Hong Kong-made blind sticks are exported overseas, but the blind proprietor of the factory building is demolished: Don’t give up Hong Kong industry

The government announced earlier that it intends to demolish four of its factory buildings for the construction of public housing. Among the four factories, the only local manufacturer of equipment for the blind in Hong Kong has rented a 500-square-foot unit in the Fotan factory building nine years ago. Personal experience and improved supplies. The blind rods designed by him have been successfully exported to Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and other places. Currently, he is worried about adaptation and barrier-free facilities. There is no suitable location to relocate, and he criticizes the government for not building public housing. It creates a contradiction with the preservation of the factory building, and begged the relevant departments to "Don't give up on us. Does the local government feel that industry is not important?"

The blind proprietor served as a civil servant before his return

Mr. Lai, 75, is a visually impaired person who must use a blind rod to enter and exit. He applied to the civil service system in his early years and worked as a telephone operator for the Social Welfare Department and the Information Services Department for many years. Later, he found that the blind device was of poor quality. Established the company in 1988 to start research and improvement. By the mid-1990s, he retired early and concentrated on designing products. After repeated research on the four-section folding blind cane imported from foreign countries, he designed a lighter and easy-to-store six-section foldable. Blind canes are manufactured locally and become the first generation of Hong Kong-made blind canes. In its heyday, a single order can reach 2,000 to 3,000.

3 to 4 years ago, he studied the new antenna telescopic cane introduced by foreign countries, improved the grip, the grounding glue at the bottom of the cane, and the elastic joint rubber edge, and added durable components to make a handle not dusty and stable in expansion and contraction. The second-generation Hong Kong-made blind rods, which are highly resistant, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant, are imported into the mainland factory for mass production, and then they will carry out quality inspections in Hong Kong, attracting foreign groups of blind people to order them, and export them from Hong Kong to Canada, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and In Shanghai and other places, it has also been used by many local organizations concerned with the visually impaired.

Study and improve Hong Kong-made cane for the blind

Mr. Lai described that an improved version of the Hong Kong-made blind cane ranges from 150 to 200 yuan. Although slightly more expensive than similar canes, each step of the manufacturing process includes mold making, quality verification, and improved component design. He personally adjusts, inspects, and tries to ensure that the goods are officially shipped to other places after the goods are matched. "I am always blind, and I know there are problems after trying it. I don’t like other blind equipment companies that are only responsible for manufacturing. Don’t know that there is a slight difference in the degree of margin, and even the supplier who ordered the goods, if it is for personal use, will use the product returned to me.”

However, blind canes or other related products are more durable consumables. There is no specific order cycle. Sometimes you can take several orders of more than a thousand at one go, and sometimes you may not have an order a month. Therefore, rent becomes one of the major expenses. Nine years ago, he increased the rent to 7,000 yuan for renting a unit in a private industrial building in Fotan. He bid through a hidden bidding. 9 years ago, he bid for a connected unit with an area of ​​about 500 square feet in the Fotan Suihui Factory Building at a monthly rent of more than 12,400 yuan. After the completion of the 3-year contract, the contract will be renewed at the normal rent level of more than 4,000 yuan for 6 years. The contract was originally scheduled to be renewed after the contract is completed in September this year. A "Temporary Rent Permit" agreement can be signed at the current rent level until the formal notice period is issued.

The way forward is still unclear. Mr. Lai only hopes that the government will hold its hands high and keep the existing factory buildings without moving or demolishing them.

(Photo by Mo Jiawen)

Worried about not being able to settle in other locations and continue to operate

He worried that it would take several months to adapt to a new place each time. Even if there is only one visually impaired tenant in the factory building, the Housing Authority will install barrier-free facilities in the entire factory building, including every lift, in accordance with government building guidelines. The passageways, the entrances of the rented units and the upper floors of the steps are covered with embossed floors of special materials, but private factories never follow due to cost issues. "Even if you install the entrance of the rented unit yourself, it’s your fault. In turn, you will be held accountable, or you will be directly unwilling to rent you.” And the 40 units available for bidding in the Kwai Tsing Promotion Factory Building and Tuen Mun Kai Tai Factory Building where the government provides resettlement, due to the inconvenience of the geographical location, before the deadline He has not registered for bidding, and he is worried that he will not be able to settle down in other locations in the end.

Regarding external opinions that factory tenants are not willing to move out and that the supply of public housing cannot be increased in disguise, Mr. Lai emphasized that he absolutely supports the government to build public housing, but the premise is that "the government provides housing services to the people, and we all need another type of housing service." Industrial services, how about a local government that doesn't value industry?" He urged the government to "raise your hands, don't give up on us, and just let us go when you start."

Fanny, a representative of the Fotan Suihui Factory Building Concern Group who assisted Li Bo, criticized that the government deliberately created a social contradiction between the construction of public housing and the preservation of the factory building. Choosing to move out, or bidding for 40 factory units with a hidden bid, is unreasonable. It requires a re-examination of the factory resettlement policy so that the local industry can be retained.

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