DRESS: Spotless white cotton shirt and pants provided by Jacques Dessange.

SALARY: More than the 15,000 French francs (HK$22,000 plus) a month I would be getting in Paris.

AMBITION: To become the boss of my own Jacques Dessange salon somewhere in Asia, if possible.

CAREER PATH: My mother was a hairdresser and had two salons on the French Riviera. When I was a little boy I was already exposed to Paris society at my mother's salons and at fashion and hair shows. I just loved the whole ambience and everything to do with women and hair so I had already decided as a small boy what I wanted to do. At 17, when I left school, my mother sent me to top hairdressing academies in England, Spain and then Paris. I joined Jacques Dessange in Paris as an apprentice in 1994 and was taught the Jacques Dessange way of cutting which is different from anything else I had learned. This year I was transferred to Hong Kong as one of two 'French team senior stylists' at the new salon.

ROLAND'S DAY: I live in Hollywood Road, walking distance from the salon. I wake up early and have a really substantial breakfast of fruit, cereal, yoghurt and toast because it may be my last meal for hours. I arrive at the salon long before the customers so I can start my hygiene check which is part of the Dessange philosophy. I check that all the brushes have been sterilised and all surfaces are clean and that everything is pristine and in good order.

At 10am I start work and if we are full I take a customer every 45 minutes throughout the day. If we are busy I don't take lunch and we only finish when the last customer is done - although official closing time is 7pm.

When a client comes to see me she is first met at reception and then changed into her robes, before being introduced to me. The first thing I do is just chat to the customer and let her tell me what she wants. I tell her how cut and colour are so important and I make my recommendation for her hair, and perhaps show her some Jacques Dessange magazines. While we are talking I look at the shape of her face, the texture of her hair and I try to assess her lifestyle. Good communication is very important.

Once I feel we have agreed on what we are doing I start.

The Jacques Dessange way of cutting is now second nature to me - it's programmed into my fingers. The whole philosophy behind it is that a cut should give hair body, and when a customer gets home and washes her hair it should just fall into place without even blow-drying it.

Sometimes I talk when I am cutting and sometimes not. When I start touching the client I just know instinctively whether or not she wants to talk and I respect this.

I love my work passionately; the actual technical aspect of cutting and the women I work on. There is also a wonderful sense of accomplishment when you make something beautiful - a bit like an artist I suppose. It doesn't get boring, each day brings new customers, new hair. It's really exciting to think that Sharon Stone, Hugh Grant, Nicole Kidman and other celebrities come into our salons. In Hong Kong it's a whole new chance to meet new customers.

In the evenings I go out for dinner or I cook French-style meals at home. I also love diving and so it is my dream to have as many Asian diving-holidays as possible while working out here.

NAME: Ah Fung.

AGE: 65.

OCCUPATION: Cuts hair at Bun Kee, a rented street barber stall in Portland Street, Mong Kok.

APPEARANCE: Old, balding and always with a cigarette in his hand.

DRESS: Striped shirt with short sleeves and slacks.

SALARY: About $1,000 - $2,000 per month (Ah Fung is paid on piece rate).

AMBITION: Just to enjoy good health. I can survive only if I work and I can work only if I am healthy.

BUN KEE: The place was rented, with a street licence, from the Government. Services include hair-cutting, shaving and ear-picking. The whole package costs $30 and hair-dyeing costs $15. Only the owner and Ah Fung work there. Ah Fung claims the service provided is 'fair' considering he 'doesn't really know what hairdressing is'.

FAMILY: I am alone in Hong Kong. I got married on the mainland and my whole family is still there. I have four children but they are all working now. I go back to China whenever I have saved up enough money, which is usually six to seven times a year.

CAREER PATH: I came to Hong Kong from China on my own aged 11 and have been in the field for more than 50 years now. Life was hard in the 1950s and it was not easy to get a job. I found work in a barber shop thanks to my personal contacts. I was not exactly an apprentice as my job was simply to wash and sweep the floor. But I stayed there for more than three years and learned cutting by just watching. After that I worked as a barber. I have worked in this shop for more than 20 years now and I'm a good friend of the owner.

I have never dreamed of opening up my own place. The rent is so high in Hong Kong and anyway, I have to support my family on the mainland. I have never dreamed of changing trades either, it is too risky for me. I am satisfied with my job because I can earn a living doing this. I will only retire when I can no longer physically work. I don't think I really love or hate the job and won't really miss it when I have to retire: to me barbering is just a way of earning a living.

AH FUNG'S DAY: I rent a bed for $700 a month in Mong Kok which is close to the barber shop. I wake up at 7am and have my Cantonese Dim Sum. But I start waiting at 8am rather than working, as there is only about five customers a day, most of which are men over 50. The shop closes at 5pm - I am too old to work late.

Business was better about a decade ago. There were not as many barber shops operating then as they are now. We usually had more than 10 customers a day back then. Now though, our customers are old and do not have much money. They used to have a haircut twice a month, now they may have it once a month. Trade is declining so I would not advise anyone to embak on this career. There are just too many barber shops in town - it is too competitive.

There is one thing that I like about working here, though. It is so free and easy that I can leave any time that I want so I can visit my family in China.