“Chungking Mansions is like my home where I have been established for over 40 years. I treat my guests like family in the hope that they will enjoy the food and return often for a casual meal.”

This “home” features no locks and requires no keys while remaining open to anyone. It holds immense significance for Jacky who has centered his life here for over 40 years. Chungking Mansions carries the story of his upbringing and life experiences.

Jacky moved from India to Hong Kong at the age of two after his father arranged for the family to settle in To Kwa Wan on a street Jacky remembers as Bank Street. Jacky explains that the Indian community in Hong Kong was small at the time so fellow countrymen gathered there to live and work while frequently visiting Chungking Mansions. His father worked two jobs by selling curry powder with relatives at Chungking Mansions during the day and working as a security guard at a garage at night. Jacky recalls those difficult times when his father only had one day off per week to rest at home. Consequently, Jacky and his mother took on the responsibility of delivering dinner to his father every day after school. These moments served as rare opportunities for family reunions.

Sundays were family days when his father was off work despite his busy schedule. He would take them by train all the way to Fanling to watch Indian movies. Jacky points out that the train station was not at the current Hung Hom location but rather near the Shangri-La Hotel along Chatham Road. He notes that most Indians would travel to Fanling for movies and the theaters were almost always packed. Jacky adds that a shop in Chungking Mansions specialized in selling cinema tickets back then so audiences would purchase them in advance to ensure entry.

Jacky’s father eventually saved enough money to establish his own business in Chungking Mansions where he continued selling curry powder while maintaining his two jobs. Jacky witnessed his parents sacrificing their rest to provide a better life for the children so he joined the curry powder business immediately after graduation to lighten the family burden. He laments that he only understood the hardships of working life after leaving school since he had lived a carefree life as a child. Jacky accumulated enough capital a few years later to open two guesthouses in Chungking Mansions. He made his father the boss of one and partnered with his brother on the other with the intention of reducing his father’s workload and allowing him to quit the night shift security job.

They eventually closed the guesthouse business to switch to the catering industry by partnering with a cousin who worked as a chef. Jacky laughs while recalling that they unexpectedly broke even within just half a year. He opened another branch in 1990 which became the first fully vegetarian restaurant in Chungking Mansions at the time. Jacky continued to expand his business and now owns three restaurant branches located entirely within Chungking Mansions. He states that the building is like his home where he has been established for over 40 years. He treats his guests like family in the hope that they will enjoy the food and return often for a casual meal.

Jacky has witnessed various changes in the building over the past 40 years. He saw the Shanghai and Chiu Chow businessmen who gathered there in 1975 eventually move to Jordan Road because they were unaccustomed to the smell of curry. He observed the shift to selling Indian Sarees in the 1990s and mobile phones in the 2000s. Chungking Mansions simultaneously holds the memories of his upbringing and constructs a safe haven beyond home for many people.

Interviewed by Carly Chan

Cover Image: Jacky of Moti Palace in Chungking Mansions by Alan Cheung