| Sik Cheong Shing Shipyard |  |
Walking up Tam Kon Shan Road, shipyards follow one another making a long row of them along the coastline. They do not look grand at all, but many of them are brand names of several decades’ standing, and they are the living witnesses to the rise and fall of Hong Kong’s shipbuilding industry.
Sik Cheong Shing Shipyard was founded before World War II, by old Mr. Chan, the father of the current boss Mr. Chan Chun Kong. The old shipyard had two staff dormitory buildings close by. Every 2nd and 16th day of a lunar month, the company would hold “Cho Ar” (feast to make food offerings to gods, followed by a sumptuous meal) to reward the staff. Due to urban redevelopment, shipyards were all relocated to Tsing Yi Island, and new regulations stipulated that shipyards could not provide staff accommodations, so the “Cho Ar” tradition was gradually lost. Meeting the same fate as Sik Cheong Shing were some thirty other shipyards; all were forced to relocate to Tam Kon Shan, thus enlivening this sparsely populated area of Tsing Yi. Later Tam Kon Shan became the centre for the shipbuilding industry.
The work of shipyards can be summarised by three words – “ship, machine, electricity”. Shipyard would build new ships, and maintain existing ships and their machineries. Since the work on ships are meticulous, they require plenty of light for their work, so these shipyards always start work as the sun rises, and stop working when the sun sets. In rainy weather work will have to be halted, because rain water can make electrical parts get wet and cause accidents.
| Date founded: | 1930s |
| Founder: | Old Mr. Chan, father of the current owner Mr. Chan Chun Kong |
| Address: | 84 Tam Kon Shan Road, Tsing Yi |
| Telephone: | 2495 7789 |
