Henry Fok's ancestral home is Panyu County, Guangdong Province, and he was born in Hong Kong boathouse on May 1993 1923. Grandfather Huo Dachao once owned a sailing boat with strong winds, which traveled between Hong Kong, Macao and other provinces and engaged in freight business. However, when Henry Fok came into this world, his family was already in a very difficult situation. He lives on his father's chartering and barging. His income is not much and his life is hard. His family is too poor to wear shoes. No matter how cold and hot it is, they walk barefoot. Once during the Lunar New Year, my father wore a pair of new shoes for the first time. He took off his shoes at the stall and squatted on the stool to eat powder. After eating, he left with his feet on the ground. When I got back to the boat, I found that I didn't put my shoes back, because I never wear shoes.
There was no weather forecast at that time, and house boat's life was not guaranteed. Two brothers of Henry Fok were shipwrecked in the typhoon. One is 5 years old and the other is 7 years old. Fortunately, his mother was saved by his uncle, but soon his uncle capsized and drowned in the storm. When Henry Fok was about 7 years old, his father died of illness, only in his forties. Because of my long illness, I use Chinese herbal medicine every day, and I have spent all my limited money. After I died, I just buried it in Tsing Yi Island.
After his father's death, the life of the Huo Yingdong family became more difficult. At that time, he also had a 9-year-old sister and a 5-year-old sister, and the burden of life fell on his mother.
My mother is a tenacious, hardworking and diligent person. In those troubled days, she was not impressed by the weight of life, but stood up straight, worked hard and continued the lightering business left by her husband. This lighterage business is to contact the freighter in the open sea and transport the goods to the shore by the small sampan. The main goods received at that time were coal. The Huo family didn't have a barge, so they took over the business from the shipowner and then distributed it to the sampan for lighterage, earning a meager commission. Because Henry Fok's father was very popular when he was alive, and his mother was open-minded and decent, most boatmen and sampans sympathized with these orphans and widows, and they could barely make ends meet.
Although Fok Ying-tung's mother can't read, she hopes her children can read poetry, pen and ink. At about the age of six, Henry Fok was taught by others on his back. Then he went to a free sailing school. His family lives on a boat, wandering around, attending classes is very abnormal, and sometimes it is not easy to find a boat after school. The third class transferred to Dunmei Primary School. This primary school is free of charge, and there is a free class, but only 30 students are enrolled. Students had to write an article to take the exam, but Henry Fok was admitted. He was the first person to be admitted. Later, he transferred to Ren Huang College. The academic system of the academy is reversed from Class 8, which is equivalent to the first grade of junior high school. At that time, the eighth session of the College enrolled three classes with 30 students in each class, but most of them were introduced by teachers, parents and various relationships, and less than 10 students actually passed the exam. When taking the exam, he also asked to write an article, and Henry Fok was also the first to be admitted.
Henry fok is very diligent in school, and his grades are always in the top few. He later recalled: "I was very absorbed in my studies at that time, and I always didn't want to fall behind." Occasionally, I fell below the third place, and I felt very shameful. " In Ren Huang College, Zero Yingdong received a relatively systematic education. In addition to completing his studies prescribed by the school, he also read many literary works, such as Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe. At that time, his life was very difficult, because the tuition of Ren Huang University was very high. In order to save some money, Henry fok often takes half an hour to get to school instead of taking the tram. His favorite extracurricular activity at school is playing football, probably because he is thin and wants to build a strong body. However, he dare not play for long. He always plays in a hurry for 30 minutes and then goes home, because he has to go back to help his mother keep accounts and send invoices. He later recalled: "This stressful life often made me exhausted, dizzy and even nervous. However, this is an excellent exercise for me, which enables me to cope with it calmly no matter how hard my life is and how busy my work is. "
Henry Fok is in Class 3 of Ren Huang College, which means that he has graduated from high school and entered the college preparatory course. At this time, the Pacific War broke out, Japan began to attack Hong Kong, and Henry Fok's studies were forced to end.
