HF: The China Sugar Refinery Company started life, I think, in 1874, as Wahee, Smith & Co (or possibly without a comma). Several partners of Wahee, Smith went bankrupt leading to the sale of the refinery to Jardine, Matheson & Company. Choa Chee-bee was compradore at both companies having come to Hong Kong in the early 1870s from Malacca. If […]
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York Lo: Southeast Ice Company (東南冰廠) Opening ceremony of Southeast Ice Company in 1969 (WKYP, 1969-11-25) The fishing industry has created demand for locally produced ice and in 1969, Southeast Ice Company opened on Tung Yuen Street in Yau Tong next to the fishing village of Lei Yue Mun to supply ice to local fishermen. Southeast Ice Co was incorporated […]
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York Lo: Comfoods (maker of Café Puro Instant Coffee) and Reliance (importer of Sunkist oranges) Earlier on the website, we covered several Filipino Chinese industrialists who have left their marks in the food and beverage industry in HK such as the Wong family of Cosmo Beverage and the Ma families of confectionary and biscuit giants M.Y. San, M.Y. San and […]
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York Lo: C.T. Chiu (招曙東) and Hong Kong Iron & Steel Works (香港鋼鐵廠) Left: Ad for HK Iron &Steel Works in 1950 (HKBCA yearbook, 1950); Right: ad for steel windows by HK Iron & Steel Works in 1954 (WKYP, 1954-7-5) Hong Kong Iron & Steel Works was one of the leading producers of iron and steel bars and steel windows […]
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York Lo: Lee Wui-tao (李會桃): Textbook and Tabloid Publisher and Movie Producer In the 1950s to 1970s, Lee Wui-tao was a major figure in the entertainment, education and publishing industries as the owner of the Tao Yuen organization, which included a leading textbook publisher (HK Cultural Service), a leading movie studio (Tao Yuen, ran by his wife and known for […]
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HF: From the SCMP -“A 20-minute boat ride from Sai Kung pier, the tiny island of Yim Tin Tsai now teems with activity on weekends. Most are day-trippers exploring the old Hakka settlement, but others are workers harvesting salt from resurrected salt pans. The scene is a far cry from six years ago, when its many deserted fields and dilapidated […]
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York Lo: Ng Lian-chin (黃連振, 1922-2015) and Life Records (麗風唱片) Left: logo of Life Records; Right: Ng Lian-chin with young Teresa Teng Southeast Asia, particularly the Chinese diaspora in the region,has always been an important market for many HK products including music records. In the 1960s and 1970s, a Malaysian Chinese entrepreneur by the name of Ng Lian-chin was a […]
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York Lo: Luen Yick Knitting (聯益織造) Article about Luen Yick’s IPO on 1973 (WKYP, 1973-4-25) Founded in 1940, Luen Yick Knitting was one of the leading knitwear manufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s and went public in 1973 as Luen Yick Manufacturing & Property. Luen Yick founder Chan Luen-fun (陳聯芬, 1907-1974)has the exact same Chinese name as a KMT official […]
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HF: Some initial notes on manufacturers and suppliers of aerated water in Hong Kong. All linked articles are Indhhk Group unless otherwise stated. a) The China Aerated Water Company Ltd Incorporated 1930 Dissolved 17th February 1956 b) The Connaught Aerated Water Company Ltd, Hong Kong & China. Known as Connaught Aerated Soft Drinks & Beverages [factory] (Hong Kong) in 1906? […]
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York Lo: From Transistor Radios to Bicycle Meters: the Yuen family and Kendy Enterprise (堅力實業) and Dayton Industrial (達騰工業) Left: Kendy portable radio from the 1960s; Right: Dayton group founders Jack and Daisy Yuen with their son Paul (Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, 2012-10) While the general public in HK might be familiar with Andrew Yuen Wai-man (阮偉文) from the […]
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