Talking about Sham Shui Po, many people will think about Ap Liu Street, computer centres, local and cheap food, and electronic appliances. However, little do people be aware that along the street, there are also many wholesale shops selling cheap clothing to retailers and customers who order a large amount of clothing at one time.

I can recall the days when I was sitting in the shop, looking at my grandmother and mother packing the clothing according to their styles or colours. I especially love flipping over the colour plate. Just imagine how this colour plate with over a hundred of coloured cloths pinned on the plate can attractive a four-year-old kid. It just liked a rainbow but with more colours; or Smarties with a square pattern instead of circle. Every time when customers came into the shop, mum would take away the colour plate from me and gave it to the customers, and I could only sit aside and cried.

Very few people would visit us, indeed. I was later told by my mum that we were actually doing a wholesale business and those customers, or to be accurate, the retailers would only come and look at the sample we offered, and then if they were satisfied, they would place their order. It was a hot job to do in the old days when industrialization still took place in Hong Kong. The colour plate was used for the customers to choose the wanted colour on the clothes. In the old days when the transportation system was still not yet developed, my grandmother and my mother may sometimes also need to do the tailoring jobs to fulfill customers’ orders if the clothes cannot be finished by the clothing factories on time. With more usage of machines and a better transportation system, cheap clothes can be transported from the mainland China to Hong Kong. The clothing factories in Hong Kong were also closed down gradually and relocated in China. Fewer and fewer people would continue their wholesale business, including us. Even if they do continue, they would only act as an agent to place the order in factories in China, and do the logistics work for the retailers. The day for wholesale and clothing industry has passed.

Time flies and I no longer live in Sham Shui Po. However while you are walking along the streets, try to put your focus out of those eating or electronic shops besides you; and look at those retail shops with simple settings. Although very few people will visit them, they mark the history of wholesale and clothing industry in Hong Kong, and they are still doing an important job in maintaining the whole wholesale industry in Hong Kong.

Susan  March/2011