York Lo: Lee Yu Kee, Kitson and Tung On – Pioneers of the HK Plumbing Industry Plumbing is a specialized and lucrative segment of the HK construction industry and this article profiles three of the pioneering firms who were leaders in the plumbing business – Lee Yu Kee, Kitson and Tung On and the stories of the families behind them. […]
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York Lo: From Shanghai to HK and West Africa: The Global Quests of 4 Hong Kong Enamelware Makers From the 1940s through the 1960s, Hong Kong had a vibrant enamelware industry, which like the cotton spinning industry was dominated by Shanghainese industrialists, who brought with them from Shanghai their technological know-how in addition to financial and human capital. When these […]
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York Lo: The Lo brothers and Nam Sang Building Construction (南生營造) Lo Hoi-ming (left) and Lo Yuk-ming (right) as directors of HKBCA in the mid-1950s (HKBCA yearbook) In the 1950s and 1960s,Lo Hoi-ming (盧海明) and his younger brother Lo Yuk-ming (盧煜明) were key figures in the HK real estate and construction industry whose Nam Sang Building Construction Co developed many […]
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York Lo: From dyestuff and enamelware in Shanghai and HK to chemical plants in Malaysia, Singapore and Nigeria– the industrial journey of the C.K. Koo family When it comes to high profile family feuds of the super-rich in Hong Kong, the sagas of the Kwok brothers of Sun Hung Kai Properties and Nina Wang of Chinachem Group had captivated the […]
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York Lo: K. Jamson(占臣) – the global journey of a HK shoe and luggage company over the past nine decades Jamson store on the left on Johnston Road in Wanchai in 1955. Earlier in the group, we covered several famous localshoe companies from the 1950s and 1960s such as Po Shing, Sanda, Crane and Yau Sun. Founded in 1930, K. […]
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York Lo: Tsoi Po-tin (蔡寶田) – Prominent Building Contractor and New Territories Leader from the early 20th century Left: portrait of Tsoi Po-tin as one of the founders of the HKBCA (HKBCA Yearbook, 1960); Right: Ad and article about Wing Yick& Co (China Mail, 1927-6-1) In Tung Tau Wai village (東頭圍村) in the Wang Chau (橫洲) district of Yuen Long, lies […]
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York Lo: Jaime Chua Tiampo (蔡天普) – Developer of Chungking Mansions (重慶大廈) Left: Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo as a young couple; Middle: Chungking Mansions in the 1970s with I-Feng’s signage still visible on the 3rd floor; Right: Ad for Chungking Mansions in 1960 (WKYP 1960-4-17) Built in 1961, Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui is probably one […]
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York Lo: Chung Cheu Kee (鍾照記) – Building Contractor Left: Chung CheuKee; Right: Ad for Chung Cheu Kee in 1950 – the building featured in the ad was the Hop Hing Cooking Oil Factory which was likely built by the firm (HKBCA Yearbook) Founded in the early 1900s and dissolved in 2000, Chung Cheu Kee was one of the oldest […]
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York Lo: Union Construction Co/Union Contractors (華聯建築) Left: Union Contractors founder Kew Chan (Geni); Right: Ad of Union Construction Co in 1950 (HKBCA Yearbook) Earlier in the group, I wrote a series of articles on Shanghainese builders and in Part 7 of the series, the firm Union Contractors was misclassified as a Shanghainese builder as its proprietor Chan Bing-quan(陳炳鈞, 1924-1988) was […]
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York Lo: The King of Watchbands: Poon Yuen-sang (潘遠生) and Yuen Sang Hardware (遠生金屬) Poon Yuen-sang delivering a speech as chairman of the HK & Kowloon Watch and Clock Merchants Association in 1961. Left to right: Mrs. Gertrude Kwok (郭贊夫人), Poon Yuen-sang, Lau Kam-fat (劉錦發), Lun Tin-lok (倫天樂), Chan Peng-fei (陳鵬飛) (WKYP, 1961-9-10) In the 1950s and 1960s, the HK […]
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