History of Hong Kong Island

Chapter 261

The two boys took Jian Lewei out of the clubhouse and sent him to Donghua Hospital, where he could immediately report to his family that he was safe.It's good to have power and power, you can save your life if you mess with someone, even if you don't act decisively, if you wait a few minutes, the chief of the Operations Department might call in.

He Dingxian took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Uncle Hui, look, there are no hard bones in the world. When you hit an iron rod, they are all soft bones."

Luo Wenhui nodded and said, "First of all, you have to hold an iron rod in your hand."

"Yes."

"There needs to be a gun against his head." He Dingxian said with a light smile.

"Continue to chat about the Star Ferry." Luo Wenhui was very interested in the acquisition of the Star Ferry Company, and said: "I have a total of [-]% of the shares in my hand. It was when the Star Ferry Company restarted after the war operate, and buy when raising funds.”

"The shares are not too many, but the annual income is considerable."

Before the war, the Star Ferry had grown to eleven diesel and internal combustion engine ferries, with a daily passenger capacity of more than 5 passengers. It was the main mode of transportation between Hong Kong and Kowloon before the cross-sea tunnel was connected.

Unfortunately, during the Japanese occupation, the garrison directly confiscated the ships, [-] ferries were used for military use, and the ferry company was directly closed down.

Among them, five ferries were destroyed in the flames of war. At the beginning of its reopening, the Star Ferry Company only had six ferries left to operate, which gave other ferry companies opportunities. City Ferry Terminal Company and Yau Ma Tei Ferry Company took advantage of the situation.

Before the opening of the undersea tunnel on Hong Kong Island, the ferry company was a rigid demand of the citizens, and the ferry tickets were sold out every day, which naturally generated a lot of money.

The Kowloon City Ferry Pier where He Dingxian, Yan Xiong and others often sit is cheap, and the ticket is easy to buy. For example, the ferry ticket from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central at the Star Ferry Pier can line up a [-]-meter long queue on holidays, and the Kowloon City Ferry to The North Cape route is mainly long distance and time-consuming.

"Where there is water, there must be boats." He Dingxian thought thoroughly, sipping tea ceremony: "Hong Kong Island is surrounded by the sea, and there are outlying islands around. Of course, running a ferry company will make money."

"However, ferry is closely related to people's life. It is considered as a livelihood industry on Hong Kong Island. It is definitely not easy to win." Wharf's strength should not be underestimated, and it is currently one of the top ten leading enterprises on Hong Kong Island.

The business they can fancy is definitely not a small business.

And once a business is linked to people's livelihood, if you don't have political power, don't try to take it down.Because people's livelihood is the scope of power of the Hong Kong Governor's administration, and it is an industry that the Hong Kong Governor's Government focuses on supervising. It is different from making movies and opening theaters.

In addition, Wharf has strong capital and many subsidiaries, so how could it be possible to give up the Star Ferry Company easily?

"I think whether it is possible to establish a ferry company to compete with Star Ferry first, and then find a way to merge or reorganize into a company." He Dingxian came up with a good idea.Luo Wenhui thought carefully for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "It's not easy."

"It is very simple to set up a ferry company. All types of companies on Hong Kong Island can be registered casually, but to operate a passenger ferry, the route needs to be approved."

For the two of them, buying a ship to start a company and repairing the dock are very simple.

It's just a question of money.

But it’s okay to park the ferry at the pier, and it’s OK for private use. Once it involves passenger use, the route will be crushed to death.

If the Hong Kong government does not approve the route, the ship will not be able to leave the terminal.

The liberal policies pursued by Hong Kong Island are actually open on the surface. There are many barriers to entry in all walks of life. For example, taxi licenses, electricity, water power, ferries, buses, televisions, etc. These licenses with huge profits are often controlled by British capital. hands.

Why are there only two or three companies on Hong Kong Island from the beginning to the end, such as the Star Ferry and the Yau Ma Tei Ferry?Because, the Hong Kong government does not approve the route, and other bosses can't operate the ferry company!Virtually create a capital monopoly!
There are four passenger ferry routes in the history of Hong Kong. The first route is from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central, which was first approved to the Kowloon Ferry Company, which is now the Star Ferry Company. About Neighborhood Ferry Company", and later "Siyue Neighborhood Ferry Company" was acquired by "Yau Ma Tei Ferry", and the route was operated by "Yau Ma Tei Ferry". Terminal company operates.

The fourth is to take charge of the air routes to and from the outlying islands after the economic development and prosperity, and strengthen the traffic between the outlying islands and Hong Kong Island.The Kowloon City-North Point route was canceled due to the opening of the cross-harbour tunnel and the Tsim Sha Tsui pier being able to meet demand.

Hong Kong Island only maintained two ferry companies in most periods, and three ferry companies coexisted in a few periods.

"Then you can only choose one of the three ferry companies to buy." He Dingxian ate shrimp dumplings and discussed, "Is there any one of the three companies that can be bought?"

"Yau Ma Tei Ferry's operating condition is not good, and there may be a chance to acquire it." Luo Wenhui actually knows the ferry company quite well, and said after hearing the words: "Although the income of Kowloon City Ferry Company has always been the lowest among the three companies, it relies on cheap fares. , the operating condition is very healthy.”

"The Yau Ma Tei Ferry Company is facing the competition from the Star Ferry Terminal due to its overlapping routes with the Star Ferry Terminal. In terms of service and passenger capacity, it falls far behind the Star Ferry Company."

"Tickets are not easy to sell."

He Dingxian nodded: "I will first find a way to reach an acquisition agreement with the Yau Ma Tei Ferry Company."

"it is good!"

Luo Wenhui smiled and said, "I'll wait for your good news."

