By Anna Leong

“The garment industry is no more prosperous as before, we were weeded out eight years ago," said Mrs. Lam, a semi-retired tailor, who has engaged in the garment industry for over 30 years and has witnessed the rise and fall of the garment industry in Macao. Yet she still has enthusiasm for it.

Mrs. Lam and Mrs. Ho, both are about 45 years old, are close friends and working partners for over 20 years. They are working in a small workshop doing alterations and retailing clothes’ buttons and accessories because of their fondness in sewing and tailoring.

They do not have their “own shop" to run the business. They only rented a tiny place from an old man who lives at the back of the “shop" at Rua dos Mercadores (???) in Macao. They work for the whole week except Sunday morning.

“We are running the ‘family businesses,’" said Ho. In the small workplace stuffed with buttons and zippers, there are two old fashioned machines: a sewing machine and a button machine. Lam and Ho each operates one of them but has no idea how to run the other one. Thus, they have to cooperate well with each other and also build up a good relationship from this teamwork.

“We are pleased to have a small workshop for us to do what we love to do," said Lam. Although they do not have a proper license to run as a business, they enjoy this small workshop environment. Their customers are acquaintances, people who live in the neighborhood or some clothing stores. They could gain one dollar for a button and seven dollars for altering a piece of clothing. Thus they earn some money to survive, but not enough for a living. They are just working because of their attachment to the industry.

With the prosperity of the gaming economy in recent years, many garment factories were moved to China, and this industry has gradually disappeared in Macao. People prefer to buy in department stores because of the “low-cost and diversity", Lam explained. However, people still need some sewing services. Although it might look like trivial, they are still passionate about it.

In making a shirt, no single stitch can be omitted. In society, no single job can be missed, even though they may be “small potatoes", they provide indispensable service in their job. “We must keep this traditional industry as long as we can," Ho said.