Chong Hok Hoi, Bob

Manufacturing watch bands was Chung Nam’s main business in its early years. In addition to supplying watch bands to the U.S. and Europe, the company also manufactured watch cases at a lower volume. In the 1960s, Chung Nam was amongst Hong Kong’s pioneers in manufacturing watch movements, a technology which had long been monopolized by the then Soviet Union and Switzerland. During peak periods, the company was exporting around 1,000,000 finished watches monthly. When it was unable to meet tight production schedules, Chung Nam sub-contracted part of its production orders to other watch suppliers. Bob Chong explained that the 1960s was a time when one judged a watch’s value by the number of jewels in its movement. Roskopf (pin-lever) movements had one jewel while high-precision watch movements might have up to 17 jewels. After quartz analog and electronic watches became popular in the late 1970s, precious stones became less important.

Bob Chong was born in Hong Kong after World War II and received his education locally. After finishing kindergarten, he attended St. Stephen's Church Primary School and St. Louis School. While a child, he had little time to get together with his father who always used their rare gatherings to teach the boy how to be a man. Bob Chong’s mother was a housewife who did not really have specific academic expectation of her son. After completing Lower Secondary Six in Hong Kong, Bob Chong enrolled at the U.S.’s University of Southern California where his parents allowed him to freely choose subjects without insisting on engineering-related courses. As Bob Chong was interested in mathematics, he decided to study for a four-year accounting major – a decision that was to be of great benefit in his subsequent career. Upon graduating, he qualified as a U.S. Certified Public Accountant and subsequently earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration in Finance.

Returning to Hong Kong in 1979, he joined Chung Nam where he still worked to this date. While Chong Ching Um never suggested that his children should follow him into the family business, he encouraged them to do so by asking them to work at Chung Nam during their school holidays. During such breaks, Bob Chong went on the road with Chung Nam salesmen selling watches and helped out on the factory packaging line. He was very satisfied with these summer jobs, receiving care and gaining respect from his colleagues without feeling any pressure. As a result, he was delighted to eventually take over the running of the family business.

Knowing that Chung Nam needed successors, Bob Chong decided to join the family business upon graduation. Initially, he was involved in sales and marketing, accompanying sales colleagues on regular trips to Southeast Asia, Middle East, Europe and U.S.A. As Chung Nam had already built a good reputation in the industry in the 1960s, Bob Chong felt he wouldn’t face much difficulty if he agreed to succeed the business. In the early 1980s, the company’s business took off and both workforce and production volume constantly increased over the years. In the beginning, Chong Ching Um spent more time developing Southeast Asian markets. As there were language and communication barriers, he remained reliant on intermediaries to explore European and U.S. orders. After Bob Chong and his elder brother, Chong Hok Shan, took over the business in the late 1970s, they were able to deal directly with European and U.S. clients as both had studied overseas and spoke fluent English. Recalling changes in communication modes, Bob Chong said Chung Nam had used different channels such as telexes, IDD telephone calls, faxes and e-mail.

Hong Kong was Chung Nam’s major market during its early years. In the 1950s, the company hired salesmen to carry out street marketing after training by Chong Ching Um. In those days, retail shops first had to buy watches on credit. While the retailers could not return the less popular models, they could negotiate price reductions with Chung Nam. When Bob Chong was at school during the 1960s, he often took summer jobs with the family business. Carrying a leather case weighing 20-30lbs, he accompanied company salesmen to shops all over Hong Kong. Offering him an excellent opportunity to observe and learn how to communicate with customers, the work gave Bob Chong a valuable lesson about sales work. All watches promoted through street marketing were Chung Nam-exclusive agency brands, mostly Octo and Tugaris watches. Roamer timepieces were not introduced until the 1990s. Following the U.S. moon landing in 1969, the demand for Octo Space Master watches was so impressive that the supplies were rationed to retail shops. Bob Chong recognized the importance of close wholesaler-retailer ties. He believed that customer relationships could be built up through social activities such as offering cigarettes, discussing horse racing tips, having tea together and even sponsoring travel trips for retail shop owners and their staff. By this time, Chung Nam had also begun placing advertisements on tram, magazine, cinema, radio and TV, and even hired artist George Lam to star in its TV commercials. Bob Chong still remembered the classic Octo advertising script: "No later, no sooner! With an Octo watch, time is just right!.

As Chong Ching Um was a director of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong (CMA), Chung Nam had participated in the Hong Kong Products Expo. Bob Chong did not involve a lot in the preparation for the products expos but he thought that these activities were less important than the watch and clock fairs. Local watch and clock makers had not been allowed to exhibit at overseas exhibitions for many years. To address the issue, some 10 directors of the Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association (HKWMA) agreed to promote their products to overseas buyers by staging their own Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair (HKWCF). The inaugural 1982 event took place in rented rooms at the Miramar Hotel which was paid by association directors from their own pockets. Bob Chong was involved in the preparation of this first HKWCF at which Chung Nam displayed a range of finished watches, watch bands and watch cases. So well received were these early HKWCF events by overseas buyers that the Hong Kong Trade Development Council joined forces with HKWMA and began to co-organize future exhibitions. There was a huge surge in global demand for low-priced watches from Hong Kong in the 1980s. Chung Nam’s major clients at this time included top U.S. department chain shops such as Kmart and Wal-Mart.

Bob Chong’s first participation in Hong Kong’s public affairs was as a government appointee to the Trading Advisory Board. He believed that such consultation roles not only strengthened social networks but also enabled industries to share their views with the government. In the early 1980s, Bob Chong served as Director of the HKWMA, becoming the body’s Chairman some 10 years later. The same period saw his elder brother, Chong Hok Shan, serve as President of the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries (FHKWTI). Bob Chong remained committed to contributing to the development of the local watch industry and was a keen participant in trade associations representing the industry in negotiations with the government. The HKWMA’s greatest success was undoubtedly the change of Hong Kong’s country of origin regulations. The Hong Kong government at first viewed a watch’s place of assembly as being its country of origin. Bob Chong lobbied the government, arguing that the place where the watch movement was produced should be the basis for country of origin regulations. The government and industry finally came to a consensus that a "Swiss" rather than "Swiss Made" label could be used to distinguish watches manufactured in Hong Kong. Bob Chong regarded this as being a major reform which would bring huge price benefits to the local watch and clock industry.

While serving as HKWMA Chairman, Bob Chong regularly led trade groups to participate in global watch fairs, even financing the cost of air tickets for buyer exhibitors. He concluded that watch companies were dependent on one another and that mutual support remained the key to success. When Bob Chong was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Professional Validation Council of Hong Kong Industries in 2004, he warmly credited his Chung Nam colleagues for their assistance. In the past, he had also led tours with other watch manufacturers to find new manufacturing bases in Southeast Asia. After the tours, Bob Chong considered that mainland China was the best manufacturing base. Bob Chong had been helping Chung Nam to establish factories in China since 1978. The first factory was in Dagang in the Panyu District of Guangzhou. As the first Hong Kong enterprise opening a factory there, Chung Nam was well received by the local people. When asked to explain the evolution of his company’s mainland production lines, Bob Chong said Chung Nam began by concentrating on manufacturing movement parts. They then turned to movement assembly, watch bands, watch cases and finished watches. The company expanded into other businesses such as vacuum electroplating, metallurgy, mobile phones and medical parts. Currently, Chung Nam had six watch factories in mainland China and a machinery factory in Taiwan.