Not available in Hong Kong!

'Not available in Hong Kong!' – one of the statements from my trusted gofer that I soon learned to doubt!
What with the language barrier, and a total lack of knowledge of the location of the city's engineering and hardware suppliers, I was introduced early to the need for a local gofer with a good command of the English language, some knowledge of the requirements of the job at hand, and a driver's licence. Almost immediately we had an answer to our problem, a well educated local go-getter, eager to become involved with a business that to him promised a good salary, and the chance to climb the ranks which strangely, he eventually did! But for the present, his job was to simply be given a list of things that were needed on the job, and each morning he would depart for Kowloon and beyond in a company vehicle, sometimes with only a single errand, that was to be carried out without delay, and the instruction to return immediately to the job.

For the first few days, Casey as he was immediately nicknamed (our English version of his correct name which was Kai See or something similar) was prompt and helpful, he was proving that his local knowledge was invaluable to his new employers. Strangely as the days passed, he would return later and later in the working day, with only a handful of the required items, and as I would go down the list of items missed, he would automatically reply 'Not available in Hong Kong'!

Most shops are open seven days a week in Kowloon, and on my first spare Sunday, I took a tram and ventured into the streets of the engineering districts with the idea of seeing for myself the true nature of the local suppliers. I was amazed to find that Canton Road and Reclamation Street, and the network of alleys in the area lacked nothing as far as I could see, and had a lot of the 'Not available in HK' items in profusion!
The next day at work, I was quick to point out to Casey the extent of my findings. This led to me writing out the daily list with a small but clear drawing of the wanted article alongside, then before his departure we would go over every item to make sure that there was no misunderstanding, and for a few days things seemed to improve. But eventually I despaired and decided to spend the day with him in a bid to get to know my way around the various districts and see for myself the reason for his lack of success!

I wasn't prepared for Casey's answer to my problems, I would point to an article on the list and give him my version of where it was to be found, but he would point out that it was in a one way inaccessible street or some such thing. Whereupon, I would instruct him to drive as close to the place as possible and we would get out and walk, but then there would be the problem of a parking spot to which I would reply 'just drive down the street, I will get out, make my purchase while you drive around the block and pick me up again'!

One way and another this foray proved to me that despite my total lack of the Chinese language, there were traders who would do their utmost to find what I required, and so Casey was relieved of his sweet job and put to work elsewhere in the system. I soldiered on without his help, my system being, that I would do a shopping run before I set out for the job, now being confident of the ways of traffic in these congested areas, and the fact that if you knew the ropes, a lot of the traffic rules could be ignored. In this way I found a central supplier, a family concern run by a woman, and all I needed to do was pull up in front of the shop, and a parking space would appear as if by magic, the most I would have to do was drive around the block while one was provided!
Then it was into the shop where a cup of tea or a Coke would appear, and I would go over my list and the pictures with the lady in charge who spoke not a word of English. As each picture was assessed, there would be a flood of Chinese words to a lad at her elbow, and he would take off and we would move on to the next picture. Within a few minutes, I would have the picture in my mind of these lads scurrying around alleys with their hand carts, and sure enough articles would start to appear on the counter, almost always correct but sometimes of the wrong size but this would soon be corrected.

I soon woke up to the fact that if the part you needed really wasn't available, something else would be proffered – sometimes successfully. In a short time all would be loaded into my vehicle and, after a final cup of tea, I would be on my way to work, arriving only a couple of hours later than normal, but with everything I needed!
From this experience I learned that our esteemed gofer would only trade with people who were relatives or close friends, or someone who would pay him a commission. He wasn't prepared to go searching for an article nor would he buy something that wasn't going to gain him a commission. In fact he spent most of his time in restaurants with his special mates, just to fill in the day. Casey reappeared with other companies that I worked for, but he had to be watched at all times, this guy had more tricks than a bag full of monkeys! He eventually emigrated to Canada with his family after I had left the scene.