HF: Public housing in Hong Kong is a set of mass housing programmes through which the Government of Hong Kong provides affordable housing for lower income residents. It is a major component of housing in Hong Kong, with nearly half the population now residing in some form of public housing. The public housing policy dates to 1954, after a fire […]
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The history of explosive storage in Hong Kong is an interesting one. The earliest location appears to have been Magazine Island, originally named One Tree Island, which lies just to the West of Aberdeen Harbour. From 1887 to 1908 it was leased for an annual rent of $100, by the Nobel Explosives Company, who built a magazine, a road and […]
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HF: Hari Naroomal Harilela, was a Hong Kong Indian businessman, hotelier, philanthropist and the founder and chairman of the Harilela Group. The group runs businesses ranging from hotels and real estate investment to import and export trading. Harilela began a tailoring business in Hong Kong, opening a clothing and tailoring shop and then pioneered the idea of supplying custom made […]
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Maureen Fan left a comment below Carles Brasó Broggi’s article Shanghai Spinners: Pioneers of Hong Kong’s Industrialisation. This reads in part: Thank you for your informative article. My grandfather Robert Fan Wenzhao (1893-1979) was the architect who designed the HK Spinners factory at Cheung Sha Wan, including the workers dormitories, a dining hall, a recreation area, basketball and volleyball courts and […]
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Double click to magnify twice. Thanks to Carles Brasó Broggi for this image of South Sea Textile Mills which comes from an undated Annual Report from the 1960s. The text reads “Covering an area of about 18 acres, the premises of The South Sea Textiles Mills are situated in the New Territories of the Kowloon Peninsula, about 9½ miles from the island […]
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HK: The electronics industry was an emerging industry in Hong Kong in the 1960s. The first electronics factory was established in 1959. Europe and Japan were the world’s pioneers in electronic technology. In the 1970s, the low production costs in Asia attracted manufacture of developed countries to come and set up factories and thus electronics technology was passed to Hong […]
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HF: The story of Kai Tak started in 1912 when two businessman, Ho Kai and Au Tak, formed the Kai Tak Investment Company to reclaim land in Kowloon for development. The land was acquired by the government for use as a airfield after the business plan failed. In 1924, Harry Abbott opened the Abbott School of Aviation on that piece […]
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HF: The Star Ferry traces its origins to 1880 when Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala, a Parsee cook, embarked on a new vocation. He began a ferry service across Victoria Harbour with his steamboat, the Morning Star. The fledgling service was known as the Kowloon Ferry Company.(1) Before the steam ferry service was first established, people crossed the harbour in flat bottomed […]
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Hugh Farmer: On a visit to the HK Museum of History on 6th Feb 2014 I noticed this enticing snippet from the Information Services Department 1960s. “Most home utensils such as baskets and strainers were woven from rattan rather than bamboo as in the past. Demand was high for bamboo-made fishing and farming tools, such as fish traps, cages for […]
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HK: The first mode of transport for the public in Hong Kong was the Peak Tram, serving The Peak (at Victoria Gap), the Mid Levels and the city centre since 1888. The idea of constructing a railway between Hong Kong and the Mainland was first put forward as early as 1864 by a British railway engineer, MacDonald Stephenson, who had […]
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