# Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China/Oriental Social and Professional Biographies

ORIENTAL SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHIES.
MR. LAU CHU PAK, J.P., who is a native of Hongkong and a member of a good old Cantonese family, is, at the present time, one of the most prominent members of the Chinese community in the Colony. He is a thoroughly up-to-date man, well versed in the customs of Western civilisation, and he has done a great deal towards establishing cordial relations between his countrymen and Europeans. On many matters relating to the Chinese and their treatment by foreigners he has very strong views; but he is always moderate and reasonable in expressing them, and this fact has added considerable weight to his utterances at public gatherings in the Colony. Born on June 5, 1867, he was educated at the Government Central School, Hongkong, and, after completing his scholastic course, served for five years in the Imperial Chinese service. He was appointed first clerk to the Hongkong Observatory in 1885, and obtained the position of compradore to the West Point Godown Company in 1888. In the following year he acted as Senior Anglo-Chinese Master of Formosa Government College. Educational questions have always appealed strongly to him, and he has made a special study of those phases of the problem which particularly affect his own countrymen. He is the honorary secretary of the Ellis Kadoorie Chinese School Society, which is doing a great deal of work in China and the Colony. Mr. Lau Chu Pak commenced business as a tea merchant in 1890, but for the last fourteen years, besides being connected with many other local companies and commercial enterprises, he has managed the Chinese department of the firm of Messrs. A. S. Watson & Co. As a public man he has had a very active career. He has rendered valuable aid and long and ungrudging service to many public institutions. In addition to being a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Sanitary Board, he is a member of the directorate of the Tung Wah Hospital; of the committee of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children; of the District Watchmen's committee; of the executive committee of the Tung Wah District Hospitals (since 1897), and of the finance committee of the Alice Memorial Hospital. He was a member of the reception committee on the occasion of the visit of Prince Arthur of Connaught, 1906; a member of the Public Health and Building Ordinance Commission, 1906; of the general and sub-committees of the Typhoon Relief Fund, 1906; and of the reception committee for the Duke of Connaught, 1907. Mr. Lau Chu Pak took a leading part in the establishment of the Plague Hospital for Chinese, the Blake Commemoration Fund, and the Chinese Commercial Union, of which last-named organisation he was chairman in 1906. He married in 1886, and is a grandfather, his eldest son being already established in business in the Colony, where four generations of his family have lived previously. Mr. Lau Chu Pak is a member of The Hongkong Club (Chinese) and resides at "Ardmore," No. 1, Babington Path.
MR. HO TUNG, J.P.—No nationality has done more towards furthering the Colony's prosperity than the Chinese, the original owners of the island, and no man amongst the Chinese has borne his part in local, commercial, and social life with more conspicuous ability, or with greater credit to himself and his nationality than Mr. Ho Tung, J.P., or, as he is sometimes known, Mr. Ho Hai Shang. Though in recent years he has been compelled to relax to some extent his public activities, he is still known to be one of the most enterprising and public-spirited men in the island, and his purse is always open to the cause of charity. He was born in Hongkong, and was educated first in private Chinese schools and afterwards at the Central School, now known as Queen's College. At the age of seventeen he joined the indoor staff of the Chinese Imperial Customs, but resigned in 1880 in order to take up the position of assistant compradore to the well-known firm of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., as well as the posts of manager of the native branches of the Hongkong Fire Insurance Company, Ltd., and the Canton Insurance Company, Ltd. During that period he carried on an extensive business on his own account, principally in refined and raw sugar, in Shanghai, and most of the Yangtsze and northern ports of China. Failing health, however, obliged him to hand over his responsibilities to one of his brothers. Mr. Ho Tung has been connected with many public movements in the Colony, his fluent English always rendering his services valuable in connection with questions relating to the Chinese population. In education he has always taken the greatest interest. He built and presented to the Colony the Kowloon School for children of European parentage. The foundation-stone was laid by His Excellency Sir H. A. Blake, K.C.M.G., on July 20, 1900, and the school was formally opened by Major-General Sir W. J. Gascoigne, K.C.M.G., on April 19, 1902, during Sir Henry Blake's absence in England for His Majesty's Coronation. This was the first civil European school opened in the Colony of Hongkong. Mr. Ho Tung has also founded a scholarship at Queen's College. The Tung Wah Hospital, of which he was formerly chairman, has claimed a large share of his attention, and, when the original building became inadequate, he