Translated from the Chinese original, also available below, by the author. Drawing by the author. The English translation is edited with help from David Morgan.

“Watching the sea, all my worries vanish! I really love the sea.” He says this from his position on a round plastic stool at the bow of the boat, with an open expression, his frank gaze steady, and an honest smile on his lips that reflects a person at peace with himself and the world. And in the course of an hour’s conversation, he repeats the same comment no less than eight times.

This is Chan Wah Hing, a sailor who has worked on the Sun Ferry in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour for twenty years. The route of his ferry is from North Point to Hung Hom, and then back to North Point, then from North Point to To Kwa Wan and finally back to North Point again.

It takes eight minutes each way from North Point to Hung Hom and back. And from North Point to To Kwa Wan it takes about 15 minutes. He boards the boat at 6:30 every morning, and goes ashore at 8:00pm that evening, after a thirteen-and-a-half-hour shift. Each day he and his ferry dock 55 times at the three piers, more than 300,000 times over the past 20 years.

However, the distance from North Point to Hung Hom is only two kilometres, and to To Kwa Wan Pier only five kilometres. He and the ferry move continuously each day on a route restricted to just this tiny triangle on the map. Travelling back and forth, what you see day after day is Victoria Harbour.

“Don’t you get tired of seeing the same view every day?” I ask him.

“How could I get tired of such a view?” he replies.

He speaks in the same gentle but very firm tone as before. Under the brim of his baseball cap, his eyes, which have been buffeted by the sea breeze for decades, are particularly alive. He gestures to me to look out at the sea for myself. There was a clear view of the water in all directions. I looked up out of the bow of the boat. Although what I saw was still the same familiar scene on both sides of the strait, it was completely new and fresh, a view without equal. Magnificent, the sea really does meet the sky. “Just looking at the sky and the sea like this, I will never get tired of that.” His voice came from behind my ear. I have always been fascinated by the view of the sky, the clouds, the sea, and the waves. So what he says really resonates with me and I understand more fully his comment that all his worries vanish when faced with the sea. Yes, when you face the boundlessness of the natural world, you also feel how insignificant people and their petty troubles are.

“Have you ever seen a rainbow here?” I ask.

“Regularly! Usually in the early morning, after a patch of rain, it just hangs in the sky, near the eastern end of Hong Kong Island. I even see double rainbows from time to time!”

I have seen rainbows many times when travelling in other places, but I have never seen one from the window of my home on the eastern part of Hong Kong Island. Maybe this is what the old Chinese poem means when it says: “You cannot see the real view of the mountain because you are on the mountain.”

“It’s not always as romantic and relaxing as you might imagine,” he says, referring to the typhoon season in Hong Kong. “The ferry service can only be stopped one hour after the No. 8 typhoon signal has been hoisted. There have been times when the wind and waves have been so strong that the boat has been thrown up and down in the rain, making it very difficult to moor.”

“What would you do when that happens?”

“What would we do? We’d just take off our shirts and haul on the rope as hard as ever we could, all of us together, until slowly, gradually, we’d get it tied up tight.”

“My family lived on a boat, and almost all the sailors working on the ferry are the descendants of the families who lived on boats. Everyone really likes the sea and can cope with wind and waves and weather.”

He tells me about when he was small, and he and his family lived on a boat in the typhoon shelter in Aberdeen. As soon as he was a teenager, he started to go far out to sea to fish in the fishing boats his family owned.

“That was a time you could call really frightening. When a wave hitting the bow was as high as two people. “He stood up and gestured with his hands, trying to help me to visualise the details. “And the sea was endless. There would only be our two fishing boats out there in the whole wide ocean.”

“In quiet periods when I had nothing to do on the boat,” he goes on, with a hint of pride in his voice, “I just read books. Mostly I like reading novels, and sometimes non-fiction books.”

No wonder he has quite an educated turn of phrase.

“After ten years of deep-sea fishing, I got a job on the ferry, and later I took the exam to become the ferry’s launch mechanic. Now, I can still be close to the sea, and most of the time it is calm.

“Another thing I like is that I get to meet lots of the passengers, talk to them, and even make friends with the ones who are frequent travellers.”

At this, I can really sense the satisfaction he has with the job. Once again, it’s as if he was saying “what more can I ask for?”

“A lot of regular passengers will say hello. Some of them even share their fruit and snacks with us.”

