HF: Harry Kin Hong Long divided his life between New Zealand and Hong Kong. In the latter he worked for two companies, Kung Lee Steam Ship Co. and HK and Yaumati Ferry Co. Harry’ s daughter, Judy Chan, has kindly sent a considerable amount of biographical detail about him. In this article I have extracted that which relates directly to […]
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York Lo: Sunbeam Manufacturing (日昇製造廠): from torchlights to kitchenware Left: old Sunbeam factory; Right: Sunbeam Centre today Founded in 1929 (this is based on the company’s own description although several external sources cite 1931 as the inception date), Sunbeam is one of the oldest industrial enterprises in Hong Kong and one of the few that continues to thrive to this […]
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HF: IDJ has kindly sent the following newspaper article which, I think, was published in the Hong Kong Daily Press on 1st June 1939. Thanks to SCT for proofreading this retyped version of the original version of the newspaper article. HONGKONG PERSONALITY INTRODUCED – CAPT. R.W.THOMAS ”CAPPY THOMAS” – such is the nickname his many friends on the Kowloon piers […]
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York Lo: Asia International Electronics Ltd (亞洲無線電工廠) Asia International Electronics booth at the 1971 HK Products Expo (HK Memory) In the 1970s, Asia International Electronics Ltd (hereafter refer to as “AIE”) was one of the leading Chinese owned electronics firms in HK, being one of two Chinese-owned firms (the other being Atlas) amongst the top 10 radio manufacturers in HK […]
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Joe MacDonald was Ian Brown’s father’s cousin. Ian has sent both information about and photos of Mr MacDonald who worked for Asiatic Petroleum in China and in all probability Hong Kong during the late 1930s. He appears to have travelled quite a bit during his time in the former and may well have lived and worked in Shanghai. This undated photo […]
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HF: For more information about the Hongkong Milling Company and AH Rennie please refer to our related articles shown at the end of this article. AH Rennie was born at Hamilton, Ontario on 17 November 1857, he was educated at the Hamilton Collegiate Institute and Upper Canada College at Toronto. He then worked as a junior clerk in the wholesale […]
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York Lo: Big and Tall from Nanking Rd to Nathan Rd: Jefferson Young (楊撫生) of Crane (鶴鳴), Chancellor (大人), Da Da (大大) and the rise and fall of his retail empire The 1986 closure and liquidation sale of Da Da department store (which means “Big Big” in Chinese), one of the most prominent casualties of the confidence crisis at […]
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“Kenneth Alfred Wolfe Barry (c1879-1936) Second son of John Wolfe Barry Partner in business with his father, along with A.G. Lyster, Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and G. E. W Crutwell, M. Inst. C.E. J. S. 1936 Obituary: Kenneth Alfred Wolfe Barry , O.B.E., was the senior partner in the firm of Sir John Wolfe Barry and Partners. […]
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York Lo: David L.F. Sung (孫麟方) and Hong Kong Flour Mills (香港麵粉廠) Left: The Hong Kong Flour Mills in Kwun Tong which operated from 1978 to 1995; Right: Golden Statue brand wheat flour made by HK Flour Mills (Ipoh World) In the history of the flour industry in Asia, the Sung/Sun family of Anhui can probably be considered as the […]
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York Lo: Hong Kong Jade Industry and some of its pioneers The trading and manufacturing of jade is one of the oldest businesses in HK but the industry did not form its group until June 1965 when the US government imposed an embargo on HK jadeite goods and in response, J.D. McGregor, then Deputy Director of Commerce and Industry suggested […]
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