started, and was chiefly responsible for, a fund of $100,000 for its extension and for the establishment of a plague hospital. He was also instrumental in obtaining the necessary sites from the Government. He is a large owner of landed property in Hongkong and Macao, and has built many of the fine residences which are the pride of the British Colony and the admiration of the visitor. His own residence, "Idlewild," is not the least beautiful of them. It commands a splendid view of the harbour, and attached to it is a garden in which Mr. Ho Tung and his wife take the greatest delight, and for which he was, in 1907, awarded the prize for the best private garden in the Colony. Mr. Ho Tung's proprietorial interests have led to his becoming a director of the Humphreys Estate and Finance Company, Ltd., and of the Hongkong Reclamation Company, Ltd. For some years he was a director of the Hongkong Hotel Company, Ltd., and as a shareholder in many other local ventures he has done much to promote the general welfare of the Colony. In recognition of his position in the Chinese community he was made a Justice of the Peace in 1890. Mr. Ho Tung has travelled extensively, and has twice visited Europe and America. He occupies a leading place in Chinese social life, and was chiefly instrumental in founding the Chinese Club, an influential institution, of which he was the first chairman. His services have always been at the disposal of charitable organisations, as is evidenced by the fact that he served on the committees appointed to administer the Diamond Jubilee Fund, the South African War Fund, the Japanese War Fund, and the Kwangsi Famine Fund. Lastly, Mr. Ho Tung is proud of the fact that he was able to be of service to one of England's greatest sailors, Lord Charles Beresford, when he was commissioned by the Home Government and the Associated Chambers of Commerce to furnish an exhaustive report upon British trade and commerce in the Fat East; and also that he was, and is, a personal friend of Sir Henry Blake, a former Governor of the Colony; Mr. J. H. Stewart Lockhart, C.M.G.; Sir Thomas Jackson; the Hon. J. Whitehead; and many other well-known men at one time resident in Hongkong.
MR. CHAU SIU KI, J.P., head of several important companies, owes his position entirely to his own initiative and keen business instinct. He was educated at the Government Central School, now known as Queen's College, and, after completing his studies, was for some time a pupil teacher at that institution. He then joined the legal firm of Brelerton, Wotton & Deacon, and subsequently entered the Government service at the Civil Hospital. After some time he was transferred to the Harbour department, but relinquished that post to become secretary to the Man On Insurance Company, Ltd. In this position he was so successful that he has since promoted several other companies. At the present time he is secretary to the Chun On Fire Insurance Company; manager of the Hongkong and Kowloon Land and Loan Company; general manager of the Yuen On Steamship Company, Ltd.; managing director of the Shiu On Steamship Company, Ltd., and manager of the Tai Foong Chinese Bank. Mr. Chau Siu Ki is a Justice of the Peace, and was at one time chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital. He has twice served on the committee of the Po Leung Kuk. He is married and has several sons who are receiving an English business education similar to that which served their father so well.
MR. HO FOOK, J.P., compradore to the firm of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., has distinguished himself both by his business acumen and by his activity in the wider sphere of philanthropy and public service. He is a British subject, having been born in Hongkong. After finishing his education at the Government Central School, now Queen's College, he spent some time in a Chinese shipping firm as clerk, and later joined the Registrar-General's department as a translator. In 1882 he entered the service of the legal firm of Messrs. Denneys & Mossop as an interpreter. He remained with them for three years, and then obtained the appointment of assistant compradore to Jardine, Matheson & Co. Upon the retirement of his brother, Mr. Ho Tung, the chief compradore, in 1900, Mr. Ho Fook was promoted to the vacancy, and his other brother, Mr. Ho Kom Tong, became his assistant. Mr. Ho Fook has been associated with all the principal public movements in the Colony for a long time past, and some fifteen years ago he was appointed a Justice of the Peace. Of the District Watchmen's committee he has been a member for sixteen years. He is now a member of the advisory committee of the Tung Wah Hospital, and managing director of the Hongkong Telegraph. In all matters appertaining to education he takes the greatest interest. He is a vice-president of the Ellis Kadoorie Chinese School Society, and has founded an annual scholarship for students at Queen's College. His outlook has been widened by much travel, his journeyings including two visits to Europe and one to America. He recognises the advantages which, in a British Colony, naturally follow from a thorough grasp of Western methods; and he is taking care that his children shall enjoy these advantages to the fullest extent. His eldest son is assisting him in the firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co., while four other sons are pursuing their studies in England. Mr. Ho Fook lives at No. 10, Caine Road.
