Cheung Chi Mau (Master Cheung) has 47 years of experience working in a garment factory. Having been the head of the pressing department, the head of fabric cutting and a paper pattern master, he is no stranger to the operations of a garment factory. He recalled memories of when he and his fellow workers in the pressing department would compete to see who had the highest daily output, and how they would play card games together during afternoon breaks. The most memorable experience was being a paper pattern master in mainland China, working with 300 other workers at the same factory. Effective communication, even non-verbal ones, was essential between departments. The paper pattern master and sewing workers would communicate through ‘notches’, which are cutting points made on fabric to signal sectioning. Cheung gained much experience in management skills during that time. Later, he operated a factory of around 30 workers for small-scale production and prototyping in Shenzhen in 1997. For the following decade of operation, leather jackets remained one of the most frequent orders from their customers.
Master Cheung is a member of the CHAT Sewing Team.