In the past, there was no fixed time for Mass, and it depended entirely on the priest's availability, so we would not know in advance when Mass would be held. But there would be three bell tolls, with a gap of about 10 minutes between each. When we were out in the fields and heard the first bell, we would know that Mass was about to begin. So, we would quickly tie up the cows and tidy up our appearance for church. When the second bell rang, we knew that time was running out. Even if we were barefoot and our sleeves and pants were still soaked, we would rush to the church to attend Mass before the third bell tolled. Because we knew that intention was what mattered most was, and the priest did not care whether our pants were dripping wet. Also, in the old days, we would recite the rosary or the Lord's Prayer in Mass, during which the priest would face away from the congregation. Yet we all knew exactly when to stop reciting.

We used to sing a song called "Ah Sik Tsai"(transliteration) and go fishing and swimming with our classmates. Sometimes we would even pick oysters and vegetables to sell in Sai Kung. Many people from Sai Kung would buy fish and come to our village, because their fields were too sandy to grow vegetables like sweet potatoes and radishes, so we sold them. Vegetables tasted way better in the past, since we used natural fertilizers.

Our school adopted a small-class teaching approach, so we had few students in each class. Six grades with six classes each; one row for each grade – we could all fit into a single classroom. When the teacher was busy with one class, the other students would be working on their assignments, so we often finished our homework before school ended. That's why we were free to go anywhere after school. Like little monkeys, we would go up to the mountain and down to the sea to go fishing and shrimping. When we were hungry, we would dig up and cook sweet potatoes that others have planted. We were also smart enough to put stones and water into milk powder tins to cook the fish and shrimps that we caught.

We helped the priest/nun fetch water whenever we had free time. The priest didn’t know how to fetch water, but he had an assistant. We didn’t have any specific arrangement for it, but if we saw that the priest/nun had run out of water, we would immediately help them out. Cooking was mostly done by adults, and the priests were all very nice. They were not picky about food and ate whatever we cooked for them.

The term「down to the sea」refers to activities in the sea, such as picking snails or shucking oysters. We loved going to the "salt pond" – which is now the island’s salt pan. We would catch small fish to feed the ducks, so that they can grow fast and have beautiful feathers. So, we would bring baskets with us and spend entire days catching fish. Picking fish in the mud is actually folk wisdom. The fish jump very fast; they immediately "swish" and disappear in a flash as soon as you enter the mud. So, how do you catch them?

First, you need to keep treading on the mud (near today’s salt pan) until it is soft and then push all the mud and water into a pile on your shoulder. The fish would then jump up and down, and then you can pick them up one by one. Then you repeat the process. Every time you do this, you might get muddy from head to toe, and if you are not careful, your whole body could submerge in mud.

I never learned the things my mother taught me, and it's a real shame. She used to weave decorative flower bands so beautifully, but I never learned how. She also used thread to remove facial hair (threading) – it's almost like getting a facial at a salon, to make your skin fairer and clearer. But I never learned how to do that either, because I used to think these skills were too old-fashioned. It's like in farming - watching the skies and reading the weather, but I never learned how. Looking back, I realize it is such a shame that this was wisdom I never learned.

In the past, it was common for people to cry when their daughters got married. They would cry day and night for different reasons. Mostly women would cry thinking the groom’s family is not good enough.

Whenever I returned to Yim Tin Tsai Village, I loved doing things that I couldn’t do elsewhere, like catching jumping spiders and playing with children. There was someone named Chan Sek Hung(transliteration), the second son of Fuk Loi (transliteration). I am not sure if you have met him or if he is still alive. They lived a few houses down, and he was a little younger than me. He liked to follow me around. Actually, I don’t know who was following whom; he followed me, and I followed him. He took us everywhere, teaching us how to catch spiders and pick kumquats and stone fruit (wild, edible fruits). He was very skilled in crab-catching; he could feel where crabs were just with his feet! When it was dry, we would see clams crawling around on the beach, and horseshoe crabs, too. The grain fields were very beautiful and looked just like an expanse full of green and rapeseed flowers. Salt production had already become history when I was young. We called it a salt pond. We used to walk barefoot in mud to catch prawn for food or as bait. Sometimes, we could even see large mud crabs.