MR. LO CHEUNG SHIU, assistant compradore to the firm of Messrs, Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., is a connection, by marriage, of Mr. Ho Fook, the chief compradore, and is closely associated with that gentleman in several business undertakings in the Colony. Mr. Lo Cheung Shiu is a British subject, having been born in Hongkong. After completing his English education at Queen's College, he was for some time pupil teacher, then senior Chinese assistant master, being altogether on the staff of the college for upwards of seven years. He was then transferred to the Treasury as a clerk, but two years later he left the Government service to join his brother-in-law at Jardine, Matheson's. He is now a partner with Mr. Ho Fook in the well-known Sang Cheong Fat yarn firm, of Bonham Strand, and in the firm of Ho Fook & Co., which is doing a very large business in sugar between Hongkong and Chinese ports. The thorough grasp of English and foreign methods which he obtained while in the public service, and his excellent knowledge of the English language, make his assistance of great value to Mr. Ho Fook in his many public undertakings.
MR. YUNG HIN PONG, J.P.—For fifty years the position of compradore of the Hongkong Branch of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China has been held by one family. Mr. Yung Hin Pong, the present occupant of the office, succeeded his father, and now has his eldest son, Mr. Yung Hin Chung, with him in the bank. The family belongs to the Hungshan district of South China. Born in Hongkong, and educated at Queen's College, Mr. Yung Hin Pong entered upon his financial career some twenty-five years ago as his father's assistant, and has held his present position for the past fifteen years. Under his direction there is a staff of about fifty. He has served on the committees of the Tung Wah Hospital and the Po Leung Kuk, and in 1906 his name was added to the Commission of the Peace. His second son, Mr. Yung Hin Yan, is studying civil engineering in America.
MR. TSEUNG SZ KAI, J.P. This gentleman is compradore to the well-known Japanese firm of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha, and is also proprietor of the firm of Kwong Tak Fat, at Bonham Strand West, Hongkong. A native of Amoy, he went early in life to Jamaica, and afterwards to Puerto Rica. Thirty-six years ago he settled in Hongkong, where he has been very successful in business. About fifteen years ago he was made a Justice of the Peace by the Government. He is also a member of the Tung Wah Hospital the District Watchmen's Association, and the Po Leung Kuk committees. Mr. Tseung Sz Kai, who has several sons in the Colony, has a family house in his native town, Amoy.
MR. TONG LAI CHUEN, J.P., who occupies the post of compradore to the Holland-China Trading Company, is a native of the Hungshan district of China. His father, a well-known merchant both in that district and in the neighbouring Portuguese Colony of Macao, was for many years connected with the Yun Loong tea hong of the latter place. Mr. Tong Lai Chuen has resided in Hongkong for upwards of thirty-three years, and during that time has been actively connected with several companies. Before joining the Holland-China Trading Company as head of the Chinese department, he was compradore to the firm of Messrs. Petit & Co., Bombay merchants. He occupies a prominent place among his fellow countrymen, and has always been to the fore in charitable movements. On several occasions he has been on the committees of the Tung Wah Hospital and the Po Leung Kuk, and in 1906 was elected a member of the Typhoon Fund committee. To the District Watchmen's committee his assistance has been invaluable. His interest in public affairs led to his appointment as a Justice of the Peace for the Colony some three years ago. He is the owner of a considerable amount of landed property in the Colony, including his residence, Nos. 67 and 69, Wyndham Street. He has a large family. Most of his sons are still at school.
