Family bids farewell to legendary 'Mr Toys'

The family of Bill Blaauw, the Dutchman nicknamed 'Mr Toys' for his role in turning Hong Kong's toy industry into a world leader, held a private funeral in Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday.

Blaauw, who died on Boxing Day aged 72, arrived in the late 1940s and helped revolutionise the industry by introducing plastic moulds.

A keen horse racing owner, his Class Four galloper, Karamour, will be withdrawn from the seventh event at tomorrow's Sha Tin meeting as a mark of respect.

Blaauw was born in Switzerland, where his father served as a Dutch diplomat. His escape from the Nazis and landing in Hong Kong was the stuff of legends.

While many of his family members were trapped in the Netherlands when the Nazis overran the country, the teenage Blaauw went underground, hiding in a caravan in a forest for a year.

After the Allies liberated the southern part of the Netherlands, he joined a Dutch unit and went to Indonesia in the hope of rescuing some of his family imprisoned by the Japanese on Java.