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slack period carried over from the previous year. The reason for this stagnation is the political instability of the South Pacific countries like Annam which are imposing a strict quota on imports. As a result, the export value of joss stick has declined very dramatically to less than 40% of that in pre-war years. Moreover, local sales are not satisfactory. Up till now, besides the long-established enterprises like Leung Wing Shing, Leung Wing Hing and Tai Sang Loong which are still thriving in business, the rest of the joss stick factories are barely subsisting. The total number of enumerated factories is about 150 and the total sales value is less than 2 millions.28
Nevertheless, from the 1950s, this industry was in a much better position than much of the rest of the economy. Ingrams, quoting from an anonymous article in an American journal, notices, "Hong Kong means trade. Apart from the British-American Tobacco Company, a few small textile, joss stick and rubber shoe factories and the like, there are no manufacturing factories of more than local importance".29 However, the influx of refugees from China during the Civil War in the 1940s gave impetus to the industry. Indeed, according to many elder workers interviewed, the market for joss sticks expanded, as many people and refugees recently arrived in Hong Kong thanked the Gods for preserving their lives. Among the refugees were people from Tung-kuan and Hsin-hui who were very skilful in the manufacture of joss sticks. In fact, 80% of the workers in the trade in the late 1950s and later came from Hsin-hui and bore the surname Tai. Equipped with the skill of joss stick manufacture, they were ready to enter this profession as there were few alternative industries open to them.
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It became a common practice that the workers in a joss stick factory were provided with meals and accommodation. Thus, the industry was very attractive to newcomers who were not familiar with their new environment. Some entered this industry simply because their relatives and friends were working in one of these factories. After all, the manufacture of joss sticks does not require very high skill. The average period of apprenticeship is only one or two months for male workers. Moreover, the wage system by which wages are calculated on a piece-rate basis allows the workers a high degree of flexibility.
In the 1960s, the picture of joss stick manufacture was much more