Church Of Holy Carpenter Gives Hope To Young In Hong Kong

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31530, 18 November 1967, Page 5

Church Of Holy Carpenter Gives Hope To Young In Hong Kong

Specially written for “The Press” by the Rev. R. M. O'GRADY, assistant secretary of the National Council of Churches >

It was a warm summer day when I first approached the Church of the Holy Carpenter in Hong Kong. The hum of machinery from the nearby dockyards continued, but for the thousands of people swarming down the streets this was no t(me for work. The midday siesta was calling and with temperatures in the mideighties who can blame them.

The church itself looked, more like a factory from its exterior, and, as I entered, the sight inside was far removed from the traditional picture of a church.

The bare room was packed with young Chinese men and women, seated at folding tables enjoying their lunch. Later I found that each day 250 young people take their lunch at the church for a nominal charge. For many it is their only proper meal in the day. This was the worker's canteen and it was the first simple picture of this unique church. Waiting to greet me was the Rev. Francis Yip, the director and guiding z spirit behind the Holy Carpenter. I guessed him to be about 35 years of age. and his immediate friendliness and enthusiasm showed why he had become such a popular leader in the project. In the next hour we saw such a variety of activity that my head was swimming with the complexity of the centre which had been created.

Break With Tradition

The whole scheme began in 1954 when the then Bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop Hall, became worried about the large number of refugees in the colony and the wide-

’ spread unemployment and i I vice which followed. He sought land from the Govern- ' ment and was granted a small • hill in Hunghom near the; dockyard, and presumably: not much good for general development. Fourteen unemployed boys! from a nearby orphanage: were given the task of removing the hill, and by means of; pick and shovel accomplished the task in four and a half; months. The first hill had been removed. Next came the building of i a church. From the start it I was agreed that the church; should break with tradition; and be a practical multi-! purpose shell. This was the I room which was being used I as the canteen. At first the I i same room had also been (used as a factory, small j .machines replacing the tables; ,as soon as meals were com-; ■ pleted. Eventually another j place was used for the fac-1 Itory so that the machines; ! could be permanently in- ; stalled. Many Uses The church I found had l other uses as well. 11s choir I room was the kitchen where : the workers’ meals are pre- ; pared each day. The minis-; ter’s vestry, becomes, during the week, a small clinic with i a permanent nurse in attend- ; ance. Here medical treatment I is given to workers and their families at a small charge i Poor and needy receive the . same attention free of • charge. There is always a ] queue at the door. The only thing which; marks the building off as a church is the sanctuary which, is partitioned off from -the! rest of the main room. As you; draw back the curtain to the,; sanctuary you are eonfron-ll ted with a life-size woodcut| of Christ in the clothes of a;; workman kneeling in front of;: a work bench. This is the Holy Carpenter whose inspira- , tion is seen all around. To the left of the altar is;l a banner embroidered with 11 carpentry tools and a bold I ; ■ line of Chinese characters ! : ; which reads: “Peace through' i (Work.” Oh the right is a i • wooden cross and a crown of I < I thorns. It is simple and I 1 ' expressive. IJ

11 The altar opens each at 5 p.m. and!: • teachers begin a daily i I! children’s hour. It is a sort i ■; of Sunday School for;; ■ workers' children. After the ■ [ children depart young people;; on many evenings arrive to't >| have a social evening or i ■ attend lectures in English. I 1 1 [i Cheap Hostel j‘ I The church so obviously]] filled a need tha' within two . i years of its completion a * , hostel was built alongside. [ ‘ IThe hostel accommodates 140,* . boys and girls and is always ] jfull. Since everything is done!' ■on a non-profit basis, the cost 1 l of board is one of the cheapest, l in Hong Kong. (About SN.Z.I a month.) Currently there is a | (surprising array of side-; j activities. On the lowest floor are workshops containing an;] ; array of lathes, drills and I: [other machines. This is the ] • practical training centre ( where young men with i o ! minimum education are \' 1 taught a trade to the level j ] ! where they can pass an examination. Last year 33 t students gained certificates' in refrigeration and air-con-; ditioning courses. In two ! years over 300 trainee t ' students aged from 13 to 17 have passed through the r classes. . s I g Day Nursery I b 0 Two second-hand car n engines were given, and for a v short time a young Austra- t; lian engineer joined the; c staff to begin classes in auto-'n mobile maintenance. Sole •successful have these various I classes been that there is | I now a plan to begin con-; ! struction of a three-storey. I post-primary vocational train-] n j ing centre, which will run j C • vocational classes for an esti-.p mated 800 young people. d By last year when I visited h the church for a second time., c still further developments ■ b i had occurred. A two-storey flat b I had been purchased nearby.a land the walls removed. Down-;v • stairs was a workers' day b nursery running at full (a capacity. Cots were packed so! c: [closely that double-decker I p ' cots became necessary.; t< I Forty-five children from one'