In the days when Hong Kong fell.
When the Japanese army occupied Hong Kong, the small ship "Xinghe" purchased by Henry Fok's mother and others in partnership was requisitioned by the Japanese army. He never landed in his life, so he dropped out of school. Like many people at that time, at first, I made a living by putting clothes and sundries in the seller's house. Soon, life forced him to be a fireman on a boat. Ships burn coal. He is a coal digger. This was his first job, when he was only 18 years old.
Henry fok worked very hard, and when he got home, his whole body seemed to fall apart, and he fell asleep in bed. After working for only nine months, he was fired when the boss laid off staff.
Soon, Fok Ying-tung spent 65,438+00 yuan to buy an old Japanese military ticket, and he was introduced to Taikoo Wu to strike iron with a sledgehammer. Although Henry Fok was a fireman, he was still not competent for such a heavy job. Then someone told him to turn to the rivet of the wind cannon. Fok Ying-tung waved the so-called straight wind cannon and his hand was shaking all the time. So, it's over again.
/kloc-in the summer of 0/942, the Japanese army expanded Kai Tak Airport and recruited a large number of workers. Fok Yingdong was introduced by a friend who worked at the airport and entered the airport as a coolie. The salary is 70.5 cents a day. Because of the shortage of food, each person is rationed six or two meters a day, and after deducting 20 cents, it is 50.5 cents. The airport is in Kowloon. You must go to work at 7: 30 in the morning and go out two hours early. It takes two hours to walk home from work at night, and I am exhausted every day.
At that time, he really wanted to learn a skill. With a skill, he doesn't have to do coolies every day, but what to learn? Once, he was carrying a 50-gallon petrol tank, and his finger was crushed due to lack of strength. A kind supervisor saw his thin body and advised him not to do other jobs. Henry fok took the opportunity to propose learning to drive a car, but the supervisor actually agreed.
Henry fok was overjoyed, thinking that he could drive back to the mainland and leave occupied Hong Kong after learning the technology. But people at that time were very conservative and unwilling to teach. Usually, a learner should do housework for a year or two before learning skills. So he can only watch how the master operates. This is called "stealing the teacher". Whenever the owner noticed it, he immediately forgave him and told him to disassemble the battery. At that time, there were very few cars, and the Japanese only had trucks coming in and out and parked at the airport at night. One day, after 5 pm, the car was parked. When Henry Fok was washing the car, he saw that the key of a car was still there. He climbed up and tried to drive. But it happened that the wheels were skewed when parking, and the car started and hit another car. When the Japanese found out, they beat him up and made him lose his job.
Soon, Henry Fok entered Swire Sugar Factory and worked in the laboratory. He is used to rough work and is all thumbs. He often breaks glassware. If you want to learn more skills, you will often get into trouble. Once, he and another student made hydrogen with sulfuric acid and then lit it with fire. Hydrogen mixed with oxygen in the air and there was a huge explosion. His face was covered with glass fragments. The people in the sugar factory thought it was a bomb explosion, but they were fired from the factory.
When Japan occupied Hong Kong, rice was rationed throughout the territory. He went to the warehouse to do a kilo of rice, which was called "beating ten miles". He worked in the warehouse in the western ring. At first, I thought it was not difficult to weigh rice, but it was not. He weighs here, checks the warehouse there, and then he has to catch the train to the New Territories. A group of coolies lined up with rice bags to be weighed. They had to weigh 180 A Jin bags. If there are more, it is impossible. If there are fewer warehouses and refuse to accept them, their hands and feet will be a little slow, so the coolies in the queue will be suppressed and it will be difficult for the work to continue.
1942, my mother sold everything, even the gold chain, and together with other people 13 opened a grocery store named "Like" in Goose Neck Street, Wan Chai. In fact, its original name was "You and", but it was too scribbled when registering the permit. It would be wrong to write "Like".
