Photo Essay

A skill that bonded father and daughter over decades by Connie Fong People in Hong Kong may come across traditional Chinese steelyards, a type of balance, in wet markets and Chinese medicine pharmacies. Yet only a few of them know the proper way to use one, though it was the optimal tool for measuring weight in the olden days. Lee Wo Steelyard, the last store selling handmade steelyards has nestled in Yau Ma Tei for over eighty-five years although digital balances had replaced steelyards and diminished its crafting industry. "My goal is to preserve my dad's spirit and let more people understand about the beauty of steelyard", said Mrs Ho, the owner of Lee Wo Steelyard. She has been determined to keep her father's dream alive by operating his store up till this day despite having few successors in steelyard crafting. It is hard for beginners to learn the skills in the steelyard industry because the masters and seniors treat their apprentices harshly, Ho said. Her dad had gone through a tough time when he first stepped into the scene, as the requirements for making a steelyard of good quality was fairly high in the golden days. "I hate to say this but this is really a pity for me to witness this unique craft vanishing in the society", said Ho. The steelyard shop owner is unable to make any new steelyards at 76 years of age and the stock in her shop are all that she has left. There are only three to four steelyard masters left in Hong Kong and they would soon be retired as all of them are in senility, Ho said. "I wouldn't retire until the day I die because the shop is my dad's ambition in his life and I will do everything to …

  by Choco Chan Lights were dimmed, the walls were dilapidated. Big signs were found on the walls threatening residents to destroy their copper pipes. This is the site known in Hong Kong for multiple murders and suicides, the Hoi Hing Building. Hoi Hing Building is one of the redevelopment projects of Henderson Land Development in Tai Kwok Tsui, there has been an ongoing buy-out of this building since 2008. "They (the remaining residents) struggle to live every day because of the unbearable living environment the developer created," said one of the committee members of owners' corporation in the Hoi Hing Building, Lee, who lived there for 34 years. After the gruesome murder case of Henry Chau Hoi-leung, who chopped his parents' head off and later froze the remains in the fridge in 2013, most of the residents have seeked for another shelter for their lives. The building was left to rot with less than ten occupancies out of 270 flats. "Among the ten households that still live in this building, three has yet given up their ownership," said Lee. "The developer has been destroying the building, for example, cutting the electricity, to force the remaining residents to give up on their ownerships." There are five gates to the building from different directions. Lee said one of the locks was deliberately destroyed after the buy-out have taken place. Without locks and guards, the security of this building was further enfeebled. Crimes like rape, arson and robbery were rampant, fear of the Hoi Hing Building blanketed the neighbourhood and lingers. "It's not likely the remaining flats can make it through under this living condition. The developers always have their ways to get what they want, be it good ways or bad," Lee said. (Edited by Amie Cheng)