Far-Flung Family Is All Business as Far as Ties Go

The story of Tan Wing-Mun, a Singapore native who went to college in the United States, illustrates how family business ties span the Pacific.

Tan, 30, was working for a New York insurance company four years ago when his father--a textile manufacturer in Singapore--bought controlling interest in a Hong Kong shoe company and called his son back to Asia to run it.

The company, Golden Lotus Shoes Factory, makes baby shoes for export under the Angel brand name. Tan closed the factory in Kowloon last year and concentrated his labor-intensive production in Shenzhen, China, where his 80 workers earn about one-eighth the going wage in Hong Kong.

Six months ago, the family was considering the problems of expanding in Shenzhen’s increasingly labor-scarce, inhospitable environment when they got a hot tip on a distressed real estate sale deeper inside Guangdong province. The news came from one of Tan’s uncles, who had stayed in China when Tan’s mother fled in 1949.

The deal involved a huge half-completed factory for sale in Dongguan, 3 1/2 hours by bus from Hong Kong near Guangzhou (Canton). Tan’s father seized the opportunity to invest $2 million in the land and building, a lucky bargain.

Tan’s brother moved from Singapore to Dongguan to work with their two cousins, who handled the local guanxi. They hope to begin production at the new 80,000-square-foot plant soon, paying their 200 workers--ages 16 to 20--wages starting at about $40 a month.

“My mother is quite proud of this,” Tan said. “The dream in China is to leave home and return successful, and my mother sees this as a great honor for the family.”