Who are Hong Kong’s biggest graffiti writers? Contractors.
Take a look at the city’s utility boxes and lampposts and you’ll notice hand-scrawled advertisements for plumbers, electricians and other repairmen.
One stands out from the rest.
Throughout the city, a hand-painted ad that reads "tong kui tso hau" -- “Unclogs drains, repairs pipes" -- can be found accompanied by a phone number and signature: Kui Wong. The Plumber King.
Unlike the other contractor ads, Kui Wong's are drawn with care and consistency. Each has the same eye-pleasing composition and carefully rendered characters, whether it’s in the Central street market, a Mongkok alleyway or on a stone wall in Kowloon Tong.
They’re clearly drawn by someone who takes great pleasure in the act of creation, even if, by the standards of a professional, the results are naive and imperfect.
The location the King chooses for his ads are also unusual: bollards, retaining walls, alleyways, street curbs. Yet the low-profile settings work to their advantage. When you see them in such unexpected places, they stay with you.
In a way, the Plumber King is reminiscent of another "King": the King of Kowloon, who for decades covered the city in dense, distinctive calligraphy that claimed he was the rightful owner of Kowloon. His obsessive approach and remarkable visual style eventually earned him international acclaim and the respect of many artists and designers.
Plumber King’s work is much more modest. But he does have admirers.
Last year, TVB’s nightly lifestyle news program ran an homage to his work, but they didn’t contact him, so as not to ruin the mystery of the King’s identity.
We’re too curious for that. So we gave the Plumber King a call and invited him over to fix a broken toilet. He introduced himself as Mr. Tong and seemed flattered, but not particularly surprised, to hear that we like his graffiti.
CNNGo: How long have you been a plumber?
Kui Wong: I’ve been doing this for half a century. I snuck across the border from China when I was young. There used to be a lot of factories that needed plumbing work done.
CNNGo: Why did you start painting advertisements everywhere?
Wong: In the beginning I posted my advertisements in newspaper classifieds. Then I thought, what can I do to make more of an impact? So I made stickers. That was really common in the past. I used to put them inside lifts, but people don’t appreciate that anymore. That’s when I realized I could paint on the walls in different parts of town.
CNNGo: When was that?
Wong: Oh, it was ages ago. I’ve been painting for a very long time.
CNNGo: Your ads are in all sorts of unusual places. How do you decide where to paint them?
Wong: I drive a motorcycle all over the place. If I see somewhere interesting, I can just pull over and paint there.
CNNGo: Do you know who the King of Kowloon is?
Wong: (Laughs) I used to see the King of Kowloon walking around with his bucket of paint. But he’s dead now. A lot of radio advertising people have asked me if I want to advertise on the radio, but I rejected their offer because I don’t want to put myself out there too much. My line of work is not very desirable. I just want to earn enough to be comfortable. I don’t want to be famous.
No comments:
Post a Comment