As far as I remember, besides villagers there were also children of boat-dwellers who came to study in our school. At that time, boat-dwellers living near Yim Tin Tsai were extremely poor. The whole family would live on a small wooden boat, and each boat had a mortar and pestle – do you know what that is? It's made of porcelain, with a covered porcelain jar filled with pebbles and vinegar. When there was a storm and they had nothing to eat, they would lick the pebbles and eat plain rice. It’s really miserable thinking how poor they were. So, when we saw them in the village, we would give them some food to eat. It was so difficult even just to sustain themselves in their day-to-day, so imagine what storms would’ve done to them!

On the Feast Day, there is a joyous parade at St. Joseph's Chapel. From the pier we would walk all the way to the church. (Other villagers added,) Instead of walking straight up there, the priest would take all the villagers for a walk around the village, including a visit to the cemetery. He sprinkled holy water on each grave, which looked like individual houses. He would sprinkle holy water on each of them.

I have very fond memories of Father Giuseppe Famiglietti (Rev. FAMIGLIETTI, Giuseppe PIME). Whenever we saw him in the church, we would swarm around him and say, "Father, we want candies (glass candies)!” Father would stir a powder with water in a frying pan to boil. As the mixture cooled, it slowly solidified into a large piece of candy. Then, Father would smash it into pieces of glass-like candy for us children to share. I actually don't know why this memory is so deeply embedded in my mind.

I was always so excited when the priest came to the village. Why? Because it would mean that there’s food! Whenever he came, I would always follow him everywhere. As soon as he arrived, the first thing he would do was to visit patients at the hospital, and all us children would tag along just for treats. We didn’t have many snacks at home back then, and sometimes the priest would bring the best candies that you couldn’t find anywhere else. He also gave us cookies, like milk or oatmeal cookies, and they were all so delicious. Because we didn’t have much food at the time, so we always found everything he gave us to be very tasty.

We would get married in the church. Because we were poor, we couldn’t afford wedding dresses, so we only wore regular clothes. Around 60 years ago, a couple could only marry in the church if both the bride and groom were Catholic. Nowadays, they may do so if either is Catholic. The wedding ceremonies followed Western traditions. I’m not sure what it was called exactly, but there was always a priest who would officiate the union.

We were very well-behaved. Why? Because then we would be chosen as little angels. Look at this photo, some of us are scattering petals – we picked these flowers ourselves. We made flower crowns with them, too! The white dresses and veils were made by the Sisters. As little angels, we could wear make-up. Oh! Such envy!

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When our people converted to Catholicism, they adjusted the church bell (previously located outside of the church) so that it could be heard halfway on the way to Sai Kung. During the Japanese occupation, the church had four or five frames (mirrors) that were all stolen by the Japanese. They also dismantled and took away the bell from the tower. When my father, a teacher and a Japanese speaker, found out about this, he went and got everything back. But one time, the bell was stolen by a tourist, who simply picked it up and carried it away, because the bell wasn't that big. I am not sure what the bell was made of, but it rang very loudly.

One thing that I find quite special is that when Hakka people go to Mass, they will recite the Bible by singing. It's like when we recite the Rosary, we would sing it out like a song. I think all women over 50 would sing it, so it's a very special thing. Maybe it's unique to our village because we have a Catholic church there. Most women go to the church every night to pray, so they are very devout believers.

Even if the priest was not present, we would still go to church three times every Sunday; in the morning, afternoon, and evening (because Sunday was rest day). We would only miss church if it was harvest day, a rainy day, or if there was an emergency. If it was harvest day, we had to harvest our crops right away, or else all our rice would get wet and go to waste. Actually, I have never heard of any temple here on Yim Tin Tsai where incense is burned. I have only heard of the church.

