Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

Eleanor Wong Three things ma r k Ms. Eleanor Wong 's c o n t r i b u t i o ns to H o n g Kong : i n n o v a t i o n, entrepreneurship and benevolence. Ms. Wong was inspired by the examples before her as sh e was growing up. They were part of a family legacy that sh e is p r oud to have carried on. Her grandfather, C.Y, Wong, was a pioneer o f the textile-dyeing industry in China, setting up in Shanghai around the turn of the century. The secon d of his five sons was Eleanor's father, Wong Toong Yuen. B om in 1908, he was destined to take over the famil y business. He ha d the toughness and astutenes s to guide it through difficult times i n the 1930s and the late 1940s wh e n the f am i l y left Shanghai for H o n g Kong. He became one of the most dynamic an d successful figures i n the wo r ld of Ho ng Kong manufacturing. Her father was undoubtedly the major inspiration in Eleanor Wong's life . I n some ways the traditional Chinese father, he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself. To his daughter he was a model of quiet benevolence to those i n need, preferring always t o give anonymously through a third party. I n other ways he was a man ahead of his time. He believed strongly that girls should be given the same opportunities as boys. Ms. Wong and he r t wo sisters, Sally Leung and M i r anda Tang, were encouraged to take activ e roles in public life. One sister has dedicated herself to charit y wo rk in Ho ng Ko ng and the other has activel y contributed to the governance of leading hospitals i n N ew York. Ms. Wong herself was sent to the Un i t ed States for her education. She graduated f r o m Simmons College in Boston i n 1955 w i t h a B.Sc. in Accounting. After she left college sh e worked as a legal secretary i n a lawyer's office i n New York, wher e she became aware for the firs t time of cases of discrimination against Chinese. After 20 years i n America, Ms. Wong suddenly received a summons from her father to return to Ho ng Kong. But it was not a call to return t o a life of l u x u ry and leisure. T.Y. Wong had bought a textile-knitting factory. Being a shrewd judge of character, he wanted his daughter t o r un it. A t the time she knew little of textile factorie s and nothing at all abou t running one. This sudden immersion i n th e wo r ld of heavy responsibilit y was one of the turning point s in Ms. Wong's life. ' A ll success,' the saying goes, 'comes from the right person being i n the right place at the right time.' In textile manufacturing in Ho ng Ko ng in the 70 s and 80s, Ms. Wong found her place and her moment. Throug h her capacity to innovate and to create new markets, she gave the business a truly global dimension. Hers is very mu ch Ho ng Kong's success story in these years. She was one of those at the heart of the story; on e of those that made it happen. What Ms. Wong mad e of the textile factory, however, i s only one side of th e picture. The 51