THE OLD MAN is grumpy and spits as he talks. Sitting on a low plastic stool in Sheung Wan's Wing Lok Street, Yu Kam-pui, or 'Ah Kam', is dressed in a white sweatshirt, black cloth shoes and a pair of dirty, old shorts. He is waiting quietly for work that seldom comes.
The 78-year-old with muscular shoulders and arms is among the last of a dying breed. He is an old-style coolie - the manual labourers who were once synonymous with Hong Kong's bustling port. Years ago, he carried everything from sacks of rice to the decomposing bodies of British soldiers. But these days, work has dried up.
To pass the time, Ah Kam sits around, rolling cigarettes. Next to him is a plastic bag holding an old pair of sharp metal hooks used to carry goods. It also doubles as a carry-all for drink cans and newspapers he scavenges from the streets. 'Often I wait for one whole month and still I have no work,' he says.
The term coolie is derived from the Hindi word for hired servant, quli, and in Chinese literally means 'hard effort'. In Hong Kong, it is a term most commonly associated with wharf labourers.
In the 1950s, coolies were omnipresent in Hong Kong's thriving port - the most important trading link between China and the rest of the world. Waterfront communities dotted busy piers in Tsim Sha Tsui, North Point, Tai Kok Tsui, Western District and Sheung Wan until as recently as the 1980s, after Deng Xiaoping announced China's open-door policy. The policy increased direct trade between the mainland and the rest of the world, reducing Hong Kong's role as a go-between and the need for coolie labourers. Improved land access between the mainland and Hong Kong also took a toll on the profession, which has been further clobbered by the economic downturn.
Where Sheung Wan's piers, collectively known as 'Triangle Pier', once had thousands of coolie labourers, now only about 40 are left, says Kam Chung, 58, who joined the trade in 1980. Most of them are middle-aged, and about 20, including Kam, are based under a flyover on Connaught Road Western; the rest are on Ko Shing Street. The oldest coolie, it seems, is Ah Kam. His turf is Wing Lok Street, where he sits alone, watching the world go by.