The grocery store run by Henry Fok opens at six every morning. Just after washing, customers swarmed in. Sometimes when more than ten people come at the same time, they should be properly greeted and stand by the roadside to prevent customers from running to other stalls. A customer often buys several or even ten kinds, such as garlic, lobster sauce, pickles, salted fish and so on. He holds the scale and gestures quickly and beautifully, otherwise, customers will be dissatisfied and say less. Although working at the airport is hard, you don't have to think, but you must take care of this and that in the grocery store all day. Even if you eat a meal, you can't be at peace. You must eat standing up and be ready to meet customers at any time.
In the evening 10, the guys went shopping after work, and Henry fok had to stay in the store to cook sauce, add sweet and sour vinegar and prepare soy sauce. During the Japanese occupation, everything was lacking, so we had to make it ourselves. It's midnight 12, and we have to cover all the sundries. Rats are rampant in the store, biting everything, oyster sauce, Nostoc flagelliforme ... everything must be cleaned up before leaving the store. You can't steal an hour a day, 365 days a year.
In these days, Henry Fok works from morning till night, but "this is a good training for running a business." Thanks to his careful and shrewd management, the business of the grocery store is booming. This period of life is a good exercise for Henry Fok, from which he has obtained good management training and cultivated strong will and flexible ways of doing things.
Back to my parents' rebuttal.
But the work in the grocery store is too complicated and tiring after all. 1945 after the war, everything took on a new look, and all walks of life gradually became active, so the transportation industry naturally needed to develop urgently. Henry Fok and his mother saw this opportunity, so they resolutely gave the grocery store to others and got 7000 yuan, determined to return to their parents' old business.
At that time, Henry fok had two ways out: first, there was a smooth road and such an opportunity. He applied for a job as a clerk in Swire Foreign Firm, and got a reply. His monthly salary was HK$ 300, which was not bad at that time. As a clerk, raising his wife and children from nine to five, as long as there are no big mistakes, promotion can ensure a stable life. The other is a bumpy road: temporarily help my mother transport, and then seek other opportunities. Although the future was uncertain, he was unwilling to be dull and finally chose the latter.
After helping his mother to do the lightering business, Henry fok settled accounts without salary, but the living expenses of the family were all borne by her mother. The family environment is still difficult, but it is finally better than in the past. Huo Yingdong, who is competitive, is naturally not satisfied with this. He believes that it is extremely important to seize the opportunity and find a way out. At that time, there was only one kind of business in Hong Kong, that is, dealing with a large number of materials and shipwrecks after the war. He paid great attention to the news about the post-war material auction in the communique, bid for ships, cheap sampans and naval machines that needed minor repairs in time, and then resell them quickly. For lack of funds, it is difficult for him to go all out. Once, he found a batch of naval machines and won the bid at the price of 18000 yuan. He went home in high spirits and asked his mother to chip in. Unexpectedly, my mother flatly refused. Henry fok couldn't borrow money, and a big deal fell through. People have quick thinking. Henry fok found a factory owner and discussed renting his warehouse to store machines. The boss saw these machines and agreed to rent them. Seeing that the boss appreciated the machine, Henry Fok offered to sell it to the boss. The boss offered 40,000 yuan, and Fok Ying-tung was very happy, and the deal was made soon. From 1945 to 1948, Henry fok made a net profit of 22,000 yuan. This is a large sum of money he earned in the years after auctioning the remaining materials. Recalling this past, he said with emotion, this is really a good opportunity. If I had enough money then, I could earn more money.
Dongsha Island Adventure
1948, Henry fok was 25 years old, which was a romantic time in his life. One day, he heard that there are many seaweeds on the seabed around Dongsha Island, which are the raw materials for making stomach medicine. He Xian bought it from a company in Macau, at a pound 1 USD. Henry fok listened and wanted to have a try. However, he has never been abroad, and he lacks navigation knowledge. His mother also strongly opposed it, but he made up his mind to form a company with others. He bought the shares of the newly-auctioned motorized sailboat at a discount of 30,000 yuan, and other people's investments, raising a total of 654.38 million yuan. He recruited 80 fishermen in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong, and gave them some settling-in money. With his crew, more than 90 people set out.
