WHEN the Lady Maurine carried acting Governor Anson Chan Fang On-sang to the new dockyard she opened at Stonecutters Island yesterday, Mak Sik-hong felt he was being honoured too.

The Lady Maurine is unfamiliar to most, but it is a symbol of Hong Kong history to workers at the government dockyard.

'Every time we were ordered to repaint and repair Lady Maurine, we knew another VIP was coming,' said Mr Mak, 60, a dockyard veteran of 40 years.

Three years ago, Governor Chris Patten, his wife Lavender and two daughters boarded the ship to cross Victoria Harbour before attending their welcoming ceremony at City Hall.

'Every governor who went aboard has turned a new leaf in Hong Kong history,' Mr Mak said.

'Weeks ago, we were ordered to repaint the boat. The difference is this time it carried a local woman.' Mr Mak, known around the dockyard as 'Old Mak', said most of his colleagues now worked on a casual basis due to the decline in the shipping industry, but he couldn't forget the prosperous 1960s and 1970s.

'There were a lot of opportunities and we had to work overtime every day. We made a very good salary at that time,' he nodded.

But in the 1980s the shipping industry moved to the mainland, pushing many workers into lower-paid jobs.

'I don't know how much longer I will work here,' Mr Mak said.

'I am not satisfied with the remote transport arrangements and the canteen is not providing enough variety for us.'

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