We Are HKers - Leung Lo Yik (Chen Kau) | Letter Writer

Chen Kau has been a letter writer for nearly 40 years. Originally from Vietnam, where he worked as an accountant for a film production company, he first came to Hong Kong in 1972 and took a job as a bartender. Given his education and proficiency in English, a customer suggested he become a letter writer.

Soon he was helping people write letters to their families overseas and assisting in legal matters. His most memorable job was helping a desperate woman, whose husband had long since abandoned her, to write an announcement in the newspaper to assist in her divorce proceedings. Today, Chen sits shirtless and sweaty in the market, using the same typewriter he has always used. In fact, he says he has never used a computer and has no intention to switch. Nowadays, only a handful of regular customers come to him for help with tax forms, welfare applications or visas. And most days, he has no customers at all, so he spends his time reading the newspaper or chatting.

“The development of technology like smartphones and computers is the biggest enemy of our industry. But at the same time it is essential for a city or any society to improve with time. There must be some jobs that are replaced or even eliminated. And i think we are one of them.”

— Leung Lo Yik

THE INDUSTRY

Letter writing used to be an essential and very profitable business in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 6os when the city's literacy rate was as low as 60 per cent. Letter writers, or se seun lo, sat at individual stalls offering their services to all manner of people who wanted to contact relatives on the mainland or overseas, write legal documents, or fill out

forms or applications. As well as writing letters, they also had to read letters to illiterate customers. However, since Hong Kong introduced compulsory education in 1971, and with the rapid evolution of modern

technology, demand for letter writers has fallen and now there are fewer than 10. Once a common sight on side streets and back alleys, the few remaining letter writers now confine themselves to a small dark corner

of the famous Yau Ma Tei Jade Market. The government has long since stopped issuing licences for letter writers.

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【SHARED】Leung Lo Yik (Chen Kau) | Letter Writer

THE INDUSTRY

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