York Lo: The Cheung brothers and Cheong Lee Construction (昌利建築) Left to right: Cheung Chan-hon, Kenneth Fung, director of Urban Services Ronald Holmes, Urbco councilor Philip Dalen Au, Governor Grantham, architect Eric Cumine looking at model of the Java Road Estate in North Point which Cheung’s Cheong Lee was building in April 1957. The massive population boom in Hong Kong in […]
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York Lo: Yeung Fat & Co (發利建築) – leading HK building contractor in the early 20th century Left: Turfing ad for Yeung Fat & Co in 1927 (The China Mail, 1927-6-1); Right: Yeung Wing-hong as vice chairman of HK Building Contractors Association in 1954 (HKBCA Yearbook) From the late 19th century through the 1960s, Yeung Fat & Co was a […]
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York Lo: Charles L. Corn (陳耀坤, 1898-1973) – operator of quarry in Shau Kei Wan and Chinese leader in Guam Left: Ad for Charles L. Corn & Co in 1950 (HKBCA yearbook); Right: Charles L. Corn (left) shaking hands with Vice President C.K. Yen in Taipei (National Cultural Database) In the 1950s, a colorful Chinese businessman in Guam and the Philippines […]
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IDJ and Hugh Farmer have been trying to find out about a power company that is supposed to have existed in Tai O on Lantau Island. China Light and Power’s website says that in 1955 the company acquired the Tai O Power Company “which supplies power to Lantau Island”. IDJ says “I’ve not heard of the Tai O Power Company […]
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York Lo: Yick Kwan Gripe Water (益群肥仔水) Left: Yick Kwan Dispensary in Central in 1948 next to Chinese Optical and Sam Tai Distillery. Right: newspaper ad of Yick Kwan gripe water in Shenbao in Shanghai, 1948 Flipping through old pictures and old newspapers from Hong Kong in the 1940s through 1960s, one can often find the ads or street signs […]
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Hugh Farmer: Dairy Farm was incorporated in 1886 in Hong Kong by Scottish surgeon Sir Patrick Manson and five prominent Hong Kong businessmen, Sir Paul Chater, Mr Phineas Ryrie, Mr Granville Sharp, Mr WH Ray and Mr JB Coughtry. Manson worked in Hong Kong only from 1883 to 1889. Initially there were 80 cattle which had been imported from Scotland and total […]
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York Lo: Lee Yu Kee, Kitson and Tung On – Pioneers of the HK Plumbing Industry Plumbing is a specialized and lucrative segment of the HK construction industry and this article profiles three of the pioneering firms who were leaders in the plumbing business – Lee Yu Kee, Kitson and Tung On and the stories of the families behind them. […]
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York Lo: From Shanghai to HK and West Africa: The Global Quests of 4 Hong Kong Enamelware Makers From the 1940s through the 1960s, Hong Kong had a vibrant enamelware industry, which like the cotton spinning industry was dominated by Shanghainese industrialists, who brought with them from Shanghai their technological know-how in addition to financial and human capital. When these […]
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York Lo: The Lo brothers and Nam Sang Building Construction (南生營造) Lo Hoi-ming (left) and Lo Yuk-ming (right) as directors of HKBCA in the mid-1950s (HKBCA yearbook) In the 1950s and 1960s,Lo Hoi-ming (盧海明) and his younger brother Lo Yuk-ming (盧煜明) were key figures in the HK real estate and construction industry whose Nam Sang Building Construction Co developed many […]
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York Lo: The Van Family from Cambodia and the Bonsun Group of companies (萬象) Bonsun Industrial Building in Tsuen Wan, next to Wong’s Factory Building Earlier on the website, I touched on the sale of the Wong’s Factory Building at 368-370 Sha Tsui Road in Tsuen Wan, which was developed by the Wong family of Sweetmart Garment (see article). Right […]
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