When I was in school, the priest would come to our village every week. The priest sometimes stayed here for a day or two. I remember he was always kind to us and would give us cake. Some were Christmas cakes from abroad, approximately six to seven inches in size. The butter cakes had fruit peels and raisins and were very delicious. Because he would always give us the same cake every time, I remember its taste very well. The priest would distribute slices of the cake and gave us blessed necklaces with the cross and hats.

In anticipation of a wedding ceremony, villagers would begin preparations three days in advance. Depending on the number of guests, they would build two to three outdoor stages with stone. While men were mostly responsible for cooking, women would help in food preparation, such as washing and chopping up ingredients for cooking.

If mushrooms were on the menu, the women would soak them in the well the night before. The dining tables were not always set outside of the couple’s home, because in front of every home was an empty outdoor space that could be used for this purpose. They were sometimes set in different places like small alleys, old houses, and new houses. Even the regular, inexpensive village food served was extra delicious given the special occasion we were celebrating.

Because there was no electricity at night, if we had to go back late, we would use gas lamps. Otherwise, we mostly used kerosene lamps. We lived in a typical village where people go to bed early, because they always get up early in the morning to start working on the farm. They would eat two meals a day, including breakfast and another meal at around four or five in the afternoon. Then, at seven or eight in the evening, when the sky turns completely dark, they would go to sleep. But if the priest is around, the elders in the village would come over to my house to have a chat.

Hakka dishes are relatively simple. We usually eat whatever is available. Sometimes we had chicken, but it’s usually reserved for special occasions. Pork soup was also rare. For any celebration, such as a wedding banquet, we would serve pork soup to the whole village for a few days. We would slaughter a pig ourselves between four and five in the morning. The villagers would make a big pot with yellow mud instead of cement, which would crack when heated. Men would slaughter the pig and cook, while women would help with washing and preparing ingredients. One unforgettable dish is pufferfish cooked with radish. I don’t quite remember the taste – only that it is a very special dish.

According to Hakka customs, the groom’s family would be busier than the bride’s in preparing for a wedding. Marrying off a daughter meant losing a source of labour. Usually, children were asked to do chores like washing dishes during the banquet. When there was a wedding in our village, it would involve the entire village. We would bring our own chairs and tables and start working. When a married woman returns to her parents' home during Chinese New Year, she would bring home sugar, stewed pork, and rice cakes as gifts. The sugar could be either brown sugar or rock sugar. Together with ‘Ching Po Leung’ (a Chinese soup), they were sometimes used for making sweet dessert soups, or as seasoning in cooking. Sometimes sugar would also be added to Hakka ‘Cha Gwo’ or puffed rice.

There were some customs that no longer exist today. For example, we would not go to the hospital when an elderly person in the village passed away. Instead, we would lay the deceased on a bamboo mat in the living room for around two or three nights. The village would arrange for men to keep watch at night to prevent animals from disturbing the spirit of the deceased. In daytime, Mr. Wu would take around eight to ten of us to the church to get three candles and place them at the head of the deceased. We would then light the candles and Mr. Wu would lead us in prayer until the burial. About two or three days later, the elders would help clean the body of the deceased, and the younger people would place the body in a coffin before carrying it to the burial site. The whole process was not as complicated as it is today, but rather everyone in the village would help out.

This is a local sentimentality that we should cherish and remember. These rural customs teach young people what respect means (with profound significance). If you continue to live this way, you will benefit from it your whole life.

Something that was available only on rainy days was fried flour. Some children liked fried food because they could make it at home. Flour crisps were somewhat similar to Daan Saan (a traditional Cantonese snack) but didn’t need to be shaped; you could just fry it piece by piece. Still, they looked better if you shaped them, and I would cut a slit and thread one end thorugh to make it look like a bow. It could either be a savoury or sweet snack depending on how you season it to your liking. We liked trying out different shapes and flavours and ate them no matter how they looked or tasted.

In the 1960s, students from a number of universities were sent to Yim Tin Tsai village to provide assistance with road repairs (it lasted for around two summers). There were several dozens of them (around 20 to 30 in the first group) who took turns repairing bumpy roads. Not everyone could work for a whole summer. I had a good relationship with the students, and some of them were sad to leave when their placement ended. The villagers cooked peanuts and sweet potatoes for them. They stayed in the Ching Po School, where desks were put together and used as makeshift beds.

