York Lo: Alhambra Watch (平安表行) Left: Chiu Chun-fai (left) and Luk Ying-tai at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Shanghai Street store of Alhambra Watch in 1958 (WKYP, 1958-8-17); Right: Omtis’ congratulatory ad to Alhambra Watch on the opening of its Tai Po Road store in 1963 (WKYP, 1963-4-28) Operated by its founder Frank Chiu Chun-fai (招振揮) and his family, […]
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York Lo: Howah, Blue Heaven and BG: three key players in the post-war HK lighting industry With the housing and hotel/restaurant boom in the 1960s and 1970s, lighting products such as lamps and chandeliers became a huge business in Hong Kong and like the wallpaper industry covered earlier in another article, majority of the products were imported from the US […]
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HF: One of my first memories of arriving in Hong Kong in 1989 was the smell of fish ball stalls in Causeway Bay. Unfamiliar food being cooked in oil that never seemed to be changed. Industrial strength. And real Dai Pai Dongs. Real in that all the equipment – cookers, gas bottles, tables, chairs, food and drinks arrived by trolley […]
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York Lo: Chan Chart-man (陳策文) – Developer and King of Pawnshops In March 2013, Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings became the first operator of pawnshops to go public in HK. Its founder Chan Chart-man had been involved in property development since the 1960s and although a relative newcomer in the centuries-old pawnshop industry, he and his family built the largest […]
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York Lo: Richard C.K. Chan (陳卓堅): timber baron, shipping tycoon and stamp collector Left: Richard C.K. Chan (standing) delivering a speech to the press as head of the Timber Guild in 1962. To his left were Wong Shui-leung of Kwong Chan Timber, Kan Chi-nam of Wing Tai Cheung and Leung Kam-tong of Hip Shing Timber (WKYP, 1962-12-18); right: cover of […]
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York Lo: Long To Cotton Yarn (浪淘花紗) Left: Long To founder Lam Man-yan; Right: Long To Building in Cheung Sha Wan (Primeoffice) Long To Cotton Yarn was a major manufacturer of cotton yarn in Hong Kong which derived its name from the word play of the Chinese saying based on Tang Dynasty poetry of “Waves washing the sand” (浪淘沙) and […]
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HF: Vol. 34 of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch published in 1994 contains a lengthy article about German speakers in Hong Kong and of the companies they were involved in. It was written by Carl Smith. I am familiar with only a small number of these companies and even fewer of those persons working for […]
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York Lo: Pun Sun-on (潘新安, 1923-2015) – Developer, Educator and Poet Left: Pun Sun-on in his later years; Center: Winway Building, which was controlled by Pun’s Sunny Enterprises; Right: cover of the collection of poems written by Pun Sun-on and his poetry group published in 2011 with their group picture. (yesasia) Earlier on the website, we covered the family of […]
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York Lo: Ha Lung Hong (合隆行) and the New Zealand Deer Velvet Trade Left to right: Bill Bong’s mother C.Y. Loh, fellow Shanghainese businessman C.L. Hsu, Leo Lee, Bill Bong, Tung Wah chairman Charles Lui, Mrs. Lui, Bill Bong’s wife Ling Yuk-chun(KSDN, 1973-9-25) Chinese medicine is one of the oldest industries in Hong Kongand in the 1960s,Ha Lung Hong Medicine […]
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York Lo: Yen Dack Land Investment (仁德置業) Article about Yen Dack Land in 1962 with sketch of Yen Dack Building (WKYP, 1962-9-19) Yen Dack Land Investment is one of the lesser known developers which has developed many buildings in Hong Kong with the character “Yen” in its names since the 1960s. Left: wedding picture of Chan Kwong-dew and Gwendolyn Ho […]
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