Mr Wu
Butcher
Yuen Long
0600-1800 (12 hours) 

"I've been running this family business as a butcher for over 40 years, since the 1980s. I’m now in my sixties. There weren't many competitors back then, so I never left Yuen Long. The job is not easy; after many years of using the knife, my right hand has become calloused, which is a type of occupational disease. I usually get regular customers; not many youngsters buy pork in traditional wet markets anymore. Instead, they buy meat from supermarkets, where it comes pre-packaged with a price tag.”

“Being a butcher is not overly laborious, but it is not simple either; I work 12 hours a day just to support my family, day after day. I started working as a butcher at the age of twenty. I have to get up early every day to take delivery of the pigs and prepare the pork. I divide the pork into different parts and then hang them on the metal bar on display - ready to sell to customers. I wasn't good at handling the knife at first, but I quickly got used to it. The elderly are always the first customers, arriving around 7 in the morning so that they can buy the freshest meat. When the stall is not busy, I sort the meat into parts and keep the place tidy. If there is any meat left over at the end of the day, I will sell it at a lower price to nearby restaurants - I won't waste any of it!”

"If you ask me what my favourite cuts of pork are, I would say lean meat, pork belly, pork ribs and pork collar are all excellent. What matters most is how you cook it. However, young people nowadays are unfamiliar with the different cuts and think that buying frozen meat in supermarkets is more convenient. They may no longer know how to distinguish between good and bad meat. I still think that traditional pork shops are better; we can chat about our daily lives and bargain over prices. Wet markets are places that unify the community because customers are more than just customers. I'm afraid that the profession of being a butcher is declining and will no longer exist in the future."