I have seen an anaconda as big as my arm when I was catching jumping spiders once. I was really scared when I saw it, and because children would turn away when they saw one, there was no one to catch it. Of course, there were also venomous snakes like cobras that can crawl into the bathroom through the drain. So, back then, if you go to the bathroom at night (it would be pitch-black) and hear a "hissing" sound, you should immediately come out to avoid getting bitten by a snake.

When I was little, my mother used to work in the fields. Back then, I didn't understand why we could see so many fireflies only when we were farming. The area around the salt pan used to be a stretch of paddy fields, and I remember looking down and seeing a sea of fireflies, but now they're gone.

Other than paddy fields, the areas in which we grew vegetables were called "che” in our dialect. We had good harvests and couldn't eat all of them ourselves. Sometimes our neighbours would come over and pick our vegetables – and only let us know afterwards that they have taken some. Looking back, it was quite interesting!

We used to play hide-and-seek near the salt pan when we were kids. With different heights and lengths, the grass provided a suitable place for such games.

One time, I saw a big, rolled up snake. I was standing in the grass and suddenly felt something cold. I turned around and saw a big pile of cow dung! But then I thought, “Wait a minute, how can there be such a huge pile of cow dung?” I looked back again and realized it was a curled-up anaconda! It had eaten eggs, small chicks, and rats and was too bloated to move. I screamed for help. My uncles came and killed the snake with a fishing spear. They boiled the snake and fed it to the pigs.

During Ching Ming Festival, if we saw people arriving on Kau Sai Chau (Sam Mun Tsai) for tomb-sweeping, we children would walk across Yuk Tai Bridge to Kau Sai Chau to ‘Ta Shan Tau’ （also known as “Ta Diu Mong” in the Hakka dialect).  ‘Ta Shan Tau’ means asking for money or food from tomb-sweepers, who usually brought a lot of food like oranges and roasted meat for their ancestors. We would wait for the rituals to be done, and they would give us either leftovers or some money for food, because we didn't have much to eat back then when we were young. In fact, boat-dwellers welcomed this practice of ‘Ta Shan Tau’, because they believed it would bring greater prosperity. However, we usually had to wait for a long time, sometimes up to half an hour.

We have fond memories of Po’s Store. Located next to Ching Po School, the store sold soft drinks and candies, among other items. They also sold something called “lottery draw”, which was basically a big scratch-off lottery card. On each card, there are many squares, and when you scratch off each square, you have a chance to exchange it for different prizes.

A villager said, “There are still lottery draws at these stores nowadays, but the rules have changed. You can place bets on a number of your choice to stand a chance for winning first prize, second prize or third prize.” It’s like redeeming a prize with a popsicle stick or a soda cap. Back then, these games were inexpensive and would only cost 10 or 20 cents.

Besides going to class, we as kids also played different games. We played hopscotch, where we drew numbered grids on the floor. We also played Double Dutch and Chinese Jump Rope. Girls often played Five Stones with small bean bags. In this game, there were several (about seven) bean bags in their hand. While they tossed one up bean bag, they would immediately catch another, creating a cycle of tossing and catching. Boys sometimes played marbles on the playground, and some played football.

Back in the day, our teachers really poured their heart and soul to educating us. We were physically punished whenever we misbehaved. I had a brilliant math teacher. She had a way of explaining things that made us understand it instantly. That’s why everyone in my grade — though there weren’t very many of us — we all passed the Primary 6 exams. My teacher’s name was Cheung Ah Nam(transliteration). She really left an impression on me, as she was a great teacher and helped us all pass.

There were two football fields on Yim Tin Tsai. One was located in front of the cemetery.

