NEWSDAY REPORTER Thursday, September 28 2006

Amidst the hustle and the bustle of Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain, lies the reason for all this buzz: A small community of Chinese businessmen and women have set up shop in the busy downtown area and left an unmistakable business print.

Most of these businesses are family owned and have been handed down over the years to relatives, living in Trinidad and Tobago or residing in China itself. Some however, are new entrepreneurs trying to garner a corner of the retail market for themselves.

Their presence takes on added significance as the Government intends to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the arrival of the first Chinese immigrants to Trinidad with a holiday on October 12.

History has shown that the Chinese businessman has shown persistence in the commercial environment of this country since the 1860’s a few short years after the first large group arrived in 1852.

Trevor Millett in his book, The Chinese in Trinidad, noted “to pose that kind of threat (to the Portuguese monopoly of the dry goods businesses in Trinidad) in such a short space of time they must have been well-organised and their activities must have been co-ordinated.”

He went further to say that after the period of Chinese indentureship, the Chinese formed themselves into associations, something which is characteristic of all Chinese immigrants.

Within Trinidad and Tobago, this organisation is called the Chinese National Association, which, up to the present time, still represents the interests of the Chinese immigrants and descendants.

Millett affirmed, “without a doubt for the Chinese in Trinidad to have plunged into the dry goods business and be such a tremendous success within such a relatively short space of time would require on their part some collective understanding and knowledge of the society and a co-ordination of efforts in order to fully capitalise on the available opportunities existing in the society.”

His sentiments would not be lost on John Achong owner of Achong’s Variety Store on Charlotte Street.



He said that most Chinese businessmen decided to settle in that area because it has always been the busiest street in the city. “Buyers are drawn to Charlotte Street because products are cheaper due to the need for a fast turnover rate,” he explained.

His business place, he explained, was once a grocery when it was first opened by his grandfather more than 60 years ago. The business was handed from father to son to grandson, keeping it under the management of the family for the whole period of its existence.

One long-time customer, Yuna Lawrence, 81, recalled the early days of the store when she used to frequent the spot as a young girl. Her brother Henry, she said, worked at the store after school and became an extension to the family businesses. She remembers when her brother taught Achong’s mother how to speak English after she was brought from China by his father. Her brother in turn learnt the Chinese language from the family and was able to purchase goods for the business from Chinese wholesalers.

Achong traced the beginnings of Chinese business which, he said, started from the humble beginnings of a small enterprise.

He said, “Most businesses started as small shops and were able to grow from strength to strength into the supermarkets they are today.”

He claimed the idea for variety stores came from the Chinese, starting with businessman Austin Chang’s store which succeeded in its sale of miscellaneous items. Achong said that once others saw the business prospering the idea caught on within and outside of the Chinese business community.

Business, he said, has slowed considerably over the years due to competition from larger companies who are able to sell the same products at lower prices. The close proximity of other stores offering the same products has hampered sales, he said.

Shop Right and Yip’s variety store on Charlotte Street are two different stores but operated by members of the same family. Shop Right on the lower half of the street is owned by Caroline Li.

Li said she was given the shop to operate in 1995 when her elder brother left the country for Canada. However, Li said, for the past 27 years she has been involved in some sort of business venture or the other.

She believed most local Chinese have no choice but to turn to business for sustenance as they were poorly educated otherwise. “We have no other qualifications so sometimes we have to start from as small as a fruit cart and work our way up. It’s the only way we know how to survive,” said Li.

Tong Yip, Li’s brother owns and operates two outlets of Yip’s Variety Store further along Charlotte Street. He came from Hong Kong in 1990 and with the assistance of his father, a prominent Chinese businessman on the Chinese mainland, was able to set up his own shops in the heart of the city.

Although their sister has her own business in Arima, they both agreed that Charlotte Street was an ideal location as a result of the constant flow of buyers present on the street.



A staple in the Chinese community is Wing Sing Company, a name synonymous with the retail of prepackaged Chinese foodstuff. The company is owned, operated and managed by Tai Leong Wong since it was opened for business in 1964.

He said his father, uncle and grandfather assisted in getting the business started after he received a bank loan to purchase the building on Charlotte Street where the grocery is now located.

Wong said, “I came to Trinidad with just 400 packages of goods and was able to build my business off of these.”

He said his business has been able to thrive over the years as he only sells authentic Chinese foods and goods and persons are always interested in Chinese foodstuff and preservatives. However, he said he faces competition from other local Chinese businessmen who also import foodstuff for the local market.

Most of the establishments owned by Chinese businessmen are small and the feeling is that it is becoming difficult to withstand the pressure of big businesses. Indeed some have had to restructure their companies after taking a beating in sales.

Kenneth Lum is one such businessman who has had to rethink strategy. He started his business career in 1959 as a sales clerk at a haberdashery store in Port-of-Spain. He said with the rise of the black power movement in the 1970s, he left the capital and with the assistance of his father bought a small business located on property in Tunapuna.

At that point, he said, the business was merely a parlour but soon grew to include grocery items as its reputation soared. Lum said, “Once this shop was the busiest shop in the area. People came from Caura, Valencia, Cumoto and from Port-of-Spain to buy goods.”

He said this was due to his father, Malcolm Akum Lum’s popularity who did most of the work, although the store was his son’s venture. Lum recollected that business took a turn for the worse at the start of the 1990s with the advent of a big grocery in the area.

He said it was only through the kind assistance of the Society of St. Vincent De Paul and sales from faithful customers that he survived.

It was only last year that the grocery shop was made into a variety store. He admits to having a few specialty items, like cheese and pigtail, which customers still request but mainly he sells everyday household items.