At that time, Dongsha Island was under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province, and the sea use permit must be issued by the Guangdong Provincial Construction Department. As it failed to go to sea normally, the ship was detained by the customs when it went to Sanmen Pass. Tools, sampans, anchors, lifeboats, etc. On the ship, the customs said it was goods and must be detained. More than 90 people were stranded on the ship for 10 day, and all the salted meat and fish were eaten up. Later, I turned to Shanwei and encountered wind and waves on the way. Most of the fishermen recruited are from Shanwei, and Shanwei is their hometown. Many people left without saying goodbye. Henry fok had to recruit a group of people again in Shanwei. After some twists and turns, I finally set sail at sea.
They finally arrived at Dongsha Island. As soon as the ship landed, regardless of the fatigue of sailing, Henry Fok immediately led the crew to carry the materials ashore, set up a residence, and set up a warehouse to store seaweed. Being able to reach Dongsha smoothly is certainly a breakthrough for Henry Fok. However, what they boarded was not a "golden mountain". This is "hell"
Salvaging seaweed is not as easy as mowing grass on land. This kind of algae grows in submarine corals three or four meters deep. They lack the necessary diving tools, so they have to make their own diving glasses. They can see algae at the bottom of the water. Everyone takes a deep breath and dives. Without much algae, they rushed to the surface and gasped against the ship's side. Sometimes those coral thorns are sharp and hard, and they will be cut if you are not careful, so you should always be on guard against shark attacks! Those who float up and down like this have been tumbling all day, and no one can pick half a basket of seaweed.
The local weather is very hot, and the sun has appeared from the sea since 5 o'clock in the morning. During the day, the temperature is above 40℃, and there is no shelter on the island. The scorching sun scorches people. The beach is silvery white by the sun, so it's hard to open your eyes. Everyone can only move when wearing black-rimmed glasses. When fishing for seaweed at sea, you can't even wear a bamboo hat and be exposed to the hot sun all day. Everyone only wears a pair of briefs, and in a few days, they will peel off their skin.
On one occasion, Henry fok and others came back from sea transportation of seaweed. Suddenly, the wind was strong, the waves were rough, the ship was damaged, and the helmsman dared not drive. Henry fok had to steer by himself and let the wind and waves drift. From day to night, the wind didn't stop, and the ship didn't know where to drift. Everyone is anxious. Suddenly, I saw a flashlight flashing in the distance. Henry fok was overjoyed to know that it was Dongsha Island. So he and the crew put the rudder forward and headed for the island. At this time, the wind and waves have weakened and they are out of danger. It turned out that the light was a man holding a flashlight to the seaside to see if the moored ship was blown away by the strong wind. Henry Fok later recalled: "If it hadn't been for the flash of saving lives, we would have sunk into the sea to feed sharks."
It is also difficult to eat on the island. I didn't bring much salted fish and pickles when I came. I thought I could fish and eat fish as a dish, but the sea is full of big fish. In less than two days, all the fishing lines were bitten off. I only eat white rice every day and eat a lot. But I didn't bring much food. After more than ten days, I was half hungry. A month later, many people's faces were swollen.
There is only one well for drinking on the whole island. There is not much water, the taste of water is half salty and half light, and the water depth is only half a foot at ordinary times. Besides cooking and drinking water, you can only wash your face and rinse your mouth with a little. Whoever wants to take a bath has to wait until it rains. Unfortunately, every year1October to April is a dry season, and there is little rain. After fishing from the sea, everyone is sticky, mixed with sweat, fishy and smelly, and it is really unbearable without fresh water washing. When the bitter smoke source was cut off, the crew began to indulge in smoking, so they had to look for those moldy and smelly cigarette butts in the garbage dump, pick them up, soak them in water, dry them in the sun, fry them in a pot, and then roll them up with paper. Talk is better than nothing.
