Sun Kin Chao

The founder of Kin Hip Metal and Plastic Factory (“Kin Hip”), Sun Kin Chao, was born in 1919 in Xiazhuang Village in Ninghai County in Zhejiang Province. When he was growing up, Sun Kin Chao’s impoverished family worked as farmers and had a debt of 300 silver dollars in yin yang coins (the currency at that time). When he was 13, Sun Kin Chao travelled to Shanghai to work as an apprentice in a flashlight factory where his father hoped he would build a career and succeed. Although typical apprenticeships took three years, Sun Kin Chao’s took an extra 12 months to complete due to his young age. The boy spent his first year learning to pump air into the burner and press flashlight cases. During the remaining 36 months of his apprenticeship, Sun Kin Chao learned compression molding and lathe and planer operation. His life as an apprentice in Shanghai was hard, earning him just 0.6 silver dollars a month at a time when even a humble blanket cost 1.8 silver dollars in local shops. Times were so tough that Sun Kin Chao’s master once scolded and beat him for not being able to differentiate between perforated screw snaps.

Another native of Ninghai County in Zhejiang Province, Sun Kin Chao’s wife Kwok Yin Ping was born in 1930 in a village not far from Sun Kin Chao’s. Mrs. Sun’s father had once worked in a flashlight factory as an apprentice to Sun Kin Chao’s mentor and later ran a small business in Shanghai. Mrs. Sun studied in her hometown but dropped out from school after completing her junior secondary education. Economic hardship forced her to leave home in 1942 to work in Shanghai at a flashlight factory where she met, dated and eventually married one of her workmates, Sun Kin Chao. Having received better education, Mrs. Sun assisted her husband in starting their business. She was in charge of accounts and paperwork. After settling in Hong Kong, Mrs. Sun once attended evening classes to study bookkeeping. As there was an age gap between the couple, Kwok Yin Ping’s parents opposed their daughter’s relationship with Sun Kin Chao. Eager to get married the pair chose to start a new life in Hong Kong in 1948. Sun Kin Chao sought help from a friend who worked in Shau Kei Wan. He was subsequently taken on as a master in textile machinery maintenance in South China Textile, Limited (“South China”) in To Kwa Wan.

When a labour strike broke out at the South China factory shortly after, Sun Kin Chao’s colleagues chose him as their leader. Not wanting to get involved in the industrial dispute, he resigned and eventually became a part-time worker at the Ting Tai metal factory. While working at this company’s Castle Peak Road premises, he installed machines for manufacturers. In 1949, Sun Kin Chao rented half of a ground floor shop at No. 326 Portland Street behind the then ABC Bakery on Nathan Road and started Kin Hip. As the Cantonese landlord of the shop was previously engaged in the metal industry, the new factory came pre-equipped with machinery including lathes and planers. These were subsequently leased out together with the premises. The tenant in the other half of the shop was a former colleague from South China who eventually rented the planers while Sun Kin Chao rented the lathes. Immediately after the World War II, there were many shops in Canton Road that sold machinery parts and metals and also a few metalware shops in Shanghai Street.

Kin Hip was located at No. 326 Portland Street where its neighbours included van rental and soft drinks shops and various two- to four-storey residential tenements. When the factory started in 1949, the Suns lived in San Lau Street at To Kwa Wan. At noon, Mrs. Sun would prepare lunch in To Kwa Wan and bring it all the way to Mong Kok. She and her husband later rented accommodation in a tenement opposite their factory. Their main business back then was the manufacture of metal molds for use as antimony pot handles and water flask spouts. Key customers included the Ting Tai antimony pot and Gold Coin Brand vacuum flask factories. As Sun Kin Chao was less educated, Mrs. Sun took charge of the accounts while taking care of the children at the factory. In doing so, she used an abacus to calculate costs and prepare invoices. On one occasion she undercharged $600 when calculating product prices for the Gold Coin Brand factory. Fortunately, the vacuum flask factory’s cashier was very honest, taking the initiative to inform Mrs. Sun about her mistake and repaying the underpayment in full.

