‘Leung Kit-lam’s eponymous steelware store is…probably the last of its kind in Hong Kong. For decades, he has operated the business alone. Tucked away in an alley, with a barely visible storefront, Leung works seven days a week making strainers, rat traps and crab pots. “Some neighbouring hotels have bought a few of my rat traps,” he says. The years […]
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HF: The SCMP of 17th September 2014 contained an article about the demise of the shrimp paste industry in Tai O on Lantau island. In particular it provides details about the Cheng Cheung Hing Shrimp Paste Factory and its owner Cheng Kai-Keung shown in the photo below. The company was founded by his great-grandfather in 1920. Production was badly affected […]
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York Lo: Tsang Fook Piano (曾福琴行): A Century of Music in Hong Kong HF: York suggested that since the 105 year old firm has just announced its closure in March, maybe we could move the planned posting date of this article forward. Happy to oblige. Left: Front page ad for Tsang Fook Piano’s 50th anniversary and opening of North Point […]
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Newsletter 8 included a very short article on The Shiu Wing Steel company, the only steel rolling mill currently operating in Hong Kong, located at Tap Shek Kok, Tuen Mun. As of 18th January 2021 this claim would appear to be still true. The mill is capable of producing 700,000 tonnes per year of high-grade reinforcing bars for local and […]
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York Lo: King of Entertainment: Wong Kow (黃球) and his Mayflower (五月花) group of restaurants and nightclubs Left: Wong Kow; Right: Matchbox for the Mayflower Restaurant group in the 1960s which list the phone numbers for all four of its restaurants and Oriental Ballroom. Wong Kow (1921-2017) was a major figure in the HK restaurant and entertainment industry in the […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent BAAG Report KWIZ #77, dated 15th December 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. The image shown on the Home Page and below is of the Japanese oil transport ship Sanko […]
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York Lo: Dickson and Hopson: the Tales of Two Handbag Companies Dickson and Hopson are two players in the handbag business in Central with similar sounding names and over half a century of history but catering to two different segments – the earlier focused on the higher end clientele while the latter caters to the mass market with its own […]
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Tymon Mellor: The mine at Lin Ma Hang was the most advanced mining operation in the colonial era of Hong Kong before the Pacific War. However, like many mining ventures, this one had a slow and difficult start. This article explores the discovery and early years of the mine’s development along with the workings that are still visible today in […]
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York Lo: Yau Yue Commercial Bank (有餘商業銀行) Leaders of Yau Yue Commercial Bank at its opening ceremony in 1953 (WKYP, 1953-10-23) Founded in 1953, taken over by HSBC in 1966 and closed in 1969, Yau Yue Commercial Bank was one of the less covered Chinese-owned banks in the post-War era thanks to its smaller size and short history and the […]
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HF: Can anyone provide further information about these aspects of the music industry in Hong Kong? I am especially interested in the history of record companies in Hong Kong HF: Chunny Bhamra lived on Lamma Island, Hong Kong for many years but moved to Melbourne, Australia with his family in about 2016. Chunny Bhamra: Gramophones and Phonographs were never really made […]
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