48
BARBARA E. WARD
men to gamble much later than before. In 1950 there had been one battery-operated wireless, owned by the main shopkeeper, around which the small evening population used to gather for entertainment, particularly on Mondays and Fridays when programmes of Cantonese opera were broadcast live from the Po Hing or Ko Shing theatres, and the shop therefore remained open till midnight. In 1970 nearly all the families and many individuals had their own transistor radios.
On the purse-seiners there would be a rather exhilarating passage out to the chosen fishing ground, where the boats would stop, set their kerosene pressure lamps, and wait. If it was calm and there were fish about, some people might do a little hand-lining, but usually this was a time for sleeping until awakened by an alarm clock sometime before midnight. The time of actual fishing operations obviously depended on the presence or otherwise of fish, but often there would be two main spells around midnight and just before dawn, with sleep in between. Small children on board slept through the night, but even on the mechanised junks, a ten-year-old was already a useful hand. During the fishing periods, and especially at dawn, fish-collecting boats might call around to buy the catch, and a few small-liners might also come to buy bait for their next day's activities. As dawn was breaking, the night-time fishermen would be well on their way either to market first or directly back to the anchorage. After mechanisation, most purse-seiners were able to take their own fish to the wholesale markets and still get back to their bases well before noon.
Meanwhile, the land dwellers and those remaining on boats at the anchorage had slept, but they too would wake at dawn, or just before. The first purse-seiners would arrive at an already busy village. The day-time fishermen would be getting ready to go out, waiting usually to buy bait from the returning night workers. Women on shore would be drawing water, hanging clothes out to dry, rousing children from sleep. In the days before the nylon revolution, the first object of a purse-seiner was to ensure that his net was properly dried. As each pair came in, the sampans were launched, the wet net, piled high in the bows of the net-junk, was bundled into one of them, and carried off at
48
BARBARA E. WARD
men to gamble much later than before. In 1950 there had been one battery operated wireless, owned by the main shop-keeper, around which the small evening population used to gather for entertainment particularly on Mondays and Fridays when programmes of Cantonese opera were broadcast live from the Po Hing or Ko Shing theatres and the shop therefore remained open till midnight. In 1970 nearly all the families and many individu- als had their own transistor radios.
On the purse-seiners there would be a rather exhilarating passage out to the chosen fishing ground, where the boats would stop, set their kerosene pressure lamps and wait. If it was calm and there were fish about some people might do a little hand- lining, but usually this was a time for sleeping until awakened by an alarm clock sometime before midnight. The time of actual fishing operations obviously depended on the presence or otherwise of fish, but often there would be two main spells around midnight and just before dawn, with sleep in between. Small children on board slept through the night, but even on the mechanised junks a ten-year-old was already a useful hand. During the fishing periods, and especially at dawn, fish-collecting boats might call around to buy the catch, and a few small-liners might also come to buy bait for their next day's activities. As dawn was breaking the night-time fishermen would be well on their way either to market first or directly back to the anchorage. After mechanisation most purse-seiners were able to take their own fish to the wholesale markets and still get back to their bases well before noon.
Meanwhile the land dwellers and those remaining on boats at the anchorage had slept, but they too would wake at dawn, or just before. The first purse-seiners would arrive at an already busy village. The day-time fishermen would be getting ready to go out, waiting usually to buy bait from the returning night workers. Women on shore would be drawing water, hanging clothes out to dry, rousing children from sleep. In the days before the nylon revolution the first object of a purse-seiner was to ensure that his net was properly dried. As cach pair came in the sampans were launched, the wet net, piled high in the bows of the net-junk, was bundled into one of them and carried off at
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