York Lo: M.C. Oung (翁明昌) – the Shanghainese tycoon in Taiwan and his industrial enterprises in Hong Kong Left: M. C. Oung (right) receiving a medal from KMT Air Force chief Lai Ming-tang; M.C. Oung (third from the left) transiting through HK in his 1960 trip to the US as head of Chia Hsin Cement. He was welcomed by his […]
» Read more
HF: While walking up Hatton Road above the University of Hong Kong, on The Peak on Monday 22nd January 2018, I came across the signs below about the Myrobalan tree, also known as Emblic and Yau Kam Chi or Phyllanthus emblica (Euphorbiaceae). This can be added to our small but growing list of HK trees that were traditionally used to […]
» Read more
York Lo: Wah Mei Electric – Leading Distributor of Electronics from the 1920s to 1960s and related firms Left: Wah Mei ad in 1927 (8th Far East Games brochure); Right: the old Wah Mei store in between Sunlight Hing Kee and Kin Ming Radio on Des Voeux Road Central Wah Mei Electric was one of the oldest and largest distributor […]
» Read more
The following article has been extracted from the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography. The publisher HK University Press, has given permission for it to be posted here. The following article about John Bell-Irving was written by Libby Halliday Palin and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has […]
» Read more
“If you missed the last Star Ferry at 1:30am, [back in the 1960s] you could hire a walla-walla (jip6 laa1 jip6 laa1 嘩啦嘩啦), a kind of small motorised water taxi that plied the waters between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. “The name came from the sound of the boats when they were cruising,” says retired journalist Li Ping-sum,who grew up in Yau Ma Tei. […]
» Read more
York Lo: Star Power: E. Penn Industrial Manufactory (興華實業) and “Butterfly” (胡蝶牌) Vacuum Flasks and Torch Cases Left: the wedding of Eugene Penn and Butterfly Wu in Shanghai in 1935. The maid of honor was Koo Lan-kung (顾兰君) and bridesmaid Yuan Mei-yun (袁美雲); flower girls were Wu Yun-yun and Lo Siu-tik, and ringbearer Lai Hang (黎铿, son of Lai Man-wai, […]
» Read more
Elizabeth Ride has sent BAAG Report KWIZ #67 , dated 22nd September 1944, and noted earlier: After KWIZ #4, the Naval section is not included in the AWM papers, and does not appear again until KWIZ #66, and then in a slightly different format. HF: I am afraid because of time constraints I am no longer able to summarize and […]
» Read more
York Lo: Yat Hing & Co (日興建築) – Contractors from the 1920s to 1960s Ad for Yat Hing & Co from HKBCA yearbook Founded in 1923, Yat Hing & Co was a leading contractor in HK from the 1920s to 1960s authorized to work for the Admiralty, Army & Royal Air Force and also engaged all types of civil engineering […]
» Read more
Elizabeth Ride has sent BAAG reports included in the article World War Two – 1945 BAAG report on Dockyards in occupied Hong Kong. These included this extract regarding the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock company, also and commonly known as the Kowloon Dock. It illustrates the extensive damage caused to the docks by allied bombing towards the end of WW2. IDJ […]
» Read more
IDJ: The felling of the concrete chimneys at the decommissioned Tsing Yi Power Station On 15 November 1998 the five chimneys were demolished at the same time by controlled explosives weakening the structures so they fell safely to the ground in a prearranged pattern. These images were taken from a video of the event. See: The Demolition of Tsing Yi […]
» Read more