MR. WONG KAM FUK, J.P.—It may readily be understood that the duties of compradore in so large a concern as the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company require for their satisfactory discharge qualities of no mean order, for the Company's employes run into several hundreds, and the compradore is responsible for the whole of the Chinese. In Mr. Wong Kam Fuk the Company have a man of shrewd business ability. Born in the Colony and educated at Queen's College, he entered their service, after a brief period of employment in an insurance office, and was stationed at West Point, until he was transferred to his present position, a good many years ago. He also holds the managing directorship of a Chinese company running a service of steamers to West River, and is interested in a cotton yarn business. He has served on the committee of the Tung Wah Hospital, and is at present a member of the Po Leung Kuk committee. Some three years ago the Government recognised his ability by appointing him a Justice of the Peace for the Colony.
MR. S. W. TSO.—For some time there was only one Chinese solicitor practising in Hongkong—Mr. Tso Seen Wan, or, as he is more generally known amongst Europeans, Mr. S. W. Tso. He was born at Macao, and received his education in England at Cheltenham College from 1886 to 1890. After having served articles with a firm of solicitors at Cheltenham and London he qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England in 1896. In the same year he returned to Hongkong, and was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Colony. Amongst the Chinese he does a great deal of work, and has come to be regarded by them in much the same light as the Hon. Dr. Ho Kai—as a friend and adviser in foreign matters, quite as much as professional practitioner. Mr. Tso is highly respected among all sections of the community.
MR. OTTO KONG SING, after receiving an excellent education at Newington College, Sydney, New South Wales, decided upon a legal career, and in due course qualified as a solicitor in Australia. He then proceeded to England for a couple of years, and was admitted to practice in 1903. In the following year he returned to Hongkong, and since that date has been practising as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Colony. In his college days Mr. Otto Kong Sing was a well-known footballer, and played for the first college team during several seasons with considerable success.
DR. KWAN SUM YIN has the distinction of being the Chinese medical practitioner of longest standing in the Colony. He received his English education at the Diocesan School, and was the first graduate of the Hongkong College of Medicine. In 1893 he was appointed house surgeon to the Nethersole Hospital, but resigned this post, after three years, to enter the service of the Chinese Government at Nanking as an army surgeon. He served the Imperial Government for four years, and then, ten years ago, when European methods were little known among the Chinese, returned to Hongkong and commenced private practice. His surgery is at No. 18a, Stanley Street.
DR. HO KO TSUN, who now has a large private practice in the Colony, has held quite a number of public appointments. Born in 1878, he was educated at Queen's College, and received his professional training at the Hongkong College of Medicine, being awarded a Belilios Scholarship. He was the acting house surgeon at the Tung Wah Hospital from 1901 to 1902; the first laboratory assistant to the Government Bacteriologist, 1902–3, and the resident surgeon at the Nethersole and Ho Min Ling Hospitals from 1903 to 1906. For some time he was the Medical Officer in charge of the Chinese Public Dispensary, Eastern District, and it was this position which he resigned in order to commence private practice. Dr. Ho Ko Tsun is a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery of the Hongkong College of Medicine, and is tutor in osteology and surgery to the college. His publications include, "A Treatise on First Aid to the Wounded," and "Simple Remedies in various Emergencies" (both in Chinese), and a work on Malaria. He is president of the Tai Yuk Hok Hau, and a lecturer on Hygiene to the same institution (Physical Training).
DR. HO NAI HOP, alias Ho Lokkum, who has one of the most extensive practices in the Colony, received the whole of his medical training in Hongkong. He studied English at Queen's College, and in 1894 entered the Hongkong College of Medicine. After becoming a Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery in 1898 he received the Government appointment of medical officer in charge of the New Territory. Here he had a large and varied experience, for at that time he was the only doctor resident in the district. His headquarters were at the Government Offices at Taipo, and he attended members of all nationalities, visiting out-stations and villages as his services were required. He resigned in 1903 in order to commence private practice, and very soon established a high reputation for himself in the island. Among the appointments which he holds is that of surgeon to the Hongkong Milling Company, Ltd.
