Descendant wants to lay to rest legend of Japanese ghosts

Andrew Tse knows how an urban myth about his great-grandfather's house being haunted started and he wants to put an end to it.

The story goes that Kom Tong Hall was occupied by the Japanese army and its basement was used for interrogation and torture leading to the death of more than 1,000 people. 'I know how the myth came about but it's not true. More than 300 relatives and friends of Ho Kom Tong lived in the house during World War II,' he said. 'The building was never occupied by the Japanese.'

Mr Tse said the Japanese originally planned to take over the house but a silver tobacco box in the family's possession, a 1920s gift from the Japanese crown prince Asaakira Kuni and bearing the royal family insignia, saved the day.

'The Japanese decided to leave the house alone after my father showed them the box given to my grandfather [Tse Ka-po] by the Japanese prince some years earlier while [grandfather Tse] was working as the comprador of a Japanese shipping company,' he said.

The box is still in the family's possession.

But the story continues to circulate about the house being used by the Japanese army and secret police, most recently in the HKU study.