RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 21 It was, in fact, used as one of the main features of the Hong Kong stand at the Exposition at Vancouver, in 1986 (see Plate 1). Bamboo scaffolding was also erected in Edinburgh, Scotland, by two master craftsmen, including Choi Keung of the Construction Industry Training Authority, in 1996, as part of the 'Hong Kong Tomorrow' exhibition (see Plate 2). Although bamboo is used in some other Asian countries as well, nevertheless it does typify Hong Kong. Bamboo, which has a long history for use as scaffolding in southern China, is imported into Hong Kong from the neighbouring province of Guangdong. But most of the bamboo comes from the adjacent, humid province of Guangxi, where it is cultivated. It takes about one year to grow to a useable size but in a very dry year with little rain it will take two years. Much is floated down the Pearl River with lengths lashed together to form rafts. From Guangzhou the bamboo goes to Macau from where it is shipped to Hong Kong. There are different kinds. Yellow bamboo is considered better than the grey variety. Lengths, on average, vary from 23 to 33 feet (the trade still tends to work in imperial measure rather than metric) and it is from 2 to as large as 10 inches in diameter. For extra compressive strength, on tall buildings, China fir poles are sometimes used as standards (uprights) every 20 feet or so as well as for main cross-bracing members. These take three to four years to grow to a useable size. Training The skill of erecting scaffolding has, by tradition, normally been passed on from master craftsman to apprentice. 'Tricks of the trade' are seldom made known to people outside the trade or written down.12 The traditional period for an apprenticeship was three years, although this has since, generally, been reduced to two years because of a shortage of scaffolders. In the old days being an apprentice, Chinese style, meant one was almost a slave to one's master. Even as late as the 1950s, this included being the master's cook, servant, laundryman and general dogsbody. The pay at the time was HK$10.00 a month for the first year, HK$20.00 for the second, and HK$30.00 a month for the final year. In addition to making obeisances and burning joss sticks to the three patron deities, in those days life was hard and for the first year or so the job of a new apprentice was largely fetch and carry. Only later was he allowed to climb and taught how to tie a knot. If he ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 22 disobeyed he would be scolded or beaten. At that time an employee was compelled to register with the only union of scaffolding workers in order to get a job. Some apprentice scaffolders will tell you they enjoy the view from on high, where they are 'king of all they survey', although others maintain that, unless one has a natural head for heights, at first, being a scaffolder takes a lot of getting used to (Plate 3). Many youngsters are put off from taking up the trade by their parents who see it as a dangerous occupation. A short evening course entitled, "The Craft of Chinese Scaffolding" was run by the Morrison Hill Technical Institute in the early 1970s, when the author served there as Principal. This course was taught by the late Mr Ho So, an experienced bamboo scaffolder and the editor of The Craft of Chinese Scaffolding. Unlike the usual practice of learning on the-job, a certificate was issued on the successful completion of this course. Mr Ho left Kao Yao, Guangdong Province, as a boy of 15 and came to Hong Kong to serve a three-year apprenticeship. He gained considerable experience as a master scaffolder before setting up his own business which he ran for upwards of 30 years. Later, he taught not only at the Morrison Hill Technical Institute, but he also became a full-time scaffolding instructor at the Kowloon Bay Construction Industry Training Authority Centre. When the author visited the premises of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Bamboo Scaffolding Merchants Association, in Spring Garden Lane, Wanchai, in August 1997, the late Mr Ho's photograph was prominently displayed. This was placed alongside pictures of other persons who had made significant contributions to the Association and to the scaffolding industry. An altar and pictures of groups of scaffolders were also displayed in the Association's Headquarters. Opposite, on Spring Garden Lane, on the top floor, are dormitories where a number of elderly scaffolders reside. Earth god shrines are in evidence together with bundles of nylon lashings, for tying bamboo scaffold poles together. As at 1995, with a highly fragmented trade which relies largely on ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 23 subcontracting, no vacancies were supposed to have existed. There were said at the time to have been 724 working scaffolders. Of these, 4 (all employed by 1 firm) had received education up to Secondary School Form Five; 160 had craft certificates (they were employed in 19 different firms); and 519 (employed in 45 different firms) had received education up to Secondary School Form Three or below.16 Still today, many of the older scaffolders have frequently only received a few years of Primary education, as was not uncommon until up to the 1960s. Many were young when they started learning the trade. Employment figures vary considerably depending on the state of the economy. During a building recession, scaffolders sometimes move into other forms of employment, such as hawking or driving a taxi. A shortage of scaffolders and the danger factor in the trade results in higher wages being paid. Wages for scaffolders are in the region of 10 per cent more than other principal trades, such as carpenters and bricklayers, in the building industry. If a group of scaffolders decide to 'take work' for a price, they can usually earn even more. In October 1997, the going rate for a scaffolder, at HK$890.00 a day, could not attract workers. It was necessary to pay HK$1,000.00 a day. A shortage of scaffolders is brought about, too, partly because the work is of a casual nature, depending on the number of jobs available, with employees working somewhere between 20 to (but seldom more than) 25 days a month. Once erected, the scaffolding is 'hired out' at a set rate, depending on the time it is left standing before being dismantled. Erecting bamboo scaffolding is normally seen, naturally, as a man's job, although, since the Construction Industry Training Centre opened in 1976, it has trained two girls (Plate 4). One of those later took over the managing of her father's scaffolding firm. With running the business in mind, that was why she undertook the course in the first place. However, although scaffolding is normally seen as a man's job, of the trainee-places on the Training Authority's course, only nine were taken up in the 1997-98 intake. Seventy per cent of the graduates from the course, which has been running for about 20 years, still work as scaffolders. