EVERY DAY Lam Heung-wing gets up at 6am to leave his home in Shenzhen to travel to Hong Kong to work. He takes with him his seven-year-old daughter, Lam Ka-man, who attends a Hong Kong school. Their maid, nicknamed Small Lee, follows to take care of her. His wife dresses their three-year-old son, Lam Ka-chun, who goes to a local kindergarten. He was born in Shenzhen and has not received his SAR residency.
Lam usually takes a $3.50 minibus ride to the border at Lowu, but when he's late he catches a taxi for $12.50. This rankles with Lam who complains that the operators are taking advantage of those who cross the border each day. A single train journey from Lowu to Kowloon Tong costs $38. Every month, his transport bill is $1,600 - about one-sixth of his earnings.
At 7am, crowds of men and schoolchildren are already queueing on the platform. Lam is among them.
Back at the Lowu Border Building, his daughter, Ka-man, waits with Small Lee for five older schoolmates who cross the border with them. Lam deliberately avoids accompanying her across the border so the shy girl will become independent and mix with other children.
He doesn't mind the daily routine. 'I will continue to live here until I die,' he says.
Lam is one of the new breed of Hong Kongers: the labour force that lives on the mainland, but works in the SAR. The phenomenon began in the early 1990s as Hong Kongers relocated to China's border cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan and Panyu, to join their mainland wives. Now they choose to live there because the cost of living is much lower than in Hong Kong.
