“I’ve been called Ms. Lee or the boss by the neighborhood since decades ago, and even now,” Lee Yan Yu, the owner of Kwun Tong Furniture. Speaking Cantonese with a Teochew accent, and with the surname Lee, this familiar combination marked the diligence of the elder generation, and Ms. Lee is no exception. She used to speak quickly and hurriedly. She said it is simply because she has gone through a tough time for half of her life, and 24 hours per day is always not enough to finish her work. Therefore, she can’t help but speak in haste.
During those years, Ms. Lee had to raise her only son on her own and became ill eventually. Fortunately, her son, Chong Hiu Sang, was filial and willing to give up his I.T. job to take over the furniture business. From selling ready-made and custom-made furniture in the past to transforming into an interior design business today, Kwun Tong Furniture has also introduced new technology such as computer graphics to keep with the times. The shop has implemented a brand-new style and reopened in #Yue Man Lane. The mother and son have overcome barriers spontaneously all these years.
“It’s been 30 years since we opened the store in 1989. Back then, when it was about to close, our customers were sad and asked me to stay, and then they left their phone numbers to me. Now the shop has been reopened, and we must call and inform every one of them for sure…” Though the area of the ground-floor old shop with a loft was much bigger than the new one, Ms. Lee said she missed the neighborhood rather than the old venue, and she was looking forward to the district renewal instead.
“The environment around the shop in the former Yue Man Square was very dilapidated. There were lots of concrete falling down, rats everywhere, and the air was poor which caused me sick all the time. I kept hoping the area could be rebuilt as soon as possible.” The environment and hygiene were not as good as it should have been, and the fire at Yue Man Square in 1995 was also a painful memory to her. “As the wooden furniture was flammable, so when the fire broke out to our old shop, it was unavoidable of making a huge loss to us…”
After the fire, she started afresh and her business began to prosper in the 1990s. In those years, the economy of Hong Kong took off rapidly, and new town buildings were completed ceaselessly. Moreover, “Kwun Tong Furniture” was one of the few large furniture shops in Hong Kong, and many people came to buy furniture from other districts, so the business was booming. “Some customers even came from Yuen Long and Sheung Shui. We also hired a lot of employees at that time.”
Three decades have passed in a flash, and Kwun Tong has undergone significant changes. Ms. Lee said the tough time has caused at the expense of her health. Therefore, she wants to hand over the business to the next generation. “Although I only sold ready-made and custom-made furniture in the past, we got a lot of acclaims from the neighborhood. They said our furniture was durable. My son is smarter than me and he facilitates computer graphic for design to keep abreast with times”
On the day of the interview, it was the reopening of “Kwun Tong Furniture” at Yue Man Lane, and Ms. Lee has become a grandmother as well. She believed that every difficulty in the world can be overcome as long as the family is together.
Address: 1A18, L1, YM², 33 Hip Wo Street, Kwun Tong
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