MR. SHE POSHAM, who, in spite of many business responsibilities, has still found time to take a prominent part in the public affairs of the Colony, was born in Hongkong in 1870, and was educated at the Old Central School, now known as Queen's College. On finishing his studies, he joined the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, Ltd., in whose service he remained for several years. In 1895 he accepted the position of compradore and caterer to the Hongkong Hotel, and had complete charge of the Chinese department, including some three hundred servants. Mr. She Posham was in 1906 a director of the Tung Wah Hospital, and devoted a considerable amount of time and money to relieving sufferers by the disastrous typhoon of that year, and towards establishing the San Francisco Earthquake Fund. He has taken part in many other public movements of one form and another. He was a member of the reception committees on the occasions of the visits of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and of Prince Arthur of Connaught. and on both occasions was responsible, with one or two other Chinese gentlemen, for the splendid decorations at the Ko Shing Theatre in honour of Their Royal Highnesses. In his spare moments Mr. She Posham is an enthusiastic and successful amateur photographer. His series of views of the landing of Prince Arthur of Connaught were the best in the Colony. A nicely bound set of them was forwarded to His Royal Highness, who returned his thanks for the gift.
MR. KUNG KWANG-TO, who is also known as Mr. Kung Sui Tong, has devoted himself very largely to the study of Chinese literature, and possesses a library of something like 400,000 volumes. He is a native of the Namhoi district, his forefathers having from very early days resided in the province of Kwangtung, and he is the seventieth descendant of Confucius. He was born in the twelfth year of the Emperor To Kwong (1832). His father, Mr. Kung Kai Fang, was a scholar of the highest order, being in the degree of Hanlin, and in his day accumulated a large collection of literary treasures, some of them dating back two thousand years. This collection Mr. Kwang-To has considerably augmented. It is of interest to note that the largest work ever written in the Chinese language was composed in the time of the Emperor Wing Lock, and comprised 22,000 volumes. This book is now non-existent, even in the imperial library, but of the second largest work, the Tai Shi Chap Sing (Chinese Encyclopædia), consisting of 10,000 volumes, compiled in the present dynasty, Mr. Kwang-To is the proud possessor of a complete copy. Mr. Kung is himself a scholar of wide attainments, and has compiled a work relating to the Tong dynasty—a book which, it is acknowledged, could never have been written without far-reaching research into the library at his command. It is a Chinese saying that only a man who has walked 10,000 miles and read 10,000 books can be called a hero. Mr. Kung has fully entitled himself to this distinction, for he has climbed to the summits of four of the five highest mountains in China, and his six-volume account of the ascent of the Taiwa is fit to rank with tales of the most daring adventurers.
MR. LAU PUN CHIN.—A most important post, and one which can only be filled by a financier of ripe experience, is that of compradore to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation at their head office in Hongkong. Indeed, so great are the responsibilities of the position, and so large is the guarantee required, that when the office became vacant two years ago some difficulty was encountered in finding a suitable man to fill it. The choice fell upon Mr. Lau Pun Chin, who, during twenty years' residence in the Colony—for the greater part of which he conducted the Chinese business of Messrs. Chater and Mody—had shown himself a singularly able financier. Mr. Lau Pun Chin, who is 38 years of age, is a native of Chin San, near the neighbouring port of Macao. He was educated in English at a private school, and then went through a course of study at Queen's College, Hongkong. His interests are not confined to his financial duties, for he is a member of the committee of the Tung Wah Hospital, and of the committee of the Horticultural Society, in the promotion of which he has borne a considerable part, whilst as a member of the Chinese Club he keeps in close touch with the social life of his fellow countrymen. He has erected in his native village two schools—the Chin San Lans School in 1902, and the Kung Too College in 1904—many of the scholars from which have been taken, after examination, to the Imperial Military College at Wang Po by the Viceroy of Canton. Several of them have continued their studies in Europe, whilst others have proceeded to Japan. Mr. Lau Pun Chin is a director of the Fook Sin Tong Hospital at Chin San, and for several years has paid two Chinese for vaccinating applicants free of charge. In this way more than two thousand poor Chinese have been vaccinated annually.