“There was a flat ground covered with planted grass in front of the cemetery near the bushes. It used to be a football field. During summer, usually in the evening, young villagers played soccer here. It became our playground." - Principal Nicholas Chan.*

The other football field was located below St. Joseph’s Chapel, next to the vegetable garden of Ching Po School. It was only used by the students of the school. During physical education class, we would pull out weeds, pick up pebbles or partake in running races on the field. In fact, the field was mainly used for this purpose.

*This paragraph is an excerpt from “天主作客鹽田仔 – 香港西貢鹽田仔百年史蹟”  Source: Louis Ha (2010). “天主作客鹽田仔—香港西貢鹽田仔百年史蹟”. Book Series on Catholic Studies – Fourth Series on Historical Materials and Tools (First Edition). Hong Kong: Centre for Catholic Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Perhaps what I am about to tell you is something you've never heard of, but if you observe carefully while you're on Yim Tin Tsai, you might see it. There used to be Myrobalan trees here. If one of the straight branches suddenly became curved and began to swell, that would indicate the presence of worms in the tree. It was horrifying, but some boys in our village had the courage to eat these worms. Because of my pride, I also followed suit and swallowed them whole. Maybe it’s because I ate these high-protein worms that I am quite healthy to this day.

There's another thing – wasp's nests. A wasp's nest has many holes with larvae inside, and I would also eat them because I didn't want to lose face. My younger sister claimed she could even feel the larva wriggling on her tongue as she ate it. Meanwhile, I preferred to swallow it whole because I was really scared to chew.

There was a toy we used to play with when we were young called a ‘crackling bamboo gun’. The principle of it was to use two bamboo sticks, one thicker and the other thinner (comparable to the thickness of the worms we would eat). We would thread the thinner stick through the hole on the thicker stick, and then add a bang snap bullet inside. With a push of the thinner stick, the bullet would pop out with a bang. I'm not sure if they still make bang snap bullets nowadays.

Boys used to shoot fish with a bow and arrow. Do you know what the bow and arrow were made of? They were made from an umbrella frame and were strong enough to shoot the fish dead. Shooting fish helped train our eyesight and was a great childhood memory for us, but some might find it boring. I didn't know how to shoot fish, so I went to catch them instead. We used fake ‘fish vines’ to fish because we didn't have money to buy real ones. First, we would flatten them and soak them in water, which would turn milky white. Then, we would pour the water in plastic tape and put them in cracks between rocks. The fish, still alive, would then turn upside-down. That's when we could catch them.

Do you know what a "Dutch soda cap" is? Everyone knows what a soda cap is, but why do we call it a "Dutch soda cap" or "Dutch soda"? I know it's because soda was shipped over from the Netherlands, but I'm not sure about the specifics. That’s just what we called it. We would make our own toys from flattening the soda cap, making a hole in the middle, and then putting a string through the caps with a rope. It didn’t cost anything, but it was fun.

What I want to talk about is something that no longer exists. There is no way to go down into the well now because it has been sealed off. Our village is an island that has relatively small hills, so there is little water collected in the winter. With limited spring water in the winter, adults had to carry buckets on a shoulder pole and line up to get water at the well. Because they had to reach the bottom of the well for water, the kids had to go down like spiderman to scoop it up. It was actually quite fun, and nobody ever fell. There were originally three wells in the village; two were saltwater wells and could only be used for irrigation. The third one was a fresh water well and the water was very clear and tasty.

In the past, winters were very cold and dry, so there was very little water in the spring well. Because fewer people went to fetch water at night, my mother would ask me to go then. Children had to go down into the well to fetch water. Like myself, my mother often called me to fetch water because I was an obedient child. One time, I felt sleepy as I was going down into the well and started dozing off. Then I heard my mother shouting loudly from above, "Ah Sze, what are you doing?" She kept calling until I woke up, and then I said, "I am sleeping." My mother asked, "Do you remember that you're fetching water right now?" Only then did I realized: Oh right, I'm fetching water. It's really cold. So, I climbed up immediately. Most of the time, it was children who had to fetch water because the cracks in the well were narrow, and children's hands and feet could reach in and hold on to them, so it was safer than if adults had to do it.