After a month like this, there was no supply ship from the mainland. The crew couldn't stand it any longer and finally broke up.
Henry fok later had to hire a group of people from Taiwan Province province and Ryukyu. Ryukyu people can bear hardships and endure this inhuman life. Finally, relying on this group of people who worked hard, they continued to support. Henry fok stayed on this desert island for half a year.
The person in charge of logistics affairs only made an account, not an account. After the seaweed was sold one after another, it was said that it was only enough for all kinds of expenses and didn't earn a penny. After half a year of drawing water with a sieve, Henry Fok was very depressed at that time, but he thought that this hard life tempered his will and perseverance and played an important role in his future career. As long as he thinks of his days and nights in Dongsha Island, he has the determination and courage to overcome no matter what difficulties and adversity he is in.
Open up a new world of real estate industry
The population of Hong Kong was only 500,000 at the time of recovery, and then it gradually increased to 6.5438+00,000. The rapid increase of population, the serious shortage of housing and the vigorous development of industry and commerce have created a huge demand for land and buildings. Henry Fok sized up the situation and decided that Hong Kong's real estate industry would develop greatly. As early as the beginning of 1953, he started to operate the real estate industry and established Lixin Real Estate Co., Ltd. ..
At that time, real estate developers in Britain, the United States, Canada and Hong Kong sold the whole house, and it was difficult to buy the whole real estate building unless they had huge funds, so it was difficult to sell the house. In the past, overseas Chinese in the United States liked to buy real estate in bu, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, and then pass it on to future generations for rent. From buying land, planning, building houses and even collecting rent, the capital turnover cycle is very long. At that time, Henry Fok borrowed money from the bank to build a building, and he had to pay more interest. If it is completed, he will sell it, and people will not buy it, so he can't afford the interest, so he has to "jump off the building". So he changed his past practice, industrialized real estate, built comprehensive buildings of houses, office buildings and shopping malls, sold them in layers and units, pre-sold "uncompleted residential flats" and advocated installment payment. This layered pre-sale of "uncompleted residential flats" and installment payment was indeed a great breakthrough at that time, and this method was greatly welcomed by buyers.
At that time, the people who instructed the buyers to inspect the house were all famous "negative guys". They are very impatient with the sellers, because they repeatedly take people to the high-rise to introduce the real estate, I don't know how many times a day, and often the business fails in nine cases out of ten, so they go for nothing. In view of this, Fok Ying-tung published a pamphlet to widely publicize the situation of the building and the new measures to sell it for the convenience of buyers. This was also a pioneering work at that time and received good results.
Henry fok is very careful. He calculated an account: at that time, renting a house had to pay a down payment, usually 7,000 yuan per set. If a building has six floors and is in a high position, the price can be cheaper. A unit only sells 14000 yuan, and it is advertised for pre-sale. The down payment is 7,000 yuan, and the remaining 7,000 yuan will not be paid off in 300 yuan every month. It will be paid off in two years, which is no different from renting a house. But the buyer got an apartment, which was a good deal. Therefore, as soon as the advertisement came out, the uncompleted residential flats quickly sold out, but in fact, the building has not yet started. Taking the building as an example, the construction cost needs 6,543.8+0,000 yuan, and the down payment is 654.38+00%. Only 6,543.8+0,000 yuan needs to be paid first, and then a certain amount will be paid in installments during construction. This building can be sold for two or three million yuan with a net profit of one or two million yuan. Half the selling price first, the cost of building this building has been solved long ago, and the capital turnover is very fast. Obviously, he won't start working until he has collected a fixed amount. But buyers still think it's cheap, so they still rush to buy it. Selling after subscription is usually profitable. Someone bought a berth in the morning and sold it in the afternoon to make money. This shows that the real estate industry is very attractive, which can attract people's funds to flow to the real estate industry.
