‘Leung Kit-lam’s eponymous steelware store is…probably the last of its kind in Hong Kong. For decades, he has operated the business alone. Tucked away in an alley, with a barely visible storefront, Leung works seven days a week making strainers, rat traps and crab pots. “Some neighbouring hotels have bought a few of my rat traps,” he says. The years […]
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Fung Chi Ming has sent a 1959 essay “Ping Chau”, an alternative name for Peng Chau, by Wei Kit Ling, Minnie, 1959, deposited at HKU Main Library. Wei Kit Ling writes about the Lime Industry, the Match Industry ie the Great China Match Factory, Porcelain Decoration, Rattan Ware, the Tanning Industry, and the making of Shrimp Sauce. All of these are […]
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Tymon Mellor: In the early days of flying, there were no paved runways, just large flat areas allowing take-off and landing to suit the prevailing wind conditions. Initially there was little interest from the Hong Kong Government to identify a suitable site within the territory for an aerodrome as flying was seen as a niche interest with little practical use. […]
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1930 Additional information and an image sent by Peter Crush in July 2020, highlighted in blue. Unless otherwise stated all the information below comes from an in-house company publication, The Hongkong & Yaumati Ferry Co Ltd: Golden Jubilee 1923-1973, published in 1973. 1923 The company was incorporated on the 5th November. The Promoters of the company were Messrs. Lau Tak Po, […]
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York Lo: YC Moy – the Friendly Compatriot and the Yau Kiu Film Studio (友僑片場) Left: YC Moy in his later years (Source: World Moy’s Clan Association yearbook); Right: Front gate of the Yau Kiu Film Studio in Kowloon City Earlier in the year, the author wrote an article about Hua Nan Motors, the distributor of DeSoto and Peugeot automobiles […]
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HF: The Douglas Steamship Company was a British merchant company and maritime trading company founded in 1833 in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong by John Steward Lapraik and dissolved in 1987. After arriving in Hong Kong in 1858 to join his uncle, Douglas Lapraik’s shipping empire at Douglas Lapraik & Company, John Steward Lapraik quickly became one of the […]
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Tymon Mellor: Directly after the Pacific War, like many other places, Hong Kong was struggling to recuperate. There was limited capital available and the Government had few resources. Mining was seen by many as a low cost investment, creating employment, generating hard currency and providing revenue to the Government. Unfortunately, this vision was not shared by the Government’s Interim Mining […]
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A little more information on the history of taxis in Hong Kong to add to our other articles, on the subject, linked below. Many thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped version. Taxis cars can be further classified into those that charged according to the meters and cars for hire which did not charge by mileage. 1922 From the 17th […]
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York Lo: Wong Pui-kow (黃佩球): the HK Toy Industry and Chinese Products Store Pioneer Left: Wong Pui-kow and Yuen Luk-on and their children – including future Legco Councillor Wong Ting-kwong (front row center) in 1951 (Apple Daily); Right: Wong Pui-kow (left) presenting a flag to Kwan Hang-sze in 1985 at a CIEA function (TKP, 1985-6-29) During the Double Ten riots […]
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James Chan: This advert from the Hongkong Government Gazette of 9th January 1886 caught my eye. Further investigation brought up the announcement shown below the advert, published in Australia and New Zealand, warning readers that Norman Electric was an “unmitigated fraud and swindle” and exposing one Emil Bassett of New York who was operating under the alias Marsh Bassett. I […]
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