MR. HO WING TSUN.—The compradore and manager of the Chinese business of the Banque de l'Indo Chine at Hongkong is Mr. Ho Wing Tsun, who comes of an old-established Cantonese family. Born in Hongkong, he was educated at Queen's College, and speaks and writes English fluently. On leaving school he entered the service of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and when he left ten years later he held the post of assistant compradore. He received his present appointment on the retirement of Mr. Kwok Sin Lau, an old and tried servant of the institution, who, after devoting twenty years of his life to the service of the French banks at Hongkong, is now enjoying the well-earned fruits of his labours. Mr. Ho Wing Tsun is married, and the members of his family are receiving a first-class English education.
MR. CHAU NGAN TING, compradore to the Netherlands-India Commercial Bank, is a native of the Hungshan district of China. He came to Hongkong in 1885 and was admitted to the Government Central School (now Queen's College) two years later. In June, 1892, after having been for two years in the first class, he left that institution, and became a count shroff in the employment of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation for seven years. Then for a short time he was engaged as compradore to the Stockton Milling Company. Later he became compradore to the Pacific Oriental Trading Company, now Messrs. A. B. Moulder & Co., a position which he held for five years, until in November, 1906, the Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank opened a branch here and appointed him to take charge of their Chinese business and staff.
MR. IU KU UN has occupied the position of compradore to the International Banking Corporation ever since the bank opened a branch in the Colony in 1903. The post is a responsible one, involving the control of the whole of the Chinese staff and the guarantee of all the Chinese business, but the preliminary training of Mr. Iu Ku Un was such as to fit him admirably for the duties. The son of Mr. Iu Yuek Chi, a merchant of the Colony, he received his education at Queen's College. Afterwards he joined the Chartered Bank for seven years, eventually becoming second compradore. It was this post which lie vacated in order to take up his present position.
MR. NG HON TSZ, who is a son of a merchant formerly carrying on business for many years in the Colony, received an excellent education at Queen's College, and now has a variety of interests in the commercial and industrial life of the community. He is the assistant manager, and does the English business, of the Yuen Fat Hong, the oldest and one of the most important Chinese houses in the Colony. In addition, he owns two silk piece-goods shops at Canton. For the last two years he has held the post of compradore of the National Bank of China, in which he is assisted by his brother, Mr. Ng Long Chow. Mr. Ng. Hon Tsz takes great interest in public affairs and is a member of the committee of the Tung Wah Hospital.
MR. MOK TSO CHUN.—One of the largest firms in the whole of the East is that of Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, and the position of chief compradore at the Hongkong branch is one of great responsibility. It is held by Mr. Mok Tso Chun, a native of the Hungshan district, who came to the Colony at an early date, and has been with the firm for about thirty-three years. His father, Mok Se On, was surety for the former compradore of the firm, Ng u Hip. Mr. Mok Tso Chun is very well known amongst the Chinese business community, and takes a great interest in local affairs. He was formerly one of the directors of the Tung Wah Hospital, and has served on the committee of the Po Leung Kuk.
MR. CHUN TONG, also known as Mr. Chun Chik Yu, has been compradore to the historic firm of Douglas Lapraik, now known as the Douglas Steamship Company, since 1889. A native of the Hungshan district of China, he was one of the first Chinese students to proceed to America for the completion of his education, his father, Mr. Chun Fong, being at that time Consul for China at the Hawaiian Islands. Mr. Chun Tong is assisted as compradore of the Douglas Company by his brother, Mr. Chun Keng Yue, who takes a very active part in shipping matters in the Colony. Mr. Chun Tong was formerly a member of the Tung Wah Hospital committee, but of recent years has devoted his time almost exclusively to commercial matters. He and his brother have been prominently connected with the Canton-Hankow Railway line, and have fought on the side of the merchants of the Colony throughout the quarrel which has taken place during the past two years or so regarding that much-talked-of project. Mr. Chun Keng Yue is this year vice-president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The eldest son of Mr. Chun Tong is Mr. Chun Wing Sen, who is at present a student in America, where he is making excellent progress, having passed his preliminary course some four years under the ordinary term. Whilst at the High School in Hartford, Connecticut, he displayed no little literary ability, and for some time edited the School Chronicle.