He first bought the embassy building and then sold it for 2.8 million yuan, making a lot of money. He took the lead in "selling rotten tails" for one building after another, and for a while, real estate developers followed suit, which became a major operating feature of Hong Kong's real estate market. "Selling uncompleted residential flats" accelerates the sales of buildings and the recovery of funds, making it easy for developers to raise funds. At that time, the whole territory was crazy, and many people were involved in the whirlwind of real estate. From 1955 to 1965, the real estate industry in Hong Kong has developed vigorously.
Buildings in Hong Kong used to be no more than four or five stories. 1955, the Hong Kong government amended the Buildings Ordinance to allow the construction of high-rise buildings, and the real estate industry developed more rapidly. At that time, the Hong Kong government auctioned the 12 plot every week for three consecutive years. During this period, Henry fok built the first 17-storey building in Hong Kong. In the following years, these buildings were all over Hong Kong and Kowloon. Most of the more than 60 companies under his name are engaged in real estate business. He is the president of the Hong Kong Real Estate Developers Association, which has more than 300 members and operates more than 70% of the real estate business in Hong Kong. At present, many rich people in Hong Kong have made their fortune through real estate. His innovative measures have pushed Hong Kong's real estate industry to a new peak. At that time, he foresaw that the real estate industry would have greater development and put forward the goal of "home ownership", which has been gradually realized in Hong Kong. He is still the permanent honorary president of the Hong Kong Real Estate Developers Association.
The start of the real estate industry has promoted the development of Hong Kong's industry. At that time, due to the economic recession, yarn mills, enamel factories, cement factories and shipyards were hard to support. However, factories occupy a lot of land in urban areas, and some yarn mills cover hundreds of thousands of feet. These factories moved their factories and sold land to Gai Lou, making a lot of money at once. These factories have regained their vitality and expanded their business again. Shipyards have no boats to dismantle, and warehouses are short of stock, so they can sell land and turn to real estate. These major changes occurred in the years after 1955. As soon as the high-rise building is built, other related industries will be driven. In 1959, there were only 380,000 spindles in Hong Kong's yarn mills, but in 1967, due to the good real estate market, the number of spindles in the yarn mills reached 900,000 spindles. Nanyang Cotton Mill moved to Tsuen Wan and made a fortune as soon as it moved. The location of the original factory was very prosperous, and the building was built to make a lot of money.
Everyone was fighting for territory at that time. Fok Ying-tung demolished the old buildings in Liyuan Mountain, and bought some slag warehouses and warehouses of milk companies. He also bid for the opening of the Navy Pier, all in order to find a place and build a building. The Hong Kong government also reclaimed land for land sale, and he also undertook the reclamation project.
The real estate industry not only promotes industrial development, but also promotes the development of tourism, commerce and catering industry, and also promotes the development of financial industry, making the whole of Hong Kong prosperous.
Before 1950s, banks did not lend easily and did not accept deposits. In the early days, HSBC did not accept deposits and had to be introduced by a prestigious person to open an account. Many people don't have enough money in their property, but they mortgage their property to the bank and buy it with loans from the bank. At that time, mortgage became the main business of banks. Hong Kong's finance has also become more and more active.
Looking back now, it seems that Henry Fok's new measures to manage the real estate industry at that time were indeed a major breakthrough in Hong Kong's economic development. It not only promotes the development of real estate, but also promotes the development of industry and finance.
From digging sea sand to contracting projects
The development of the real estate industry has driven the building materials industry. Forward-looking Henry fok has already set his sights on the seabed sand. Dredging can reclaim land from the sea, dig deep into the seabed and obtain a large amount of sea sand needed by the construction industry. However, the workload of dredging sand is large, the price of sand is cheap and the profit is small. At that time, many people were unwilling to operate.
It was really difficult to dig sea sand at first. Manual operation, it is very difficult to shovel sand, and the workload is very large. Whenever the coal carrier arrives, the sand dredger carries coal, so they can't find any workers. After that, tenders will be invited every year, and dozens of sailboats will be contracted, adding one cubic yard of 3 yuan. The shipowner borrows a year's salary first, but often it can't be deducted at one time. There was still some left, and he asked to borrow it again. The advance payment is always unclear. The tender will be invited next year, and we can't give it to him any more, so we can't make much money.