In those days, it was not a common practice to prepare drawings for making molds, with factory staff usually relying solely on their eyes to gauge sizes. Such techniques were taught to younger workers by their mentors. As Sun Kin Chao had not learned formal drawing skills during his apprenticeship in Shanghai, he tended to dash off designs as rough sketches. After setting up his own business, he began to recruit apprentices, eventually taking on some 40 staff in such a way. In those days, applying to learn skills by becoming apprentice to a mentor required strict etiquette. There was also a solemn ceremony where each apprentice’s parents presented snacks and the apprentice got on his knees and served tea to his prospective employer. While it was then very common for mentors to physically discipline their apprentices, Sun Kin Chao’s wife gave him a hard time whenever he tried to do so. As Sun Kin Chao was not fluent in Cantonese when he first came to Hong Kong, Mrs. Sun had to assist, standing by his side to answer questions whenever he taught apprentices. Mrs. Sun later attended evening classes to study accounting and English to help better manage the factory accounts.

Kin Hip began manufacturing in 1953 with plastic worship cups being its earliest product. Back then, worship cups were usually made of metals which were heavy and not widely available as the production volume was low. Responding to market demand, Sun Kin Chao made his own pressing machines and molds, using plastics to mass produce lighter worship cups which proved to be very popular. In those years, Kin Hip bought plastics in small quantities of around 10 lbs from material stores in Sham Shui Po and Central. Sun Kin Chao later improved the quality of the worship cups by engraving each one with three Chinese characters representing “Fortune, Prosperity and Longetivity”. He later recalled that many retired mainland army officers were left unemployed after returning to Hong Kong after World War II. He eventually employed some of these officers to engrave cups at Kin Hip. After launching his first product, Sun Kin Chao began successively developing more complicated product lines. Based on foreign products bought from department stores, he refined the design, made the mold himself and then put the prototype into production. Sun Kin Chao once modified a comb with a round-shape by a unit cost of US$5 by aluminizing it and selling it at the unbeatably low price of just $0.5! In the early 1960s, Sun Kin Chao went on an overseas study trip to Europe with a local manufacturers’ association. While there, he developed great admiration for German-made stainless steel products. Returning to Hong Kong, he developed and experimented with relevant molds. After a series of trials, he launched some square plates as Kin Hip’s first stainless steel product. In these early years, Kin Hip lacked a formal design or engineering department. As a result, Sun Kin Chao perfected each product on his own. In doing so, he endured much hardship and spent long hours at work every day. Over the years, Sun Kin Chao insisted on producing own-brand products and made sure that every product made bore Kin Hip’s logo and refusing to manufacture for other companies.

When Kin Hip’s factory was at No. 56 Soy Street, it began to produce plastic products. Due to inadequate workshop premise, the company moved to Sung Wong Toi in 1957, renting a government plot of 20,000-30,000 square feet. The new plant was sturdily constructed with I-beams and cement walls that were robust enough to withstand wind and rain. At that time, Kin Hip was the only company to set up a facility at Sung Wong Toi. The lack of utilities there meant that Mr. and Mrs. Sun had to arrange water and electricity supplies themselves. In the 1960s, Kin Hip expanded continuously, relocating initially to Shing Yip Street and then to Hung To Road, both in Kwun Tong. Originally seven storeys high, the company’s plant at Hung To Road generated immense profits when it was eventually redeveloped into a 20-storey building. Sun Kin Chao and his wife began their business by opening a factory in Portland Street with a meager capital of just $1,000-2,000. As the company was small, it was difficult to borrow from banks and any profits were generally spent on expanding the factory rather than on personal enjoyment. The Suns operated the business together in the 1950s when Kin Hip had only a few employees. Sun Kin Chao oversaw mold development, design and production, while his wife took charge of the accounts and taking orders. She also looked after the children and prepared the family meals. Not until 1953 did Kin Hip recruit its first apprentice. It was another two years after that before the company hired its first clerk.

When Kin Hip was producing worship cups, its products were mainly sold to hawkers and shops around Soy Street. In those days, worship cups were a very profitable line of business and many hawkers stocked up from Kin Hip. As most hawkers requested credit terms and only paid after the merchandise was sold, Mrs. Sun felt payment collection was not easy. At that time, some hawkers gathered on the Soy Street during the Chinese New Year eve selling cheap daily necessities on the sidewalk. Kin Hip consigned its worship cups to the hawkers so as to gather enough money to pay for worker’s wages and settle bills before the Chinese New Year. When Choi Cheung Kok’s department store later began to buy Kin Hip’s worship cups in bulk, rickshaws had to be hired to deliver the large orders. In the mid-1950s, the company began hiring clerical staff who were proficient in English to write the letters to overseas buyers. Through this, Kin Hip successfully promoted its products to potential buyers overseas. At the same time, staff joined Mrs. Sun in visiting trading firms, distributing samples and taking orders. Kin Hip had also dealt with Indian firms in Hollywood Road and Nam Pak Hong trading firms at Sheung Wan. Between the 1950s and the 1960s, Kin Hip sold its products directly to trading firms who then exported the products to the overseas markets without informing Kin Hip who or where the buyers were. In those years, trading firms tried to delay settling bills for as long as possible. As a result, Mrs. Sun felt visiting creditors asking for payment was a difficult and often fruitless job. In earlier years, Kin Hip relied on trading firms for orders. Whenever Mrs. Sun received calls about potential customers she would immediately hurry to their office so as not to miss out any business opportunities.

