York Lo: Bernard Van Zuiden (萬瑞庭, 1899-1979) – Dutch Trader and Philanthropist in Hong Kong Bernard van Zuiden (right) welcoming his visiting elder sister at a cocktail reception in HK in 1959 (WKYP, 1959-12-10) Life and Career of Bernard Van Zuiden Born in Enschede in eastern Netherlands, Van Zuiden studied textile and commerce in his hometown in the 1910s. He […]
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York Lo: Ng Yue-kwong (吳裕光, 1902-1977) and Ng Yee Hing Weaving & Dyeing Factory (吳義興織印染製衣廠) Ng Yue-kwong (南洋商报, 4 March 1964, Page 14) Earlier in the group, several leading weaving mills from the 1940s-60s were covered such as the Ngai brothers’ Yuen Hing, Shum Choy-wah’sKow Yue and Chong Hu-kwong’s Tai Loong. Ng Yee Hing Weaving & Dyeing Factory was another […]
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Tymon Mellor: Introduction The mine workings on the south-west slopes of Ma On Shan mountain are now no more than mere scars in the hillside, but in the middle of the last century, the mine provided employment for up to 6,000 people and supplied high grade iron ore and other minerals to the Japanese steel industry. This article describes the […]
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York Lo: Y.C. Hu and L.S. Ku – directors of Pao Hsing Cotton Mill In the earlier article about Pao Hsing Cotton Mill, it was mentioned that two outside directors – Hu Ying-choi(Y. C. Hu) and Ku Lan-sun (L.S. Ku, misspelled as “Ku Han-sun” in the lawsuit) were recruited in 1953. Further research revealed that Hu and Ku were two […]
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From Tai Ping Koon, which opened in 1860 and served Sun Yat-sen, to Gaylord Indian Restaurant, open since 1972, to the award-winning abalone served in Forum since 1977, these restaurants have stood the test of time. In a city where restaurants come and go with dizzying speed, those which have stood the test of time are few and far between. […]
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York Lo: Yakult (益力多): 50 Years in Hong Kong Left: glass bottle of Yakult before 1971; Middle: the original Yakult HK plant at 161 Wai Yip Street in Kwun Tong (Yakult HK website); Right: plastic bottle of Yakult today In the late 1960s around the same time when Japanese instant noodle (see our article on Winner Food and Doll noodles) […]
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York Lo: Faithful Trading and Polytek Engineering Industrial trading and engineering firms such as China Engineers, Reiss Bradley and Andersen Meyer covered earlier in other articles played an important role in the industrial development of Hong Kong and the broader region as they facilitated the necessary technology transfer from the West by acting as importers and installers of state of the […]
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Tymon Mellor: On the 28th March, 1886, the first of many blasts was initiated at the Mui Wo silver mine. The owner, Mr Ho A Mei (see Part One of this article linked below) wanted to extract the galena ore to aid in the mineral processing of the richer ore from a Mainland mine of his. The mineral processing facility […]
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James Chan: This advert from the Hongkong Government Gazette of 9th January 1886 caught my eye. Further investigation brought up the announcement shown below the advert, published in Australia and New Zealand, warning readers that Norman Electric was an “unmitigated fraud and swindle” and exposing one Emil Bassett of New York who was operating under the alias Marsh Bassett. I […]
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HSBC Main Building (香港滙豐總行大廈) is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong Kong. The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and pulled down to make way for the current building. The current building is the […]
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