Working continuously on the ferry, they only have time to eat from take-away lunchboxes, so thoughtful passengers offer them tea in appreciation of the service they are performing.

I saw beauty here, something I am always afraid of losing, so I prompted him again, “Has much changed in the past twenty years? People, things, and scenery?”

He sensed my fear immediately, and with the same firm but gentle tone, he said: “Yes of course, it has changed a lot. Don’t you see those tall buildings going up here? You can see that Kai Tak Airport has disappeared, and has become a cruise ship terminal. In the past, we were accompanied by planes taking off and landing every day. And now, many of our passengers have moved on and no longer take the ferry. Some have even moved to other countries with their families. Yes, change is eternal, but the sea is always there, and as long as the sea is there and the sea breeze blows, everything will be fine.”

So I closed my eyes and felt the sea around me. I felt the wind blowing my hair against my ears, and I felt the intensity of the moment, the beauty of the encounter with this person, living the experience to the full.

The ferry had done its rounds back and forth to the piers four or five times already, so, not wanting to disturb his work too much, I thought it was time to ask my last question: “What do you think is the most important thing in life, what do you want to do the most?”

“Helping others,” he replied instantly, with the same firm but gentle tone. “We, as human beings, are too limited and powerless to change our surroundings, the only thing that can be changed is our own state of mind. Our own attitude. If in some way I can help others, I will certainly do it. Seeing others happy makes me feel that I’m useful, and then I’m happy. Yet I’m still a selfish person. My dream is to travel around in a boat with my family after retirement. I love travelling, but now I have too little time. I would also like to spend time in the mountains.”

I really hope his wishes will come true.

I was very reluctant to get off the boat. “Remember, you can come back any time you like!” he said. As he waved goodbye to me, I turned and stood there, and watched him in his navy-blue uniform, standing up straight-backed on the bank where the gangplank is lowered. Now and then, he reached out to help an elderly person, or a child, with his sun-tanned smile gleaming out from under the baseball cap. This trip on the ferry was like a spiritual journey to me, and my heart is full of gratitude. I am grateful that Hong Kong is located on the vast Pacific Ocean, and I am grateful that we have the beautiful Victoria Harbour, I am grateful for our ferry, grateful for this small triangular route and every beautiful soul who loves the sea and unties the rope for us every day.

渡輪上的⽔⼿

「對著⼤海，什麼煩惱也沒有了！真的，我好喜歡海。」說這話的時候，他正坐在船頭的⼀張塑料圓櫈上，⾯容開朗，眼神堅定，笑容真誠。⽽⼀個多⼩時的對話𥚃他說⾃⼰喜歡海真的不下五六七⼋次。

他是陳華興，渡輪上⼯作了⼆⼗年的⽔⼿。他的那隻渡輪的航⾏路線就是北⾓碼頭到紅磡，紅磡到北⾓碼頭，北⾓碼頭到九⿓城⼟瓜灣，⼟瓜灣再到北⾓碼頭。「北⾓碼頭來回紅磡，每程⼤約8分鐘。來回⼟瓜灣呢，每程⼤約15分鐘。」他每天早上六點半準時上船，晚上⼋點上岸啟程回家，⼀天⼯作13個半⼩時，跟他的渡輪在這三個碼頭泊岸五⼗五次。⼆⼗年來他跟渡輪在這三個碼頭泊岸少說也有三⼗萬次。

可是北⾓碼頭跟紅磡碼頭距離才兩公⾥，跟⼟瓜灣碼頭也才五公⾥，他和渡輪也就不出地圖上那塊⼩⼩的三⾓形上來回，看到的也就是維多利亞港那⼀段的景⾊，天天這樣看，不厭嗎？「看不厭！怎麼會厭？」他仍舊是那種溫和但⼗分堅定的語氣。鴨⾆帽沿下那對吹了幾⼗年海風的眼睛格外閃亮，他笑著⽤⼿示意我⾃⼰看。甲板上毫無遮掩，我舉⽬望出船頭，看到的盡管仍舊是熟悉的兩岸風景，但卻無比壯闊，真的海濶天空。「單單看天、看海，都永遠不會厭。」耳邊傳來他的聲⾳，我平時對看天看浪⼗分入迷，當下就更認同、理解。也更明⽩他說的，在⼤海⾯前沒有煩惱的意思，感知天地無垠，也就感知⼈和⼈的煩惱的渺⼩。