MR. IP SHUN KAM.—The position of compradore to the Hongkong branch of the firm of Messrs. Reiss & Co. is held by Mr. Ip Shun Kam, who comes of a family which has been connected with the firm for upwards of fifty years. His father, Mr. Ip Kiu Shek, was compradore to the firm at Canton in the early days of the famous "factory sites," whilst his uncle, Mr. Ip Chuk Kai, held a similar position in the Hongkong branch. Mr. Ip Shun Kam, who is also known as Mr. Ip Tung, received an English education at Queen's College. On leaving that institution he joined his uncle as an assistant, and in course of time succeeded him as compradore. He is a member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and of the Chinese Club.
MR. CHOW HING KI, the compradore to the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, has lived in the Colony for about thirty years, and, during most of that time, has been connected with shipping. He received an English education at Queen's College, and, on leaving that establishment, started business with a shipping firm styled the Wo-kee Company. In those days he also looked after the Nyko Chinese business at this port, and when this Japanese firm opened a branch here became their compradore, in which position he is now assisted by Mr. Chun Yui Tong. Mr. Chow Hing Ki has been connected with the Nippon Yusen Kaisha for over fifteen years. He is a member of the consulting committee of the China Provident Loan and Mortgage Company, Ltd., for which Messrs. Shewan, Tomes & Co., are the local managers. Although his time is too fully occupied now to allow of participation in public affairs, he served formerly on the committee of the Po Leung Kuk. He is an influential and respected member of the Chinese mercantile community.
MR. CHING KING SIN, compradore to the important German house of Messrs. Carlowitz & Co., is a son of Mr. Ching Kong Kin, a merchant and trader, resident in the Colony for about forty years. Upon completing his education at St. Joseph's College, Mr. Ching King Sin entered the firm of Messrs. Carlowitz & Co., and about a year ago he was promoted to his present position, in which he is responsible for the whole of the Chinese staff and the Chinese business of the firm. Mr. Ching King Sin is a member of the Chinese Club.
MR. CHEUNG TSEUNG CHE comes from a family which has lived in Hongkong for four generations. He was born in the Colony, educated at Chinese schools, and now holds a prominent place both in the public and commercial life of the community. Some thirty-five years ago, in partnership with his brother, he established the well-known ship-chandling business of Messrs. Robert Jack & Co., which is one of the largest of its kind in the Colony. The firm occupy extensive premises at No. 41, Connaught Road, overlooking the harbour. Mr. Cheung Hoi having died some years ago, Mr. Cheung Tseung Che is now the sole manager. Among other important contracts which Messrs. Robert Jack & Co. hold is one for supplying the Empress (Canadian Pacific Railway) line of steamers, and they do a considerable trade as general shippers and coal merchants. Mr. Cheung Tseung Che is a director of the French line of steamers running to Canton, and has a variety of other interests in the Colony. He is a member of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee, and follows the progress and development of that institution with the closest interest. His eldest son, Cheung U Kow, gives him great assistance in the management of the business. Their private residence. No. 53, Caine Road, was formerly occupied by Sir Paul Chater, and is one of the finest in the island.
MR. GOH LI HING, who is also known in Hongkong as Mr. Ng Li Hing, is an old resident of the Colony, and one of the leaders of the Fokienese community. Leaving his home in Fokien early in life, he spent many years in travel, and was connected with mercantile houses in Java, Sumatra, and the Straits Settlements. He has now been away from his native province for upwards of half a century, and during the last thirty years has resided in Hongkong, where he has attained to an influential position as head of the well-known and old-established firm of Goh Guan Hin, No, 64, Bonham Strand West, which carries on a large business as general merchants and importers. Mr. Ng Li Hing is also chairman of the financial company known as the Hongkong and Manila Yuen Shing Exchange and Trading Company, Ltd., which has branches at Manila, Singapore, Shanghai, Amoy, and Penang; he is the proprietor of a newly established brewery at Wongneichung; and he is connected with numerous other enterprises in the Colony. He bears his part in public movements, and has served on the committees of the Tung Wah Hospital, and the Po Leung Kuk. To the hospital he recently presented a large piece of valuable land at Kowloon, to be used as a cemetery for the Fokienese community. Of his family, one son, Mr. Ng Kai Sui, is at present studying in London, while his grandsons are either students or agriculturists. The other members of his family live with him at his beautiful residence in Caine Road.
