"Lots of Cantonese trade with Southeast Asia, where ivory comes from." Lin Yueh-ling, a sexagenarian Cantonese, says that ivory is a dense material, impervious to mould and heat and not easily broken, so that one pair will last you a lifetime.
「因為廣東到南洋做生意的人多，南洋又產象」，現年六十歲的廣東人林岳靈說，象牙的結構細密，不容易發霉且耐熱、不易斷，一雙可以用一輩子。