Names that keep good company
Our temperamental friend the Hang Seng Index has taken up spelunking (exploring deep caverns) and we repeatedly hear a litany of company names on the radio: 'Hutchison down 2.5, Cheung Kong down three, Cathay Pacific down .25, Hwa Kay Thai H Shares down 17 billion kazillion . . .' But few people in Hong Kong today have the faintest idea where the names of local businesses come from - and whether any still have any real connection to the territory.
Jardine's: Most people assume old man Jardine must have been one of the first businessmen in Hong Kong, and stayed to build up a huge empire here.
Not a bit of it. Dr William Jardine, a ship's surgeon, started the firm that bears his name in 1832 in Guangzhou. He retired home to Britain in 1839, while Hong Kong was a twinkle in Capt Elliot's eye. Jardine never even set foot (or any other organ) on the soil that was to become Hong Kong.
Jardine had no children. But love came to the company's rescue. One of Jardine's female relatives fell for an ambitious man named William Keswick. He took an interest in his bride's Hong Kong business links. The Keswick in-laws have run Jardine's ever since, which probably explains some of the in-fighting there.
Cheung Kong: In 1950, an industrious Hong Kong youth of 21 named Li Ka-shing wanted a name for the plastics company he was about to start. He called it Long River, cheung kong in Cantonese, because he liked the way the Yangtze (nicknamed 'Long River') was fed by dozens of tributaries - a good illustration of today's Cheung Kong company and its dividend-producing subsidiaries.
Wharf Co: This was actually started by the above-mentioned romancer William Keswick, who was a pretty busy guy. The name comes from the company's original business: running a wharf (dockyard) at Kowloon Point. Now Wharf and Jardine's are rivals.
Cathay Pacific Airways: When the airline was relaunched with a smart new design in 1994, a member of the public told boss Peter Sutch that he should formalise the name to 'Catherine' Pacific. The word 'Cathay' is actually the name of a fabled, magical, kingdom from centuries ago in China's past. On the other hand, 'Cathy [sic] Pacific' might be a nice name for a female mascot for the airline.