MR. TSANG KING.—There are few men more widely known than Mr. Tsang King in the business circles of the Colony. He came to Hongkong some forty-five years ago, from Canton, and for the last thirty-six years has been engaged here as a contractor. He frequently employs as many as five thousand men, and has erected a large number of important buildings. Amongst these are the Hongkong Rope Factory; the Government Civil Hospital; the Asylum; Sir Paul Chater's ​beautiful residence, and his bungalow at Kowloon; the Kowloon Waterworks; Tytam Reservoir and Waterworks; two-thirds of the Praya Reclamation (the foundation stone of which was laid by the Duke of Connaught); the Military Batteries at Stonecutter's Island, the Central and South Batteries; Gap Rock Lighthouse; the Taikoo Ship Yard; Causeway Bay Breakwater; the Aberdeen Paper Works and Waterworks; the Wanchai Gap Waterworks; the Steam Laundry; the Ice House; the Kowloon Wharf and Godown Companies' premises; the Water Police Station, Kowloon; No. 1 Dock, Hongkong Dock Company; the Time Ball at Kowloon; and the Oil Tanks and Powder Magazine. Mr. Tsang King is the sole owner of a great block of godowns at Kennedy Town, erected by his own firm and having a storage capacity of 200,000 feet. In the management of his extensive business he is now assisted by three of his sons, the eldest Tsang Loi Chiu, being at present in charge of the Kowloon Waterworks construction. Tsang Kee and Tsang Ping are helping in other ways.
MR. SIN TAK FAN.—Hard work and honest endeavour, followed by steady and well-earned promotion, is, in brief, the record of Mr. Sin Tak Fan. Born on December 20, 1856, he was educated at the Government Central School (now Queen's College) under Dr. Frederick Stewart, and, while there, carried off many prizes, including the Smith Prize for translation and handwriting. Having finished his scholastic course, he was appointed an assistant teacher, and continued in that capacity until 1878, when he was transferred to the Registrar-General's Department as fourth clerk. Later on, he was promoted to be acting first clerk and interpreter. Leaving the service in 1880, he received an appointment with the legal firm of Messrs. Stephens & Holmes as chief clerk and translating interpreter. In 1882 he again improved his position by joining Mr. Creasy Ewens as managing clerk and interpreter. Messrs. Ewens & Harston, as the firm is now styled, are among the leading solicitors in the Colony, and Mr. Sin Tak Fan is a well-known figure in legal circles. He has been twice married, and has eight sons and seven daughters. He is president of the Hongkong Chinese Club for the third time, and is, also, a member of the Man Ming Club, which was founded in 1904 by some local Chinese merchants and scholars for the promotion of social intercourse and the improvement of intellectual and moral discipline.
MR. WONG LAI-SANG.—By perseverance and keen business instincts Mr. Wong Lai-Sang has gained not only a comfortable position for himself but a good reputation among both Europeans and Chinese. A native of Hongkong, he was born in 1863 and was educated at the Central School. He joined the Great Northern Telegraph Company, Shanghai, as an operator in 1880, and remained with the company for nine years. Subsequently he entered the service of the Public Works Department, Hongkong, and, after twelve years' experience, accepted the position of managing clerk to Mr. E. M. Hazeland, an architect. This position he still occupies, and at the same time carries out the duties of managing partner of the Tai Kwong Company, who do a large business in gasoline lamps. He is married to a sister of Mr. Chan Kai Ming, secretary to the Opium Farm, Hongkong, and has one son, who, thanks to his father's clear realisation of the advantages which follow upon such an equipment, has been given a thoroughly sound English education.