• month to two years of age j are brought there each mornling to be cared for by experienced sisters. The I mothers work until sunset for many of them could not afford to miss a day’s ■work. The family circum-i stances in each case are carefully reviewed to ensure that ionly the neediest of families! are helped. The second floor of the flats has 80 pre-primary; boys and girls cared for daily. They alternately play; and are educated by trained; teachers. The flats are small, colourful, and over-crowded! but perform a real service to; many families. Bus Tours On my last evening in Hong Kong 1 was invited to a special ceremony in the church grounds to mark yet another creative and fascinating experiment. It had been decided to begin a series of “Hong Kong Workers’ Tours” and a generous friend had given much of the money to pur-i chase a bus for the purpose, j The city is so overcrowded that tens of thousands grow up in the narrow streets without ever seeing grass, trees; or open spaces. The effect of this on the human soul is! hard to imagine. One of the! results is the all-night sessions of Mah Jong, or other] gambling games which can . be seen in the back streets] of the city at any time of night. The tours will provide regular cheap tours to! the country so that workers; can discover the world of ■ nature outside their usual!: confined quarters. h j: Long Hours Of Work ( The service was opened the ; night I attended with typical' Chinese exuberance and hos-b pitality. Firecrackers and a ; dragon dance entertained!; hundreds of neighbourhood ] • children. Finally Miss Hong,' Kong arrived in dazzling ]; beauty to cut the ribbon ■ around the bus and wish the-i venture well. The Chinese;; banquet which followed was a simple expression of appre- ; elation to all who had been 1 partners in the Holy Carpen- i ter programme. t Although there are nearly' 1

e|two million people employed ‘jin Hong Kong, the type of ] I work offered and the condiJtions of employment create 1 the problems which the > Church of the Holy Carpenter ' seeks to solve. ; Unskilled labourers will > I work for 50c to 70c a day J and this is for a 10 hour day, ]• seven days a week. Although •it is usual for workers to • get two to four days off a I'month, the over-all average I for Hong Kong is only nine i I days a year. , Women and minors 16-18 years may work up to 10 hours a day and six days a week. Younger people 14-16 work up to eight hours a day for six days a week. Yet conditions are often crippling and the Labour Department had to bring 3000 prosecutions against employers in 1966 for illegal operations or lack of safety precautions. Accidents in the same years numbered 10,000, with 165 deaths and 1000 cases of permanent disability. Many work in squatter factories outside these regulations and no checks can be (made. Finally there are the thousands who are employed •on a daily basis with no I security. Often they struggle as hawkers or coolies for a istnall wage. There can be no question j but that the Church of the Holy Carpenter is needed. (What will always amaze the | visitor is the tremendous vigour with which Francis Yip and his associates are tackling the problems. It is idone with warm human sympathy. and a balanced conviction that the church’s place ]is in the world of men. Francis said recently: (“There are too many people, (who think that Christianity ]is almost entirely pro- ! management. They forget it | was a carpenter’s son who was crucified for the sins of mankind. and that it was a tent-maker who was Christianity's greatest : apostle ” His words give the assurance that the Church of the Holy Carpenter is on the right lines to give new hope to the young workmen of Hong Kong.