about people
By HUGH LUNN
W
HAT makes a 'building baron' tick? This was the question I posed myself as I was shown into the sur- prisingly small but well appointed office of Mr. Paul Y. Tso.
Mr. Tso stood up to shake hands. He was slim, 6ft.. conservatively dressed in dark suit, dark tie, black horn-rimmed glasses. His manner was busineess-like, but friendly.
His office was neat, his desk was neat was to find out, so was his mind.
and as I
Mr. Tso handed me his card. It read: Chairman and managing director, Paul Y. Construction Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia); Chairman and managing director Paul Y. Land Investment Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong): Chairman and director, P. Lorillard Ltd. (Hong Kong).
There was no need to ask about his construction works. These were common knowledge:—
The Shek Pik reservoir and waterworks, Lantao Is- land (off Hong Kong), contracts worth HK$74.6 mil- lion; Hong Kong Ocean Terminal (joint venture), $34 million; Jahore Bahru Power Station (Malaya), $7 mil- lion; Padir Panjang 'B' Power Station (Singapore), $12 million: Hong Kong Hilton, $25 million; Kai Tak Air- port terminal apron, $7 million
to name some larger ones.
The Lantao Island project showed his construction versatility
tunnels, catchments, pumping stations, treatment works, submarine pipelines.
[In February Mr. Tso attended the opening of one his latest efforts, the American International Assurance building in Kuala Lumpur ($16 million).]
The man
As Mr. Tso, 61, spoke of contracts he recalled facts and figures thinking each time before he spoke. What he didn't know exactly was produced miraculous- ly from behind his desk.
It was almost as if I should have guessed when Mr. Tso mentioned he had been a lawyer in Shanghai. He graduated from Soochow University in 1930.
in
After marrying the daughter of a contractor China, Mr. Tso entered the building business, and in 1945 branched out on his own. Among his early pro- jects he built the runway at Lunghwa airport, Shanghai, in 1946, for $8 million, and four years later he shifted to Hong Kong.
was
of
Since then the lawyer-builder has become a leader of men in the industry. Last year Mr. Tso elected president of the International Federation Asian and Western Pacific Contractors' Association. He is also president of the Hong Kong Society of Builders and vice-president of the Hong Kong Contractors' As- sociation.
He is active in charity work and is a former director of the Tung Wah Group of hospitals.
The
As well as his construction contracts Mr. Tso has completed several large real estate developments. latest, "Hilltops" (200-units), cost $20 million.
Mr. Tso made the point during the interview that he was "a keen industrialist".
"In 1960 I started a tobacco company in Hong United Tobacco Co. Ltd. (in February 1963 Kong Mr. Tso's tobacco company merged with the 200 year- old U.S. firm P. Lorillard Ltd.
makers of Kent
Far East Architect & Builder May, 1965
Mr. Paul Y. Tso
·
. Lawyer
builder
industrialist
cigarettes) and I am now involved in a 50-50 joint venture with Canadian Brewery Ltd. to build a brewery plant in the New Territories. It will be known as As- sociated Breweries Ltd. and will be opened next year".
The man was obviously proud of his two children and the emphasis was on study. He spoke of George's master degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology with feeling. His daughter "after studying in America" married there, and her husband is now man- aging director of P. Lorillard, Ltd.
I felt I had found what made Mr. Tso's mind tick. His legal training had given him a logical analytical mind which works with meticulous attention
the type of mind a contractor should have.
But what made the man a 'baron"?
The baron
The first inkling came when I asked for his fa- vourite construction: "The pre-stressed concrete Mer- deka Bridge in Singapore", came the answer after the cormal one second pause.
"Why?"
"When we started in 1954 pre-stressed construction was new to the Far East. For this 2,000ft. long bridge my wife and I shifted to Singapore for four months
..
Merdeka Bridge favourite project of Paul Y.
so I could supervise construction personally. I love do- ing things the new way, by the latest methods.
"We were the first in this area to use the swinging crane (Hong Kong Hilton). I have been on four world trips to keep up with new ideas.
"They are doing something new every year in Am- erica and Europe", he said. The dynamic personality was starting to show through.
"That's why in 1956 when Hong Kong started to talk about building a cross-harbour tunnel I went to the U.S. to study the construction of the Lincoln Tunnel third tube. But no decision on he tunnel has been reached yet".
"What chance is there of putting a tunnel right across?" I asked.
"The latest method of lowering the tunnel tube in- to the harbour is very economical and could be done in two to two-and-a-half years.
■
it
"I intend to contract for the tunnel when a deci- sion is made. I am looking forward to that will be a good fight”.
That was the 'baron' speaking.
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