There was a fresh water well across from my house, but some reason, it was not drinkable, possibly because it contained certain minerals or heavy metals. I remember how we used this water to wash ourselves after swimming, and how we would use small frogs as bait to catch big bullfrogs in the well. They weighed almost half a catty and tasted delicious! But it’s a different story now; the bullfrogs these days don't taste the same as before. We also caught bullfrogs during harvests using bamboo fishing poles with small frogs as bait.

Getting to Yim Tin Tsai back then was not as easy and convenient as it is now. We had to take a minibus from Lung Kong Road or a bus from Kowloon City. The bus number was 22 back then, which has now changed to 92. When we got off the bus, we had to take a sailboat to get to the island. This was a long time ago, probably in the 1970s. Riding on a sailboat was also an experience. If you didn't sit properly, you would get scolded by others. Of course, if the boat was sailing with the wind, it was ideal. But if the wind blew in other directions, you had to know how move the boat sideways to sail through. Cooperation was needed to make this happen, especially when the boat was off course and needed to be corrected. A boat could only carry about eight to ten passengers, and the ride back to Yim Tin Tsai took at least half an hour. Oftentimes two people worked together to sail the boat: one person was in charge of rowing, also known as ‘the scull’, and the other was in charge of steering, also called ‘the oar’. The boatmen’s coordination made the ride faster.

Back then, there were two methods of spearfishing. One involved lighting a gas lamp on the beach and shining it on fish, shrimp, and crabs as the tide receded. The other method was to ride on a boat with a gas lamp hanging at the bow. One person was responsible for rowing while the other used a fish fork and basket to hunt for fish in waters around 10 feet deep. The water was very clear, and people were very skilled in spearfishing with high accuracy and precision. Because of refraction, it was generally not easy to spear prey in the water. The best season to go spearfishing was around Christmas time. We would use a boat to fish, and with the light you could see a lot of big rabbitfish lying along the rocks. This would make the perfect time to drive the fish into a net.

Sometimes we would also shoot fish using an umbrella frame as bow and arrow. We usually targeted fish that didn’t move much, such as groupers, false kelpfish, and scorpionfish. Because the arrow had no line or barbs on its tail, if you shot at fast-swimming fish such as candlefish, they would pull the arrow away.

There used to be many pirates in the past, and many villages around Yim Tin Tsai were ‘visited’ by pirates. One time, when pirates came to our village, they saw a big, bearded man poking around with a walking stick on very high mountain. They worried that there were many people like him in the village, so they didn't dare to set foot on the island. However, these pirates were disgruntled and planned to get on the island from the beach in the back. As they arrived on the beach, they couldn't wait to jump off the boat one by one. But because they were not familiar with the geographical features of Yim Tin Tsai, they stepped on oyster shells under water and bled. Not knowing what would happen next, they started feeling ominous about Yim Tin Tsai, left, and never came back again. The people in nearby villages were naturally displeased not understanding why Yim Tin Tsai was never robbed by pirates. This story was passed on by the pirates to other villages before reaching Yim Tin Tsai. When we heard this story, we deduced that the bearded man was Saint Joseph’s apparition. So, the village donated that piece of land and built a chapel on it, thus the chapel of St. Joseph was built.

The Japanese people did come to our village, so we went into hiding. They slashed the grass to open up a path. In the old days, the roads were not well built and were full of thorns. When they got to the camphor tree (now in front of the village office), they wanted to chop it thinking it got in their way. So the then village chief went to negotiate with them: “Our tree is a Fung Shui tree. If you want to chop it down, you will have to kill me first.” I don’t know what happened next, but the Japanese didn’t chop the tree. The village chief was so brave.

We were told to answer the call of nature at home, not in the pit latrines of others, otherwise we would get told off by our mother. There were two boards for you to squat on the toilet. After getting the business done, we covered the waste with ash. Faeces is nutritious and can be used as fertiliser for fruit that are harvested annually, such as sugar cane, bananas, longans, pomelos, oranges and tangerines. With human waste, you can grow large, sweet and crunchy sugar canes as well as big bananas.

