In a record about an offence of an employee of the Consulate of Portugal in Canton, there is a passport issued by the Consul of Portugal to Macao businessman Kou Ho Neng (his name was written as “Kow-Ho-Neng” in the document) on 5 November 1915 to allow him to enter Guangdong Province through Guangzhou and travel within the territory. The document was printed in Chinese on one side and Portuguese on another with personal information written in Chinese and Portuguese on respective sides for the inspection of Chinese and Portuguese officers.
Readers may find it interesting to note that the correspondences between the consulate and the provincial government of Macao in the record were written in English.
Kou Ho Neng (1878 - 1955), family origin in Guanyong Village, Shaxi Town of Panyu District in the Guangdong Province. In 1911, he obtained a license for fan-tan gaming in Macao and opened a fan-tan house under the name of "Companhia Tak Seng" in Rua da Caldeira. In 1914, the organization "Sap Iau Tong" formed by ten shareholders including Kou Ho Neng was granted a license for opium trade in Macao and it started a company called "Companhia Iau Seng" for the operations. In 1937, Kou set up a company named “Companhia Tai Heng” in partnership with Fu Tak Iam (Fu Lou Iong). The company won the exclusive right of gaming operations in Macao at a bid of 1.8 million Macao dollars per year and it remained the holder of the exclusive right for over 20 years. Kou Ho Neng, who owned many pawn shops in Hong Kong and Macao, was also nicknamed "King of the Pawnshop Industry".
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2013/6/25