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Fung Yuen Hon
Fung Yuen Hon
General Committee Member, Chinese Manufacturers' Association
Sex: Male Birthyear: 1919 Age at Interview: 90 Education: No formal education Occupation: Merchant Theme: Industry In the initial period after the World War II, the Exhibitions used the slogan “Hong Kong People Use Hong Kong Goods” to promote products made by local Chinese manufacturers. At first, the CMA only allowed Hong Kong’s Chinese manufacturers and CMA members to participate in the Exhibitions. In order to more efficiently promoting their goods through the Exhibitions, some retailers attempted to register as CMA members. Participating manufacturers also had to submit their stall design when applying for participation and could only set out their products for sale once these plans were approved.
Title Hong Kong Products Exhibition promoted products made by local Chinese manufacturers Date 18/12/2008 Subject Industry Duration 3分11秒 Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. JL-FYH-HLT-001 Between 1951 and 1952, Hong Kong’s enamel industry was thriving. Many enamel factories set up their stalls in the Exhibitions to promote their products and a considerable number of local people came along to buy antimony pots, antimony slow cookers and kerosene stoves, etc. I-Fung Enameling Co. (HK) Ltd. had sponsored building the entrance façade for a few Exhibitions in the 1950s to promote its enamel wares. In the following decade, plastic products began to replace ceramics and buyers came to the Exhibitions looking for newer materials.
Of the many shirt factories who participated in Exhibitions at this time, Leaf Shirt was among the most prominent.Subsequently, Union Shirt staged still more promotions and used gimmicks like “one-dollar-for-one-shirt” and “ironing- and pulp-free shirts” to promote its wares. Participating still later, the Crocodile brand attempted to promote more sales and attention from the visitors by arranging “crocodile girls” to measure customers’ collar size at its stall.
Title Enamel factories and shirt factories promoted their products in different ways Date 18/12/2008 Subject Industry Duration 4m40s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. JL-FYH-HLT-002 In the 1950s, Fung Yuen Hon served as the deputy manager of the promotion department of the Exhibition, assisting in fund raising activities. In order to raise funds to build the Hong Kong Technical College (the forerunner of today’s Hong Kong Polytechnic University), the CMA organised fund raising activities at several Exhibitions. All required prior approval by the government. The prizes for the lucky draws were all sponsored by the Directors of CMA and included cars and flats in a 3-storey building in Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Other ways the Exhibitions used to raise funds included a $50 fee for taking a photo with renowned Cantonese opera performers. As a result, the CMA ultimately succeeded in raising between $1 million to $2 million. The entire sum was subsequently donated to the government for building the Hong Kong Technical College. The management of the college was handed over to the government after the completion of the building works.
Title Hong Kong Products Exhibition raised funds for the Hong Kong Technical College in 1950s Date 18/12/2008 Subject Industry Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. JL-FYH-HLT-003 The Exhibitions not only attracted Hong Kong people to come to visit, but also drew overseas buyers to stop by. To this end, the CMA issued invitation letters to the members of overseas trade associations. For example, trade associations and merchants from Taiwan were received by CMA staff at the airport on their visits to the Exhibitions. At that time, overseas manufacturers mainly came from Southeast Asian countries. These visitors were especially interested in checking out stalls which displayed daily commodities such as lanterns and antimony wares.
Title Oversea manufacturers took part in the Hong Kong Products Exhibition Date 18/12/2008 Subject Industry Duration 3m6s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. JL-FYH-HLT-004 The photographic competition at the Exhibitions began in 1950 with the organiser requiring that all participating photographers had to echo the core theme of each Exhibition in their works. As Deputy Manager of CMA’s promotion department, Fung Yuen Hon served as a judge in these contests. His criterion of selecting the winning entries was how well the photos depicted the multitude of people who appeared in the venue and made the Exhibition bustle! If photos only focused on specific manufacturers, they would not win as the CMA did not want people misunderstand the exhibition biased toward any one particular brand. Any photos not selected were subsequently collected by the participants.
Title The selection criteria of photographic competition at the Hong Kong Products Exhibition Date 18/12/2008 Subject Industry Duration 1m7s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. JL-FYH-HLT-005 After the World War II, the Hong Kong Products Exhibition started again on a piece of vacant land near to the Peninsula Hotel. At that time, the government only provided reclaimed vacant land for hosting the exhibition. Before 1962, the exhibitions had also taken place on the vacant land near City Hall in Central. At that time, the land for the Exhibition venue was barren without cement cover or any facilities. As a result, the Exhibition organiser had to install lights and lay water pipes, telephone lines, drains, toilets, etc.
Title Post-war Exhibitions faced the problem of venue Date 18/12/2008 Subject Industry Duration 5m13s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. JL-FYH-HLT-006 At first, there were no traffic lights near the Exhibition venues so the CMA had to ask the Scout Association of Hong Kong to recruit scouts to control the traffic. While on duty, scouts had to follow orders that strictly prohibited cars from entering the Exhibition venue. In one incident, even the Governor of Hong Kong was turned away by the scout on duty! After this incident, the Governor sent a letter to the scout, commending his courage of standing up against those in power!
Title Governor's car was turned away by a scout on duty in the Hong Kong Products Exhibition Date 18/12/2008 Subject Industry Duration 1m33s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. JL-FYH-HLT-007