方先生

Mr. H’ng

入行那年他只有19歲。父親出車禍斷了腿，家裡頓失經濟支柱，身為八兄弟姐妹中的長男，他只好扛起家計。於是某天，父親的英國人上司把他帶到辦公室，在免除一切面試程序下，他繼承了父親的職業——倒夜香工友。

 

方先生說，其父親也忘了自己為何從事這份行業。父親年少時下南洋，為了溫飽，輾轉就幹了這一行。方先生覺得，這一切或許都是神的安排，就像冥冥中注定，他會跟隨父親的腳步一樣。

 

每一輛俗稱“36門車”的載糞穢車，都有著代表不同地區和路線的號碼，每條路線實際上為2天的工作行程。剛開始入行，方先生從事的是替補職，每當有一條路線的車子缺人，他就會頂替空缺，後來，4號車有員工退休，他於是正式加入4號車。每天工頭會按照收回的糞穢分量，來決定第二天要完成的行程。方先生跟的4號車路線很長，涵蓋的地區從坡底（喬治市市內）到亞依淡天德園。

 

每台36門車都會有一個工頭負責分配和指揮工友工作。一般來說，車子開到了一個定點後，工人就會下車替換糞桶，車子裝滿後會先行將糞穢載去處理，員工則留在原地等待車子裡的桶都洗乾淨後到回來接他們往下個地點出發。車子到達一個定點時，有的工友們會故意把鐵桶的蓋子扔在地上製造聲響，或者把車的小鐵門用力開關，以通知居民們倒糞車的到來。

He was only 19 when he started working as a night soil worker. His father met an accident and had a broken leg. The family lost its source of income. As the eldest son among 7 other siblings at home, he had to take the responsibility. One day, he was brought to his father’s English superior. Without any interview and other procedures, he was recruited for the job.

 

According to Mr. H’ng, his father had also forgotten how he started this job. His father came from China at young age. Without much options, he got himself into this job to make a living. Mr. H’ng believes everything is destined, just like how he ended up taking what his father has taken before.

 

The “36 doors” collect vans were labelled with numbers according to service area and route. Every route was in fact a two-days-work itinerary. Mr. H’ng was a substitute when he joined the company. He would be the fill in if there’s someone on leave. One day, someone from Route 4 retired. Mr. H’ng has since then became the permanent workforce of Route 4’s collect van. Everyday the supervisor would plan the following day’s schedule based on the amount of collection that day. Route 4 van covered a big area - from George Town (inner city) until Taman Thean Teik in Air Itam.

 

Every 36-doors-Van has a supervisor to organise and direct the workers. Basically, the workers would go on changing the latrine pails from every household when their van stopped at the designated area. The van would transport the collected faeces to the disposal when it is full, while the workers would wait at where they got off until the van returned with cleaned pails and continue their journey to the next destination. Usually the workers would make some noise by throwing the pail cover on the ground or open the small door on the van to inform the locals about their arrival.

有的地方，工友們會從後巷進入作業，但有的地方沒有後巷，只能從人家的大門穿堂入室位於最末端的廁所把裝滿糞穢的桶提到屋外。有時候，會遇上睡不醒的人家，工友們要大力敲門才得以進入；也遇過好心人家會把桶先從廁所拿出來方便收拾。

 

裝滿糞穢的糞桶，工友們一般一次只能一手提一個，偶爾遇上下雨天，有的工友會稍微把桶裡的糞水倒進路邊的溝渠，讓自己比較好提，不過，也會擔心別人說水溝裡的糞水是工友們的傑作，怕被檢舉而丟工作。對方先生來說，無論做了多久，“味道”依然是工作內容裡最難熬的部分，工友們也偶爾會偷偷抱怨衛生習慣不好的人家，比如糞桶外沿沾滿糞穢，使用者又不注意收拾的人。

 

工友們一般都會在中午午飯時間前結束工作，下班後的工友在弄乾淨自己後，有的會到郊外或者威省一帶協助清理糞穢，賺點外快，也有的人會被工作時認識的人家請去洗廁所。業餘，工友們賭博、吸鴉片煙、聚在一起聊天度日。

 

方先生說，雖然從事著污染行業，但是以前工友們也不常打針，他入行以來只打過2支針。對工友們來說，對大伯公的精神和信仰寄託，遠大於一切，他們每天出門前都會上香，請求這個從中國請來香火的神祗庇護他們出入平安健康。

The workers would usually do their jobs through the alley at the back of the houses. For those houses without any alley, workers had no choice but to go to the back of the house and exit through the main hall. To those who did not get up early to open door for the workers, they would knocked hard on the door to wake them up. Sometimes they would come across nice people who pulled the latrine pail out from the toilet for them.

 

Pails are always full and heavy so the workers can only carry one pail at a time. Some of the workers tend to pour the water in the pail into the nearby drain during rainy days to reduce the weight. However, they were worried that they might lose their job if people make report to the authorities. To Mr. H’ng, the worst part about the job is always the sickening smell no matter how long one has worked. The workers hence complain to each other about their experience with the households without good hygiene habits such as they never bother cleaning up the mess or how they allowed the faeces to cover the edge or flowed out of the pail.  

 

The workers usually finished work before lunch and they would went on to visit other places for extra income after cleaning up themselves. Some went to the rural areas or places in the mainland for other night soil works, others got hired to wash toilets for the people they met through work. For pass time, the workers would gather around for casual chit chat, opium smoking or gambling.

 

According to Mr. H’ng, although night soil is a regarded as a dirty job but the workers hardly need any immune jabs. Himself only had twice throughout his time as a night soil worker. To them, their belief towards Tuapekkong is far greater than anything else. They prayed to the deity everyday. They wished for safety and health to be bestowed on them by this deity transported all the way from China.