Kin Hip’s first metal product was a collection of fluorescent lamp holders which were produced at the Soy Street factory. In the beginning, these bases were made entirely of metal and were mainly sold to electric shops near Portland Street. Kin Hip not only produced but also sold the products, with Sun Kin Chao delivering the finished goods on his bicycle. Some products were sold to trading firms with Kin Hip’s logo printed on the fluorescent lamp holders bases. Trading firms did not like the idea of having manufacturers print Kin Hip’s logo on the products. Sun’s guessed that the trading firms preferred not to let overseas customers learn of the manufactures directly, fearing that they might connect with each other. On the second and third day of one Lunar New Year, Kin Hip received a huge order for six gross of fluorescent lamp holders (one pack = 144 dozens). Sun Kin Chao and his wife worked day and night to complete this order which eventually brought their company good profits. Soon afterwards, 18 other manufacturers began producing light bulb bases hoping to get a share of what was obviously fast becoming a very lucrative market. This created vicious competition and resulted in a price war that reduced costs to levels that were no longer profitable. Using a match and mix of plastic and metal, Kin Hip subsequently launched a series of fluorescent lamp holders featuring a metal pedestal under a white plastic fluorescent lamp holder. As the concept was innovative and not many manufacturers could match Kin Yip’s combination of plastic and metal, the company successfully outperformed its competitors.

Sun Kin Chao was a firm believer in adopting innovative product development to achieve higher profits. In its earlier years, Kin Hip produced small plastic cups and water bottles. After a study trip to Germany, Sun Kin Chao became determined to enhance his company’s competitiveness by developing stainless steel tableware and kitchenware. In doing so, he transformed Kin Hip into Hong Kong’s first manufacturer in the field. As Sun Kin Chao and his wife spent all their energy on their factory operation, they had little time to participate in trade associations. They did however join and become involved in the activities of the Hong Kong Plastics Manufacturers Association and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. Here, they got to know plastic industry veterans such as Ting Hsiung Chao, Leung Jhi Hung and Chieng Han Chow. Sun Kin Chao and his wife believed that the development of the second generation of their business was far better than the first. Recent property development had further consolidated Kin Hip’s financial strength. Nevertheless, the Sun’s continued to feel that “No money ever comes without hard effort” and that the second generation spent more time socialising than committing to manufacturing production. Mrs. Sun grew sad about how hard it had become to make money in manufacturing. Rising wages in the mainland had further reduced Kin Hip’s profitability.

There have been two major turning points in Kin Hip’s development during the past few decades: Switching to the production of stainless steel products and relocating production lines to China. As manufacturing stainless steel products involved huge investments, Sun Kin Chao and his wife once worried about its long-term profitability. Relocating Kin Hip’s production to China was one way to respond to the business circumstances. Sadly, steadily increasing mainland production costs meant Kin Hip’s business there was not very successful. The company faced probably its biggest problem during its early years when HSBC seized its deposit funds. At the time, Kin Hip had just received an order worth $100,000 from a Trinidadian customer who had paid $30,000 as a deposit by letter of credit. When Kin Hip tried to carry out the transaction via HSBC, its deposit funds at the bank were seized by the bank as the customer had failed to honour his deposit. Mrs. Sun criticised HSBC’s action as being unjust. To resolve the matters, the couple sought advice from industry veteran Ting Hsiung Chao whom people affectionately nicknamed “Uncle Ting”. Uncle Ting asked the couple to be restrained and not to offend HSBC who then as now enjoyed a very prominent status in Hong Kong. Sun Kin Chao took Uncle Ting’s advice and solved the problem with a personal loan in order to avoid confronting and upsetting HSBC. Mrs. Sun later reflected how difficult it was to get a loan from banks.