HF: With thanks to moddsey for pointing out a couple of sources. The banking industry began in Hong Kong in 1845 with the opening of a branch of the Oriental Banking Corporation, which had its headquarters in India. This Bank was also the first bank in Hong Kong to issue banknotes when in 1847 “it put in circulation $56,000 worth of […]
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Many thanks to IDJ for sending in this article. As he says, a company ahead of its time! HF: The article was pretty legible but I thought I would retype it anyway. Any further information about, or image of the company would be very useful. There has recently been started in Hong Kong an industry which should prove of enormous […]
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York Lo: Howah, Blue Heaven and BG: three key players in the post-war HK lighting industry With the housing and hotel/restaurant boom in the 1960s and 1970s, lighting products such as lamps and chandeliers became a huge business in Hong Kong and like the wallpaper industry covered earlier in another article, majority of the products were imported from the US […]
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York Lo: Chan Chart-man (陳策文) – Developer and King of Pawnshops In March 2013, Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings became the first operator of pawnshops to go public in HK. Its founder Chan Chart-man had been involved in property development since the 1960s and although a relative newcomer in the centuries-old pawnshop industry, he and his family built the largest […]
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Dan Waters’ article, Hong Kong’s Hongs with Long Histories and British Connections, includes the following information about The Hongkong and China Gas Company. The article appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong in 1990. Dan has written several articles directly for our Group. HF: The queries are mine. I have also added the images. “William Glen, who […]
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York Lo: Richard C.K. Chan (陳卓堅): timber baron, shipping tycoon and stamp collector Left: Richard C.K. Chan (standing) delivering a speech to the press as head of the Timber Guild in 1962. To his left were Wong Shui-leung of Kwong Chan Timber, Kan Chi-nam of Wing Tai Cheung and Leung Kam-tong of Hip Shing Timber (WKYP, 1962-12-18); right: cover of […]
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HF: Sent in by IDJ and posted here 81 years to the day after first being published in 1939. I am a little unsure of the spelling of one shipping company mentioned, indicated by [?] and would be grateful to be informed of any errors I have made in retyping the original article. Hongkong Shipyards Among World’s Busiest THE TOTAL […]
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York Lo: Long To Cotton Yarn (浪淘花紗) Left: Long To founder Lam Man-yan; Right: Long To Building in Cheung Sha Wan (Primeoffice) Long To Cotton Yarn was a major manufacturer of cotton yarn in Hong Kong which derived its name from the word play of the Chinese saying based on Tang Dynasty poetry of “Waves washing the sand” (浪淘沙) and […]
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Thanks to IDJ for sending these adverts in which complement York Lo’s article on the company linked below. The image of the Chy Loong Ginger factory on the Home Page of this article was originally included in the article below compiled by York Lo. This article was first posted on 10th September 2020. Related Indhhk articles: Chy Loong Ginger Factory […]
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HF: Vol. 34 of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch published in 1994 contains a lengthy article about German speakers in Hong Kong and of the companies they were involved in. It was written by Carl Smith. I am familiar with only a small number of these companies and even fewer of those persons working for […]
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