Elizabeth Ride has sent this brief extract from BAAG Intelligence Summaries written during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, World War Two. Among the smaller shipyards, the greatest activity reported in 1944 was at the Tsunan Shipyard in Tokwawan, North of Bailey´s Yard. Between 40 and 50 small wooden auxiliary vessels were constructed during the year. The yard also builds […]
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A festival of light in Hong Kong this week will, among other things, champion the city’s neon signage. As well as teaming up with artists to create 16 works at sites on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, Lumieres Hong Kong, which runs from November 23 to 25, has joined forces with the Hong Kong Neon Heritage group to draw […]
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Born in 1918, Lo Koon-chiu first learned the art of traditional Chinese painting in his high school days and later graduated from the Guangzhou Municipal School of Fine Arts in 1938 with a major in Western painting. After moving to Hong Kong in 1947 Lo founded the full colour children’s comic book Children’s Paradise in 1953 in the capacity […]
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York Lo: Annam Pak Kwei Yeow (安南白桂油) Left: Pak Kwei Yeow’s booth at the 1960 HK Products Expo; Right: Pak Kwei Yeow ad In the late 1950s, early 1960s, a Chinese medicinal oil by the name of Annam Pak Kwei Yeow was a prominent feature at the annual HK Products Expo with its eye catchy pagoda booth and its proprietor by […]
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HF and Thomas Ngan: According to the linked 1987 report below Nui Po Shan (Turret Hill) Quarry was originally used as a borrow area in the mid 1960s [another source suggests the quarry began in “mid-1960”] and 70s. A borrow pit is a term used to describe an area where material has been dug for use at another location in […]
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HF with thanks to IDJ for the two adverts. The cable used in the Aerial Ropeway constructed to link Takoo Sugar Refinery and its Sanitarium was made by Bullivant & Co. which began as a UK company. William Munton Bullivant was an early innovator in the stranded wire cordage field, invented in the mid-19th century by German mining engineers in the […]
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Tymon Mellor: In the summer of 1963, with severe water restrictions of only four hours every fourth day in urban Hong Kong, the Colonial Government was searching for new water supplies that could be expeditiously developed. A number of schemes had been explored and these were presented to the Executive Council in October, 1963. In addition to the Plover Cover […]
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James Chan: Jimmy Heung died on 20th November 2014 in Beijing. He co-founded Win’s Entertainment with his elder brother Charles in the 1980s. The company went on to become one of the most successful Hong Kong film studios in the 1990s. Charles formed China Star Entertainment Group. See: SCMP article -Legendary movie mogul dies of cancer at 64 This article was […]
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HF: Jan Hendrik Marsman, was born in 1892 in the Netherlands and died in 1956, I think in the Philippines. He was known as Hank to his friends. He started his working life as an engineer and later developed extensive business interests in the Philippines. Marsman is of interest to us because he became involved, through his company Marsman Hong […]
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York Lo: From Bicycles to Lamps and Stoves: Union Metal Works (合衆五金廠) and the two illustrious families behind the firm Left: 1962 Unimet ad showing its entire line of SOLAR brand products; Right: Unimet lamp made in 1965 Union Metal Works (aka Unimet) was one of the leading manufacturers of pressure lanterns in HK alongside World-Light, Glory, Lea Hin […]
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