Don't underestimate the difficulty of acquiring Yau Ma Tei Ferry, because Star Ferry is actually the person who wants to acquire Yau Ma Tei Ferry the most. If the news of the acquisition spreads, Wharf will immediately grab it with a lot of money.

If the Star Ferry can take over the Yau Ma Tei Ferry's route from Tsim Sha Tsui to Wan Chai, it will be equivalent to semi-monopolizing the route between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

For the sake of cheap tickets, there are many people who are willing to sit in Kowloon City to North Point, and then take a bus into the city, but there are also many people who buy tickets in Tsim Sha Tsui and go directly to Central!

After the Star Ferry gets the two routes, it can completely increase the price and scrape money in the pockets of every citizen.

But historically, in the 60s, the Star Ferry had the most ships and the best terminal facilities. After occupying half of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry market, the price really increased!In the case that the price of the second-class boat ticket is 1 jiao and 1 piece, the price of the first-class boat ticket will be increased from [-] jiao to [-] jiao.
On the face of it, the price increase is only [-] cents, but in terms of the passenger capacity of the Star Ferry, the increase is a huge sum of money, which involves the interests of the entire Hong Kong public.Ms. Ye Xien, a British member of the Council at the time, and a social activist, collected a letter of boycott signed by more than [-] citizens in just one month, but all members of the Price Committee of the Council, except Ms. Ye Xien, all praised it and passed it. .

This incident caused tens of thousands of citizens to take to the streets to march, triggering riots in Kowloon, 400 people were arrested, 30 people died, and Kowloon had a three-day curfew.

Call it the "Star Ferry fare increase incident". At that time, the Star Ferry Company had not yet obtained the route from Tsim Sha Tsui to Wan Chai.

However, at the end of the 90s, the unsustainable Yau Ma Tei Ferry Company announced its closure. The Tsim Sha Tsui-Wan Chai route was sold to the Star Ferry Company, while the Outlying Islands route was sold to Sha Dan Zheng of New World Group.

"It's time for the Chinese to have their own ferry company." As for why the acquisition was adopted?In Hong Kong Island, Chinese capital want to enter the franchise industry to do big business, the only way is to buy, buy, and keep buying!

Only by adopting the method of backdoor listing can we have the opportunity to enter industries that have been occupied by British capital in advance. In fact, the history of the rise of Chinese capital in Hong Kong Island is a process of continuous acquisition of British capital.

Acquisition is not only not shameful.

And it was once regarded as the medal of merit for the boss of the Chinese capital!He didn't acquire a few British-funded companies, and he didn't speak forcefully at the conference. After the acquisition of Swire Properties, it is only natural for Ho Ting-yin to set his sights on the ferry industry.

It is a good signal that the Luo Wenjin family not only has political cooperation with him, but is also willing to carry out commercial cooperation.

Mong Kok.

Shanghai Street, Oriental Bank.

Zhu Youzai was wearing a white shirt, holding a paper fan, clasping his fists together: "Brothers."

"In the future, I will continue to be responsible for the fees of the major associations."

On both sides of a long table, there are the rent collectors of Zonghua Inspector Lei Luo, Sham Shui Po Inspector Cai Siu-kwong, Tsim Shui Po Inspector Da Kei, etc. Shower Zhang, Luo Ge's rent collector Zhu Pi, and others.

These rent-collectors form a circle, and they often drink tea with each other, and they have very close personal relationships.

It is a small power group that relies on the protection of Chinese officials.

Everyone has a bit of thin noodles.

The shower opened and put down the teacup, grinning happily and said, "Master."

"We all know the rules."

"Do not worry."

More than a dozen rent collectors laughed endlessly, and the atmosphere was very relaxed: "I promise you won't lose a penny."

"Yes."

"Grandfather."

"We didn't even dare to agree to my younger brother Zeng, how dare we agree to you?" The younger brother Zeng is a rent collector of Gao sir.

Hearing the words, Lard Boy was very helpful, with a pleasant smile, he clasped his fists and said again: "Thank you everyone, thank you for your support."

"It's been a long time since I came to collect money. My hands are a little raw. I hope you can help me."

Pigpi quickly raised his glass: "Definitely!"

"must!"

On both sides of the long table, most of the rent collectors wearing shirts, T-shirts, slippers, or cloth shoes raised their glasses together.

Although most of them are wide and fat, with fat faces, they are charged with the fees of the entire Hong Kong police force every month, adding up to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. It can be called the largest financial company manager labor union in Hong Kong!
Lard boy stood at the head of the long table, drinking tea with his head down, but his eyes showed a sly look.

"This time, if you pay less than one point, you will die, and if you pay the money obediently, you will be damned unlucky!"

After the big boss carries the flag of the police force again, he will take over the police fees again, but it is far from being as simple as re-taking the accounts and collecting money from family to family, because times have changed!

Distribution changed.

The money has to be recalculated.

Tsim Sha Tsui East.

Seafood King food stall.

Huo Jiajun, the person in charge of the Triad Investigation Section and the Mong Kok District, was wearing plain clothes, raised his glass and said, "Sir Qian!"

"congratulations!"

In the food stall surrounded by red plastic sheets, the three wine tables were full of people, all of whom were O Ji bosses from various police stations in Kowloon.

Outside.

Four plainclothes police officers, with cigarettes in their mouths, looked back and forth.

Qian Weishan, the acting chief of the Kowloon District Office and a trainee inspector, sat in the middle of the main table and stood up to toast: "It's all thanks to Sir He's support. Let's have a toast first. I wish Sir He a prosperous career and promotion!"

"it is good!"

"First respect sir!"

More than a dozen oji chiefs shouted loudly.

Some people were not there, but they were among the crowd, like a slogan, a flag, and a high-sounding name!
(End of this chapter)