Huang Hunan
Wong Fut-Nam (English: Wong Fut-Nam; Courtesy name: Choi-Cho;[1] 1887-02-14 – 1979-08-18)[2] was an entrepreneur from Taishan, Guangdong (ancestral home: Sanhe Town, Taishan).
Biography
Wong Fut-Nam attended secondary school in Guangzhou. He taught at Kangho Primary School in his hometown of Sanhe, Taishan, then traveled by ship to Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada, where he taught at the local Chinese Public School for eight years. He later served as principal of Man Keung School in Vancouver and was Secretary of the Yu Hing Association (the first Taishanese clan association in Victoria, founded in 1889).
In the 1930s, Wong returned to Taishan from Vancouver, built a hotel, and opened a school. He later moved to Hong Kong, where he invested in gold and silver trading and insurance, gradually amassing wealth. According to his grandson, Wong initially set up small workshops in Hong Kong producing handkerchieves and sleepwear, then entered real estate and finance. In the 1930s, he and partners founded an paint and lacquer factory, and later operated garment factories.
Wong also ventured into property development. He founded Oi Kwan Properties and in the 1930s built Oi Kwan Building on Des Voeux Road Central. In 1937 he completed the Oi Kwan Hotel in Guangzhou—a fifteen‑storey tower that was the city’s tallest building until 1967, equipped with imported North American heating, bathrooms, and Otis elevators. His daughter recalled that the family sold the building at a low price before it was seized by the Communist government in 1949.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Wong’s pawnshop network flourished; he owned over a dozen shops in Hong Kong, competing with other clan‑based pawnshop families.
In autumn 1971, the octogenarian Wong generously donated HK$500,000 to Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. The board approved renaming First Middle School to Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Wong Fut-Nam College in his honor. Wong passed away on 1979-08-18 at age 92; his funeral was held on 1979-08-22 at Hong Kong Funeral Home and he was interred at Chai Wan Buddhist Cemetery.
Family
Wong Fut-Nam had two wives. His first wife, Li Chiu-Kwai, bore him two sons and three daughters, two sons and one daughter predeceased Wong’s 1979 death. His second wife, Hui Lai-Kuen, was married to Wong at age 18; they had two sons and two daughters, including Wong Kan-Hang (a lawyer, founder of Lee Man Enterprises, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Chairman in 1971), Wong Kan-Lei (former general manager of Lee Man Enterprises), Wong Sui-Ha and Diana Shui-Iu Wong (an artist based in Santa Monica).
Wong Kan-Hang’s children include Wong Ying-Kei (pro‑Beijing politician), Wong Ying-Ho (pro‑Beijing politician), and Wong Ying-Kit. Wong Kan-Lei’s son is Wong Man-Hin.
Media estimated that in 1991 the family’s fund assets ranged from US$100 million to $200 million (approximately HK$800 million to HK$1.6 billion).