢。我唔覺得呢間舖會有第四代人接手喇，我啲仔女都有自己嘅事業。我其中一個囝係揸飛機嘅！我而家係全港唯一一個仲造緊呢啲嘢㗎喇。」

“Our workshop is on Reclamation Street in Yau Ma Tei. As you can tell from the name, this whole strip of land was reclaimed. All our neighbouring shops used to be somewhat related to the shipping industry, but the whole neighbourhood has completely transformed. I have a lot of fond memories in our workshop growing up. I would come and help my dad out with odd jobs and also play with my little siblings. My dad was pretty easy going and we got along well, but I never really met my grandfather as he passed away when I was six. Yau Ma Tei is going to be redeveloped again. I keep a lot of newspaper clippings about land and building redevelopment in this area as I have a soft spot for old buildings and for the neighbourhood. I’m not sure when it will happen, but when it does I will just have to be prepared to close this century-old shop!”

“I spent some years living in Toronto with my family and moved back to Hong Kong in the early Nineties. That’s why I speak fluent English. I also learnt French while I was in Canada and later on picked up Italian for fun. I like to go to the library when I have some down time, or walk around the neighbourhood to take photos of the pre-war tenement buildings in Yau Ma Tei.. Many of them will be demolished soon, so I want to capture and enjoy them while I can. Yau Ma Tei is a very special place - I grew up here and I plan on staying here. There is something very unique about the people, the culture and the vibrancy - it’s a place with a strong sense of humanity.”

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