Reiss, Bradley and Company, ex-Director brings 18 members of his Shanghai family to Hong Kong

IDJ has sent the following newspaper article about an ex director of Reiss, Bradley and Company in Hong Kong.

HF: I have retyped the article to enhance clarity and the ability to search.

I apologize for the quality of the image which accompanied the China Mail article, though I have something of a soft spot for murky photographs. Thanks to Yannis Baritakis for enlarging the original newspaper image.

Four Generations Plane Brings 18 Members of S’hai Family to Colony

In a specially chartered Hong Kong Airways plane, 18 members of a prominent Chinese family, forming four generations arrived from Shanghai yesterday to seek temporary refuge here from the prevailing Communist threat and impending starvation up North.

“I’m bringing the whole family to Hong Kong for four important reasons,” Mr. A.E. Wong, managing director of the China Reconstruction and Development Corporation of Shanghai, and for several years a director of Reiss, Bradley and Company, Hong Kong told a “China Mail” representative yesterday.

“Primarily, it is for their safety,” he said. “As for the children, I want them to study here in the British way and also to observe the serenity and efficiency with which the British Government administers the Colony.

“With the prevailing influence of Communist propaganda in the North, it is dangerous to the minds of the younger generation, and I am taking them away from Shanghai before such nonsense warps their thinking.”

This was the second batch of the Wong family to arrive here by plane from the North in a week. Last week-end 19 members were brought here.

“There are 41 persons altogether in our family,” Mr. Wong declared. “I may charter another plane next week to bring down the others, including 89-year-old Madam Wong, who is reluctant to leave Ningbo. She is the oldest member. We will try to persuade her to come here.

Six New Flats

To accommodate  his evacuating family, Mr. Wong has procured six new flats on the mainland. He is getting two more for the others.

“Work on my new seven-storey building at Ewo Street, opposite Jardine Bazaar, in Hong Kong, will begin next month,” Mr. Wong told the “China Mail.” It will take about six months to finish, and half of the 14 flats will accommodate his whole family, while the others will be rented out.

Mr. Wong said he bought the site for HK$221,000 last year.

Among the arrivals yesterday was Mr. Wong’s mother, who is 67 years old. The youngest of the family was six-year-old Wong Shu-lin.

One-third of the Wong family, are women and girls. There are 26 children. Those who are studying now include 11 girls and 16 boys.

Arranging Departure

At Shanghai today is Mr. Wong’s eldest son, Peter, who is managing the remaining members and arranging their departure.

“When the children have received enough education here, I shall send them to England for further studies,” Mr. Wong said.

Mr. Wong, who was working for the Nationalist Government for two years during the Japanese war, brought the first batch of technical labourers to Kunming to develop agriculture and silk growing, during the Sino-Japanese war in 1946.

Source: The China Mail 30th November 1948

This article was first posted on 19th June 2021.

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