FIVE children, orphaned when their parents drowned in an accident at sea, will not continue the family tradition of fishing for a living, relatives have vowed.
''Fishing is an unreliable career, you have no guaranteed income,'' said Miss Ip Ah-mui, whose fisherman brother Mr Ip Kam-yau and his wife Mrs Ip Ng Kwai-ho drowned a week ago.
Miss Ip said none of the five children - Sau-chun, 12, Kai-fai, 10, Mei-yee, nine, Sao-i, seven, and Mei-ling, two - would become fishermen.
Mei-ling was on the boat when Mr Ip dived into the water off Zhuhai to save his wife, who had tripped and fallen in.
Miss Ip said: ''Look at our case - my brother left behind meagre savings of $1,600. That's the fruit of his life as a fisherman.'' She said the children would continue their studies and, hopefully, get a job they were interested in.
''It would be easier for them to work on land, the working hours are shorter and they will not have to work so hard like we always have to.'' The Ip family's decision is becoming more common. More and more fishermen opt for a job in a factory rather than risk their lives at sea for an unreliable income.
Pollution has driven the fishing boats farther away and a trip as far as Hainan Island can take weeks.
