In the 1950s and 60s, shop assistants in Hong Kong usually lived in the rear portion of the shop where they had to bring along their own straw mat to sleep on at night. If they were fired by their boss, they would have to take away their mat which, being made of straw, could be readily rolled up. And this rolled-up mat, some of them had cross-shaped design, looked very much like a piece of freshly-fried squid which rolls up as a result of the cross-shaped cuts made on its back.