After a while, Henry Fok, unwilling to be conservative, tried to reform. He spent HK$ 7,000 to buy a sand dredger from the Navy Pier, which was operated by machinery and the efficiency was greatly improved. Later, they switched to dredgers to dig sand, and sent people to Europe to order a number of advanced dredgers. Later, they went to Thailand in person and bought a large dredger from the Port Supervision Office of the Thai government at a price of 65,438+300,000 Hong Kong dollars, with a deadweight of 2,890 tons, which can dredge 2,000 tons of sea sand every 20 minutes and automatically unload it into the cabin. In addition, he also beat the top and contracted the supply of sea sand through bidding. Since then, the sand mining industry has developed rapidly, creating a new situation of sand mining.
In order to expand equipment and enhance strength, he bought the Taiping Island Shipyard in the United States. In the past, only foreign capital annexed the industries of China people, but this is the first time that China people have acquired the industries of foreign companies. He also obtained a large number of tools from Dutch port management company, engaged in land reclamation and contracting international bidding projects.
In the past, major construction projects in Hong Kong were contracted by foreign companies. The airport was built in Hong Kong, and the French company won the bid. From 1947 to 1948, China Bank was also undertaken by British construction companies. At the beginning, Henry fok undertook the construction project. Some people say that you are not an engineer, have not studied accounting, and can't do well. However, he has successfully undertaken many projects and never failed, some of which are very difficult major projects, which set a precedent for China Construction Corporation to undertake major projects.
The most difficult project is to build the second phase of the freshwater lake of the Gulf Reservoir, which is the first freshwater lake designed in the world.
The first phase of the freshwater lake project was contracted by a French company.
Due to the loss, I undertook the first phase of the work and quit. Henry fok built the second phase of the reservoir to heighten the dam, which was the largest international bidding project in Hong Kong at that time. At the opening, more than a dozen Japanese companies voted together, but the valuation was twice as high as that of Fok Ying-tung.
This project needs high technology. The reservoir project is not simple, let alone building a reservoir in the bay, and each project has strict requirements. First, stop the dam drainage. Outside the dam is a stone, which should be covered with five feet of sand. Because it is inclined, sand is easily washed out. How to lay it well was technically difficult, but he finally succeeded. After undertaking many projects, Henry fok has more confidence in this.
In addition, he has contracted hundreds of projects. I have done reclamation projects, built docks and safe havens, and laid submarine natural gas pipelines and submarine sewage pipelines.
He also built hydrofoils. After purchasing Taiping Island Shipyard, he bought a hydrofoil made in Switzerland and made it according to its design. When welding, the hull must be turned over for easy operation. The hull is so big that many engineers are embarrassed about how to turn it over. However, they have a home-grown method, which is to install a big wooden wheel on the hull and then turn it over.
The ambitious Henry Fok also opened the business of land reclamation to Southeast Asian countries, and he also contracted the opening of Brunei and the land reclamation projects in Penang. His "Rongrong Company" has been established in many port cities continuously, competing with more than 20 international companies, and it is often a shoo-in.
Turn your eyes to the mainland.
The 1970s was a major turning point in Henry Fok's life. After laying a good foundation for his economic career, he turned his eyes to the mainland. He has always loved Hong Kong and his motherland, and firmly believes that the people of China are smart and diligent enough to stand on their own feet among the nations of the world. He is eager for the prosperity of the motherland and is willing to do his best to revitalize China. But it was during the "Cultural Revolution", not to mention economic construction. He had to start with sports and support the motherland to restore its legal status in international sports organizations as soon as possible, so that China athletes could make their mark on the world sports stage, thus inspiring people and promoting the development of sports in the motherland.
