After World War II, prosperity returned to Hong Kong, especially with the establishment of new industries such as producing shoes and clothing.
Shoemaking, in particular, attracted plenty of talent in manufacture, design, wholesaling, retailing and exporting, not to mention the maintenance of all those shoes that never left the city at all - the everyday footwear customers want kept in good order.
'Uncle' Lui is a tradesman who in his career of almost half a century has probably seen as many pairs of shoes as anyone who sells them by the thousand. He began in the industry as a shoemaker, but with the decline of local manufacturing he became a po hai lo - or what in English is called a cobbler, a man who repairs shoes.
Uncle Lui began his footwear career at the age of 15, and he has not forgotten what it was like in the early days.
'When I was 15, many teenagers rushed to become shoemakers,' he said. 'The company said training would be provided, but - to be honest - there was no one: you had to be your own tutor, you had to learn by yourself.'
As an apprentice he watched his seniors working with their apprentices at their side. When he made his first pair of shoes, Uncle Lui was excited to receive his $20 commission, but the high point was the publication of one of his designs in a local fashion magazine.