York Lo: “The Prince of Garments”: Wong Mee of Sweetmart and Carlo Wong’s Factory Building in Tsuen Wan; Right: HK garment pioneer Wong Mee In October 2017, the 23 story Wong’s Factory Building (王子工業大廈) at 368-370 Sha Tsui Road in Tsuen Wan was sold for HK$1.23 billion. (Building was valued by HSBC at $80-90 million in 2005 according to court […]
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York Lo: Maui-Kong Ve-Pein (妙供味本廠) – Pioneer of the HK Gourmet Powder Industry Left: the pai portal of Maui-Kong Ve-Pein on Victoria Road in Mt. Davis today. Right: Maui Kong founder Chang Shun-yen in the early 1950s Near 406 Victoria Road in Mount Davis by the west coast of Hong Kong island is a Chinese pai portal obscured by trees […]
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York Lo: Lee Lim Ming (李琳明): King of Metal Pins and Badges Left: Ming Sang Industrial Building; right: a Lee Lim Ming pin for the Royal HK Regiment Founded in 1939 and incorporated in 1963, Lee Lim Ming Metal Works (李琳明金屬製造廠) has been making metal pins and badges for large companies (such as Maxim’s, KFC franchise operator Birdland, Cathay Pacific), government […]
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York Lo: Faithful Trading and Polytek Engineering Industrial trading and engineering firms such as China Engineers, Reiss Bradley and Andersen Meyer covered earlier in other articles played an important role in the industrial development of Hong Kong and the broader region as they facilitated the necessary technology transfer from the West by acting as importers and installers of state of the […]
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York Lo: Tacksen Shuihing Godown (德成瑞興貨倉) Left: Yan Chi-kit (HK Album, 1967); Right: signage of the Tacksen godown at 37A South Bay Road in Repulse Bay from a scene of an old movie (YouTube) Tacksen Shuihing Godown Co Ltd was one of the leading Chinese operators of godowns in the 1950s and 1960s. At its peak, the firm operated 3 […]
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York Lo: Pro-Quality Electronic (寶業電子) Left: PQE chairman Young Chi-wan; Middle: PQE vice chairman Cheng Wai-kuen; Right: PQE director Dominic Cheng Backed by the Young and the Cheng families behind the Miramar Hotel, Pro-Quality Electronic Co Ltd (hereafter refer to as “PQE”) was one of the largest electronics manufacturers in HK in the 1970s and the early 1980s with over […]
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York Lo: Kwong Hing Tai (廣興泰) and Kwong Loong Tai (廣隆泰) Left: Advertisement of Kwong Hing Tai in 1941(陳大同編：《百年商業》，香港光明文化事業公司，1941) Right: Kwong Loong Tai Building in Cheung Sha Wan In June 2017, the 11 story Kwong Loong Tai Building at 1016-1018 Tai Nam Street in Cheung Sha Wan was put in the market with estimated value of over HK$1.2 billion thanks […]
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York Lo: Pak Kut Noodle (百吉麵) Left: Ad of Pak Kut Noodle in 1947 which also mentioned Temple of Heaven brand of gourmet powder. (區少軒等編《香港華僑團體總覽》,香港:國際新聞社,1947 年) Right: Tong Luk-kut, founder of Pak Kut Noodle (Kung Sheung Evening News, 1954-12-28) While instant noodles in its current form was invented in 1958 in Japan by Ando Momofuku and first produced in HK […]
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York Lo: Eastern Arts Lantern (東藝宮燈) Eastern Arts booth at the 1971 HK Products Expo. Source: HK Memory In the 1950s and 60s, HK industrialists leveraged the flexibility of plastic as a material and developed a wide variety of products ranging from toys, flowers, Christmas trees, buckets, plates to shoes and sandals and exported them all over the world. One […]
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York Lo: Wan Tat-ming (溫達明) and Ling Nam Weaving (嶺南布廠) Left: Wan Tat-ming(Kung Sheung Evening News 1956-12-24); Right: Ad for Ling Nam Weaving in 1948 (Tung Wah Monthly, 1948) Like Shum Choy-wah who was covered earlier in another article, Wan Tat-ming (1911-1988) was a major figure in the weaving mill business and community leader in the 1940s through 1960s who […]
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