Karen and Peter’s father runs a broken fan repair business on Yen Chow Street in Sham Shui Po. His ten sq. ft. shop, beneath the stairway of an old Chinese tenement, is filled with countless models of old electric fans. When speaking about their father, they proudly say, “Our father is a genius, he can fix everything!” After school, they help clean the fans, so satisfied customers will pay readily when they pick up their repaired and shiny fans.
Luck, however, has not been on the Fungs’ side. Their father’s business has been in decline and worse still, the shop was ordered to close for safety reasons by the Buildings Department. After many difficult weeks, their father decided to remove the shop’s giant sign and was able to resume his business. Although this small shop only generates a few thousand dollars a month, it’s enough to feed the whole family.
Karen and Peter hope that their father will one day make enough money to move them out of their partitioned room. Their father has always worked hard to make this dream come true: for extra cash, he sorts through garbage from trash cans to sell on to recycling companies. The children understand that this old junk brings in extra money for the family, and even though it has taken up all the available space at home, they have never complained and have assisted their father over weekends and school holidays.
“Our home is so stuffy and small. But we can always do our homework at McDonald’s, which has plenty of room and air-conditioning,” said 12-year-old Peter, who has his own way of overcoming difficulties. Every morning before school starts, he will take Karen to McDonald’s to make a last-ditch effort to finish their homework. But often, they are distracted by the mountain of French fries which they can only dream of eating!
Our Toy's Stories 