Description

Chen Ar-Mui, a petite yet strong elderly now in her mid-70s, has been sitting on the rear of the boat bringing tourists to and from Sham Wan Pier to Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen for more than 40 years.

Chen, a Hakka, skillfully guides the boat through the rows and rows of boats parked at the centre of the pier. Like many families in the 1960s, Chen came from a fishermen family where their job was to fish and sell the products to earn money for their daily necessities.

Chen used to live on water but now owns a small flat from the near the Sham Wan Pier. Times were hard when she was young but ‘one could buy many things with little amount of money then’, Chen recalls. Inflation of goods and money is harsh on families and people of the lower class. She now works from 8am in the morning till 6pm at night bringing ten tourists a time at most to the renowned tourist attraction situated a little way out the shore – the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. The Jumbo Floating Restaurant is a giant oriental palace-like seafood restaurant afloat on water. Chen guided the boat right in front of the grand restaurant, compared with the Chinese junks and yachts parked quite closely to the sides, for us to snap a few shots.

Next, she gave us a tour around Sham Wan while telling us about the rest of her story. Chen’s boat is really simple looking compared to the ones parked in the centre. It is not bright colored or filled with flags, and the seats are brown as it is made of wood. Tires are hung down the front and the sides of the boat to prevent crashes along the pier or with other boats. The top of the boat is made of bamboo sticks painted with dull red, yellow and orange, covered with a huge plastic clothe to shield the boat from rain or the glaring sun. It is very relaxing just to sit at the front of the boat and feel the breeze dancing on our faces.

‘Lesser and lesser people come here for a boat ride and the once countless boat-based families that formerly plied the harbor drastically diminished, said Chen. The fish catches are shrinking and under the fierce competition from imported seafood and the aging fishermen, Hong Kong’s oldest landowners on sea are nearly gone.