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 28 scaffolding. The Construction Industry Training Centre, in conjunction with the Vocational Training Council, does conduct trade tests for bamboo scaffolders at Aberdeen. A Guidebook to Trade Tests for Bamboo Scaffolders has jointly been produced by the Vocational Training Council, the Building and Civil Engineering Training Board, and the Construction Industry Training Authority. According to the 'Code of Practice': ...every scaffolder should therefore be required to wear a safety harness or belt (plus suitable lanyard) attaching to an independent life-line or a secure anchorage or fitting, or a secure fixing point at all times.31 This is how they are taught in the Construction Industry Centre. Actually, outside on the job, few scaffolders use safety belts. Most say that, because when erecting or dismantling a scaffold they have to move around so much, if they are ‘anchored down' with a safety belt and attachments, it slows them down. In practice, a scaffolder puts his leg over or around a bamboo member and 'secures' himself like that (see Plate 4). Although erecting bamboo scaffolding is a respected trade, one not only needs to be properly trained but also one has to be physically fit and mentally alert in order to prevent accidents. When one old master scaffolder was asked how he proved that he was properly trained without a certificate he burst into laughter 'If you are going to work 30 floors above the ground, standing on slim pieces of bamboo, you had better be properly trained,' he guffawed. The trade of the scaffolder has been described as blending lofty ideals with a lonely life. Certainly 'up there', to a large extent you are on your own. The danger is that tradesmen take short cuts to get the job completed more quickly. If workers have a fall or an injury they normally quit because of psychological pressures. Nevertheless, most accidents are caused by carelessness. Most of those injured are workmen of various trades who use the scaffolding after it has been erected, not the scaffolders themselves. Sometimes the scaffolding may have been altered or tampered with by other tradesmen. For example, a bricklayer removes a tie from the scaffolding to a building because it gets in his way. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 31 Certainly, for heavy duty scaffolding laid out on a grid pattern, say when constructing a flyover and for other civil engineering work, metal scaffolding has advantages. Metal has already taken over in some cases from timber in areas such as hoardings around building sites and for site offices, when containers are sometimes utilised. Also, on large projects managed by the Government Housing Department, precast concrete units are used together with gondolas. This does away with much scaffolding. Although the change from bamboo scaffolding to metal has been much slower than many people expected over the past 40 years, especially with a limited number of trainee scaffolders entering the trade, the changing to metal can be expected to continue. Nevertheless, one can expect bamboo scaffolding, with its many advantages, to be in use for many years to come. Acknowledgements The author is grateful to Mr Albert Tong Yat Chu, Mr Cho Hon Chiu and scaffolding instructor Master Chor Keung, all of the Construction Industry Training Authority, for the information and photographs they supplied. The author is also grateful to Mr Jimmy C. M. Yuen, of the Occupational Safety and Health Council and to Mr S. L. Lam, Senior Architect of the Architectural Services Department, for their assistance. REFERENCES 1. TC Lai, Hasem Role. Philip Mao, Hings Chinese (Hong Kong, 1971), pp 13 and 14 2. Shrona Anbe, Fhustle ontd Bamboo, the Life and Times of St. James Stewart Lockhart, Oxford University Press (1989), p. 58 3. Alfred Russel Wallace, FRS (1823-1913) British naturalist, widely travelled, had many publications to his credit. See Chambers Biographical dictionary (Revised edition 1961) 4. Ho So, The Craft of Chinese Scaffolding, Ho So Kee Construction and Scaffolding Co (Hong Kong, circa 1974), p 3 5. Naomi Yin-yin Szeto, 'Bamboo Scaffolding”, of Hearts and Hands Hong Kong's Traditional Trades and Crafts, ed Joseph Ting, Urban Council Museum of History (Hong Kong, 1995), P 219 6. Ho, loc cit 7. Anthony Walker and Stephen M. Rowlinson, The Building of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Construction Association, Hong Kong University Press (1990), p 121-131 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 Bamboo scaffolding outside the exhibition hall at the 'Hong Kong Tomorrow' exhibition in 1996, at Edinburgh in Scotland. The scaffolding was erected by master scaffolder Choi Keung, instructor at the Construction Industry Training Authority, and another Hong Kong craftsman (photograph courtesy Hong Kong Construction Industry Training Authority). 35 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 36 + 1 3 Ž Erecting scaffolding. A head for heights is required especially when one is 30 or 40 storeys above the ground (photograph courtesy of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Training Authority). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 37 The trade of scaffolder is normally seen as a man's job. The Construction Industry Training Authority Centre, at Kowloon Bay, has, however, trained two women. Note here how this young lady places her leg over and around the scaffolding, so she can hang on, and her hands can be freed for tying and other work (photograph courtesy of Hong Kong Industry Training Authority). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 38 A model of the bamboo skeleton for a 'matshed', such as those in which Chinese opera is performed. A stage and tiered seating can be seen inside. A life-sized matshed is normally clad with thin galvanised-iron sheets (Photograph courtesy Construction Industry Training Authority by whose trainees the model was made). ================================================================================