moom bookshop

The metal shutter finally comes down.

Uncle and Aunt Choi’s 84-square-foot shop under a staircase served the To Kwa Wan community for 58years, from 1962 to 2020.

For years ...

shelves on the left: Florida Water, face powder, insecticides, mothballs;

on the right right: towels, panties, soaps, facial creams, hair tonics, polish removers;

at the front: razors, nail clippers, press studs, toothbrushes, safety pins;

hanging: red-white-blue bags and headbands.

The shelves, cleared. The many years lingering in their minds.

Reluctantly, time flies ... life moves on ...

Urban-planner-now-photographer Kelvin Chan visits Choi Kee Emporium and the environs during the last days of trading. He feels the couple’s inspirational spirit of hard work, optimism and devotion, and he feels his own sense of loss, nostalgia and cherishment: Chan grew up in same neighbourhood.

A CORNER - a Hong Kong story about a generation of fine, ordinary people.

Kelvin CHAN worked as an urban planner with the Hong Kong Civil Service for 33 years. Retirement opens up a new chapter: he is pursuing life with a different perspective and photography has become a new means of communication that complements his formal writing. Recently, he has been making images of the built environment and he has started challenging himself to photographing humanity, e.g., doing portraits for residents in care homes, as community services.

He earned his academic qualifications in urban studies and planning from universities in Toronto and London, and professional qualifications from British and Hong Kong institutes. He recently completed a contemporary photography programme through the School of Professional and Continuing Education with the University of Hong Kong.