This is related to his love of sports since childhood, especially football. Henry Fok said: "When I was a child, I fell in love with football. In colorful dreams, what fascinates me most is the stars who gallop on the court and are cheered by people. " When he entered Ren Huang College, he liked to play miniature football, but his homework was tight and he didn't have much time to practice his steps. Japanese troops invaded Hong Kong and had no chance to play ball. Physical exercise basically stopped because of the pressure of life after rehabilitation. I came back from Dongsha Island in poor health. 1954 started to work in the real estate industry, and the work was even more tense. I only sleep three or four hours a day, leaving only 102 pounds. At this time, he was alert to the necessity of serious exercise and decided to participate in weightlifting, swimming, tennis, football and other activities regularly every day.
In the early 1960s, Henry Fok often went out to participate in football matches. The tolerant small football team and outstanding team he organized are strong teams in Hong Kong and Macao, playing nearly 300 games every year, and the ups and downs of 10 have remained unchanged. He is the center of this team and is very famous, so all football groups in Hong Kong call him "Big Brother". He often takes the lead and leads young teammates to the front; When he was 43 years old, he took part in the first division. In the first game, he scored three goals, which was a story for a period of time. His football team spends more than HK$ 6,543,800+on activities every year, and he is willing to pay for it. At the same time, he loves every player in the team very much. He also plays tennis very well. From 1972 to 1977, he won the Hong Kong Open doubles championship six times. He also participated in the veteran doubles competition held in Wimbledon, England. Although he didn't win, he was the first player from China to participate in Wimbledon.
It is precisely because of this relationship with sports that Fok Ying-tung devoted his patriotic spirit in the 1970s to helping the motherland's sports cause rush to the world. He believes that winning the gold medal in the international arena is very important and reflects the strength of the country. It is an urgent problem to restore China's due position in international sports organizations, so as to participate in various events and play its due role. However, at that time, there were anti-China forces outside and "Left" interference inside. In order to solve this urgent problem, we have experienced many twists and turns and great resistance. 1974, Henry fok invited the president and secretary general of FIFA to Beijing, but no official came to receive him. At 9 o'clock in the evening, the foreign guests arrived at the banquet hall of Beijing Hotel. The hall was empty, and only Henry Fok and his eldest son Zhen Ting greeted them. Housing is also arranged in the middle building where ordinary foreign guests live, rather than the east building where distinguished guests live. Henry fok in this embarrassing situation, both puzzled and helpless, had to explain.
Despite this setback, Henry Fok is still full of enthusiasm and continues to seize every opportunity to run for China sports to go global. In the same year, when he attended the AFC meeting in Teheran as the head of the Hong Kong Football Association, he made up his mind to open the gap from the AFC and strive for China to join the organization.
At that time, although the United Nations had restored China's legal seat, the International Olympic Committee and many international sports organizations still retained the representative seat of Taiwan Province Province, and China was still excluded. At that time, East and West Germany, North Korea and South Korea all participated in international sports organizations and international sports competitions respectively. However, the situation in China is different. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait adhere to the one-China position, so they all participate as regions. Taiwan Province Province may still be renamed as a region. This is more acceptable to the representatives of many countries.
The issue of restoring China's legal membership in the AFC should have been raised 60 days ago. The day before the meeting, the Executive Committee of the Football Association decided not to discuss China's membership at this meeting. Our state sports commission also believes that it is impossible to solve the problem at this meeting. In spite of this, Henry fok still holds a glimmer of hope and actively strives for it. He thinks that if this opportunity is missed, the meeting will be held in two years and will be postponed for another two years. However, according to the company's articles of association, issues outside the agenda will not be discussed, and can only be included in the agenda if they are supported by more than three quarters of the attendees, and an interim motion will be proposed as an urgent matter. At lunch that day, Henry fok thought twice and decided to go out for activities, and through this only way, tried to put it on the agenda. This time, the Iranian representative proposed at the meeting that China should be admitted for the first time. The chairman who presided over the meeting was Tengku Raman of Malaysia. The meeting debated this matter for about an hour, and the reason for supporting the motion was that People's Republic of China (PRC) ("China") was an Asian population.