Urine is the fertiliser for vegetables. Before using it, you have to mix it with boiling water upon the evaporation of ammonia. Vegetables die off very soon if urine is directly poured over them. Harvest can be reaped only two weeks after the fertilisation, or you will taste your own waste.

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Some children were very naughty. You know greed is human nature. You may steal sugar cane and bananas even if you plant your own. You may think what others grow is tastier. But how did children manage to pick bananas when the fruit was so high up? A shoulder ride would do. The rider peeled and ate a banana, and swapped the position with the carrier who got to pick and eat. It is important not to get caught or you would be beaten up badly by your mother – no one would like their children to steal. But they were just naughty. They could not help stealing things they already had.

We used to plant mostly vegetables, such as sweet potato leaves, for sale. They were sold to vegetable sellers in Sai Kung Town who might, for example, ask for ten catties of pak choy from us. We sold sweet potato leaves to many swineherds in Sai Kung Town as they did not grow the greens themselves.

We also earned our own pocket money. For example, we cut off and lighted cotton-grass (literal translation) for breaming after scraping off oyster shells attached to the lower part of a boat and repainted it. With the burning cotton-grass, the boat could be cleaned slowly over a weak and prolonged fire. I guess the purpose of breaming with heated cotton-grass was to kill all the bacteria. Afterwards, sandpaper was used to rub the surface for subsequent repainting work. I saw boat dwellers doing the same.

Apart from cutting off cotton-grass for pocket money, we hammered to harvest oysters or Sinotaia for sale. On a hot day, we picked rose myrtle fruit and stored them in a milk tin. One tin could be sold for ten cents at the Sai Kung Pier.

We burned incense and prayed during our ancestral rituals. The purpose of burning incense was that the smoke from incense could convey our messages over the sky to those living above. We also prayed. We didn’t actually worship gods, but we used incense to honour our ancestors. This had been passed to us, so we Catholics could use incense to worship our ancestors. I don’t know if it was the same case in other religions, but burning incense was a way to convey our wishes and voices to those over there.

What exactly is a “rotationally raised pig”? It means a pig raised by two families together. When it grew up, the families would slaughter and share it.

There were few occasions when the whole village gathered to eat. For example, our family would pay respect to our ancestors. When we slaughtered dogs and chickens, we would eat them ourselves. Other families would pay respect to their own ancestors. Each family would do that on their own and prepare their own food.

All our villagers became Catholic. Given the hardship at that time, being ordained as a priest was considered a family glory. That was the case for my uncle, Joachim Chan Tang-Shue, who was perhaps gifted enough to receive such a holy call. I remember that he was the first Chinese priest in Hong Kong, having done missionary work in Shantou. He was familiar with renowned painter Gao Jianfu. Upon retirement, he joined the Precious Blood in Fanling, conducting Mass with sisters and hearing confessions. I am not sure if it is still there. It should be. In my memory, my uncle was kind, well-educated with good manners. He visited us sometimes.

When we drank “Dutch soda”, we would poke two holes in the bottle cap and put a string through them. When you pulled the string, the cap would spin like a diabolo. When the string was pulled, energy would store up and the cap would be tangled; when you released the string, the cap would hold back and spin. How could you tell the winner? It is the one who first cut the other’s string. The one whose string broke first lost. We would also hollow out water chestnuts (a kind of aquatic plant) and make a pinwheel out of it. It was also played with a string. These were all our childhood memories.

When I was a kid, I would go to Yim Tin Tsai with my father only during summer holiday, staying for about a month each time. When I went to the village, my grandma would sit under the big camphor tree near the pier waiting for me. She was almost 80 years old. I was nervous because I did not her often. I saw her as soon as I went there, so I remember her very well. That’s when my grandma would wait for me and hug me.

Every Hakka village house shares the same layout. As you get into the house, there must be a toilet and a gorgeous bathroom on the left, with the cooking range and a large wok on the right. That is the basic for all houses, with the left designed for shower and the right for cooking. Moreover, there is also a hole for small dogs and cats to get in the house.