The last time I saw Ah Meng was at least 30 years ago. I lost touch with him even before the Kowloon Walled City was demolished. For reasons that I cannot explain, his face kept coming back to mind recently.
Ah Meng and I met when we were young teenagers. He wasn’t my neighbor. He wasn’t my classmate at school. He wasn’t even living in the Kowloon Walled City. However, he is probably the only guy that I remember from my time living in the Kowloon Walled City.
Unlike me, Ah Meng lived outside of the Walled City. His parents owned a grocery store inside the Walled City. To be more precise, the grocery store that Ah Meng’s parents owned was called a “rice shop” in Cantonese. The most prominent product of this grocery store was of course rice! Barrels of rice from different countries (mostly from Thailand and Mainland China) sat right at the entrance of the store. They also sold cooking oil and all kinds of condiments. For my family, the most important products that they sold were big cans of LPG gas and big bags of rice.
As I mentioned earlier, I lived on the 8th Floor, and there was no elevator. It would be close to impossibility if I were to go to Ah Meng’s store to buy that huge can of LPG gas. Ah Meng has an older brother, Ah Keung, who was probably 10 years older than Ah Meng.
My family always remember Ah Keung as the home delivery guy and muscle man!! Climbing up the stairs, he would carry two huge bags of rice (10 pounds each) and one LPG gas, perhaps with some other smaller items!!
I was two years older than Ah Meng. We struck a friendship when his parents introduced us to meet so that we could play table tennis together.
As a team we would travel far and wide, exploring all the shops that rented out table tennis tables. We have been to San Po Long, Tung Tau Estate, Lok Fu, and Choi Hung. We knew exactly which shop has the best deal and which place was the most windy at what season of the year. We also knew where not to go as there might be “bad people” around.
According to my little mind at that time, Ah Meng’s family was rich. Of course they were rich! They owned a store! Every time we went for table tennis, Ah Meng would kindly pay for the table rental. In return, I would teach him some skills! We were a good team!
Ah Meng and I also shared an interest in collecting stamps. We would trade stamps, and I would be the middle man helping him to buy stamps. Many years ago there was an old man setting up shop right outside of the Kowloon City Christians’ Church at Lung Kong Road. He would use the wall of the church as “road show,” displaying his stamp collection for sale. I would buy stamp from this sweet old gentleman and resold it to Ah Meng for a small profit.
Precious Soda Bottles
Ah Meng also reminded me of my first “part time job.”
Did I mention that Ah Meng’s parent’s “rice shop” also sold soft drinks? At that time, sodas were sold in glass bottles. If you return an empty bottle, you got a 20 cents refund. From time to time I would find empty bottles sitting somewhere in the dark alleys when I walked by. I would pick them up, rinsed them clean from one of those public water stations, returned to that rice shop and got my 20 cents.
I guess Ah Meng’s parents must have told my mom about this. One day, my mom scolded me and forbade me from doing this again. I couldn’t understand why. What’s wrong with earning a little bit when literally every cent counts in the family.
Now, as I look back, I guess my mom felt bad not because I did something wrong. She didn’t want other people to tell her again that her son earned 20 cents by picking up trash. Perhaps it was an issue of dignity, or perhaps it was about “face.” In any case, I stopped my first ever “part time job.”
As we grew older, we didn’t play ping pong any more. Ah Meng and I had lost touch ever since.
My Kowloon Walled City Story 