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Dave Besseling
Deputy Editor, PostMag
Before PostMag, Dave was deputy editor at GQ India, managing editor at Motherland and senior copy editor at The Caravan. He has had two books published, and was shortlisted for the Kurt Schork Award for International Journalism.
The estate in Pok Fu Lam was valued at HK$3.8 million when it was announced in 1965, comprising a restaurant, department store, bowling alley and community hall
‘I can’t stay long enough,’ the American tennis superstar once said on her 3rd visit to Hong Kong, adding, ‘The people are very nice and welcoming and I feel it is a very warm place to be’
In 1990, a duo of robbers threatened commissioner Li Kwan-ha’s wife and tied up their maid before fleeing the couple’s luxury home atop The Peak with HK$50,000 in Rolex watches, jewellery and cash
When cigar importer David Tang raised US$20 million to birth a global brand from Hong Kong’s Pedder Building
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In September and October 1970, the Post reported on abductions from the Deep Bay oyster beds and the ensuing investigation and arrests in mainland China
Remembering the night when groups of picnickers fought with forks to the deadly end
After 2 months of planning their escape from Chi Ma Wan open prison, the prisoners were recaptured within a couple of days
TVB obtained a High Court injunction to stop ATV’s monopoly on screening the 1988 Olympics in Hong Kong – but a multimillion-dollar deal allowed both to broadcast the games
When Linda Lee put 150 personal items belonging to the late Hong Kong icon up for auction, for ‘people who might find great value in it’
The tragic accident happened at Telford Gardens, then under construction, when the workers took the lift rated for 20 people up to the roof and the motor malfunctioned, causing the cable to snap
In 1958, an Indian merchant appeared in court accused of possessing nearly 500kg of opium – enough to make more than 45kg of heroin
Two security guards were shot and killed in a struggle during an armed robbery at a jewellery store in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, in 1983.
In 1988, a man killed the son of a triad leader in Hong Kong because he hated his father. A year later, he was convicted for the murder and sentenced to death. He lost his appeal to overturn it in 1990.
When a dance instructor insulted his pupil, wealthy bank executive Mimi Wong, in public in 2004, she took him and his partner to court to demand the return of US$8 million in prepaid fees.
At the opening of Hong Kong’s first methadone detox facility at Violet Peel Clinic in Wan Chai, in 1976, officials warned it wasn’t a cure-all and called for more ways to combat drug addiction.
A bomb exploded during the screening of a police satire in the Hoover Theatre in Causeway Bay in 1974, injuring 11 and sending 400 audience members stampeding for the exits.
A former Hong Kong jockey was charged in 1999 with raping an employee while his wife was away. Hung Wai-tak was found guilty, and sentenced to five years in prison for the attack.
When a rumour swept Hong Kong that bakery chain Maria’s was going out of business, holders of vouchers for its cakes began panic buying. Some 400 bakers worked to meet demand until the ‘cake run’ ended.
Police Chief Inspector Leung Chi-lung was shot in his office in 1994 by Sergeant Leung Chung, who then held him hostage for three hours. The inspector died, but the sergeant was cleared of his murder.
When a man offered to have Dr Walton Li’s ex-wife murdered in return for HK$800,000 in 1998, the hospital chief called the police. Iu Shui-tai was sent to prison for making the hoax offer.
A Hong Kong truck driver was arrested for smuggling firearms into China when he entered Shenzhen in 2001, and put on trial despite the guns being fake. Eight months later he was still awaiting a verdict.
A teenaged British army wife went on hunger strike in Singapore in 1962 in protest at the housing provided for the family. A move to Hong Kong, and a flat in Chungking Mansions, delighted her.
A fishing trawler exploded and sank in Hong Kong, in 1977, when marine police were inspecting the boat. Three officers were killed and 10 injured, in the blast, caused by an LPG canister in the hold.
The classic cars Hong Kong owners drove to Guangzhou, China, in 1986, were a novelty at a time when hardly anyone there owned a car. Enthusiasts cheered wildly as sports cars were put through their paces.
British sculptor Henry Moore’s life and work was celebrated in an exhibition in Hong Kong in 1986, opened by the Duchess of Kent, and an extensive catalogue published in Chinese and English in 1987.
At 19, Philip Au-yeung won a scholarship, in a contest open to all Hong Kong residents, to study fashion in New York. Upon his return, he criticised Hong Kong fashion’s lack of individuality.
Ship brokers warned potential buyers off sinking their money into the Trump Princess when the future US president tried to offload in Hong Kong the yacht he’d bought from the Sultan of Brunei in 1987.
A triple-decker Cheung Chau ferry and a Macau hydrofoil collided in Hong Kong waters at night in 1977, sinking the ferry and injuring at least 21, in a accident blamed on human negligence.
The bridge, which linked Tsing Yi with Pillar Island and the New Territories, was opened in 1974 by Hong Kong Governor Murray MacLehose, who promised more such infrastructure in the future.
In February 1964, four armed men kidnapped Vee Meng Shaw – the son of Hong Kong film mogul Run Run Shaw – and his driver. Freed after nearly 12 days, he said he had been kept blindfolded the whole time.