「那你有看到過彩虹嗎？」「經常看到呢！往往是清晨、雨後，就在港島東的上空，還不時看到雙彩虹呢！」我旅居異地時也⾒過好多次彩虹，但住在港島東，卻從未在家的窗⼾望⾒過，原來真的「⾝在此⼭中」。

「也不盡是你們想像中的浪漫。」他說起香港不時刮起的颱風，「渡輪是要在⼋號風球之後再服務⼀⼩時才能停的。」有幾次風浪特別⼤，夾著雨，船給拋上拋落，難以泊岸，「那怎麼辦？」「也沒怎麼辦，我們幾個⼤男⼈脫了上衣，光著膀⼦，⼀齊使勁拉著纜繩，慢慢就泊到岸了。」

「我是⽔上⼈，在渡輪⼯作的⽔⼿幾乎全都是⽔上⼈，⼤家都⼗分喜歡⼤海，經得起風浪。」他講起⼩時侯在香港仔避風塘的船上⽣活，⼗幾歲開始跟著家𥚃的漁船出海打⿂，「那時遇上的風浪才真的會害怕，⼀個浪打向船頭有兩個⼈那麼⾼。」他站起來，⽤⼿比劃，讓我想像得更具像⼀些。「⽽且海很⼤，極⽬遠眺也只有我們那兩隻漁船。得閒無事，我就看書，我喜歡看⽂藝⼩說、散⽂。」難怪他說話那麼「⽂藝」。

「⾏了⼗年船，之後就上了渡輪，還考了⼤偈，在這𥚃⼜可以看到⼤海，⼜⼤部分時間風平浪靜，還能跟很多常⾒的乘客做朋友。」可以想⾒他⼼中那份「夫復何求」的知⾜常樂。「很多常客會打招呼，有的更會跟我們分享⼀些⽔果、點⼼。」在渡輪上⼯作只能吃盒飯解決午餐，所以細⼼的乘客才會送些茶點表達⼼意吧。我看⾒美好，總也怕失去美好，就問：「那⼆⼗年來，變的多嗎？⼈、事、景？」他很快察覺到我的憂懼，眼神溫和⽽堅定：「當然變很多，你看這𥚃不正在起⾼樓嗎？啟德機場也沒有啦，變成遊輪碼頭啦，以前我們天天有⾶機起落伴著。有不少乘客搬家了，沒再搭船了，也有的舉家移⺠了，變化就是永恆嘛，可是⼤海⼀直在，只要⼤海在，海風⼀吹，就好了。」於是我閉上眼睛，感受海風拂動耳旁兩鬢的頭髮，感受遇⾒美好的此時此刻。

來回了三五次的碼頭，怕太妨礙他的⼯作，想著該問最後⼀個問題了。「你覺得最重要⼜最想做的是什麼？」「是幫到別⼈吧。」還是⼀慣的溫和堅定。「⼈太渺⼩，改變不了環境，可以改變的只有⾃⼰的⼼態。我可以做到的、幫到的，就幫，看到別⼈開⼼，我也覺得⾃⼰有價值，也開⼼。不過，我也是有⾃私⼼的，會想退休後跟家⼈開著船周圍去玩。平時太少時間，我也喜歡⼭的。」願他所想成真。

下船很不捨，「隨時可以來搭呀！」他跟我揮⼿道別，我轉⾝伫立，看到他⼀⾝海軍藍的服，畢直地站在吊板放下的那⼀邊岸上，不時伸⼿幫忙扶⼀把老⼈、孩⼦，還有鴨⾆帽下古銅⾊的笑容。這⼀趟渡輪，像是⼀趟⼼靈之旅，⼼中滿是感恩。感恩我們香港位於浩瀚的太平洋上，感恩我們有美好的維多利亞港，感恩我們有渡輪，感恩這⽚⼩⼩的三⾓型航線和航線上為我們拉繩解纜的每⼀個愛海的美好靈魂。

How to cite: Tong, Jasmine. “A Sailor on the Ferry.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 22 Jul. 2023, chajournal.blog/2023/07/22/ferry.

Jasmine Tong migrated to Hong Kong with her family from Shanghai in the 1980s. She loves painting and telling stories. After spending almost 20 years teaching translation at university level, she is now exploring a different way of celebrating life. While continuing to translate Hong Kong writers’ works into English, she also wants to use her paintbrush and her bilingual skills to capture the beautiful moments of Hong Kong. PHOTO of Jasmine Tong © Heidi Huang. [All contributions by Jasmine Tong.]

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