York Lo: Hop Yuen Construction (合源建築): A Century of Building in HK Left: Details of Hop Yuen with picture of founder TseIu-wah from the HKBCA directory in 1957 (HKBCA yearbook, 1957); right: Hop Yuen building on Ship Street While many construction companies covered earlier in the group have faded into history, Hop Yuen Construction is still going strong after over […]
» Read more
James Chan: In 1863 Thomas Sutherland became the first chairman of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock. He was 29. The following has been extracted from the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography. Both the author Robert Nield and HK University Press have given permission for extracts to be used in this article. Robert Nield: “Thomas Sutherland was the founder of one […]
» Read more
Carles Brasó Broggi: Regarding Hugh Farmer’s request for details about Nanyang Cotton Mill, let me add some information about this firm. The following text appeared in “Hong Kong Textile Annual” published by the Hong Kong Cotton Merchants Association in 1956 (pp. 46-47). It gives an insight into the company and the mill proving two hypotheses suggested in previous posts by […]
» Read more
York Lo: Kapok(紅棉)and Golden Gate (金門) – HK Bakery Chains from the 50s and 60s and the family behind them Left: Kapok Bakery in Wanchai in the 1960s with its lighting decorations promoting its Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes; Right: Golden Gate Bakery’s sign (blue and red) on Jordan Road circa 1968. Before the rise of the bakery chains such as Maxim’s, St […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
Tymon Mellor: At the turn of the 19th century, railways and steam ships were changing the world and demanding new infrastructure to support them. With the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway – British Section in full swing, attention turned to the location of the terminus station in Kowloon. There were many competing requirements for the location; resulting in the site […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
James Chan: Dragages Hong Kong, is a very familiar company name on signs at major construction projects around Hong Kong. It’s parent company is Bouygues Construction The company was founded in Vietnam in 1902 as Société Française Industrielle D’Extreme-Orient. It undertook its first project, the dredging and maintenance of a 2,000 kilometre canal system in the Mekong Delta. In 1910 […]
» Read more
Tymon Mellor: As the end of 2020 draws to a close the water storage reservoir at Bishop Hill in Shek Kip Mei has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The relevant Government departments have failed to recognise the importance of this structure in the development of the Kowloon water supply and the unique design of this historic facility. Kowloon […]
» Read more