They are just names now. Forgotten names. Instances in history. In the Parsee cemetery the silence of the
graves which mark the lives of those who helped begin it all lie in sylvan
surroundings oblivious to the thundering of the drill hammer and the frenetic
activity that surrounds them.
The sign says: “This cemetery has
been prepared for burying the remains of the Zoroastrians only in the year
Yezd-e-Zerd 1222 and of Christ 1852.” The gravestones say; Ruttonjee 1860-1944,
Cawasjee Kotewall, Parsee of Bombay – Died 1873, Talati Pithawala, Cooper,
Tavadia Patel, Karanjia, Menta, Munshi, Viama.
And on it goes.
These were some of the people who
pioneered the success story that is modern Hongkong. People who believed in
Hongkong from its earliest years. Their comparative number seems infinitesimal
when compared to their achievements. Not only have they achieved a large degree
of financial success but have produced community leaders who have channelled
time and money into philanthropic causes.
Take for example the life of
Mody. On March 18, 1910, 1300 people
awaited the Governor’s arrival. As soon as Sir Frederick Lugard arrived, the
band of the 13th Rajputs played the first bars of the national
anthem. Hormusjee, Mody and Sir Paul Chater escorted him to the podium and the
foundation laying ceremony of the Hongkong University was begun.
It was an enormous venture in
those days, and the man behind was, as the foundation stone reads, was “a Parsee
gentleman some 50 years resident in Hongkong” – namely Mody. By promising a
donation of $150,000 towards the construction and $30,000 towards an Endowment
Fund, he set the ball rolling.
He was knighted for this act of
vision and philanthropy.
Sir Hormusjee Mody KBE came to
Hongkong in 1861 to work for an Indian banker and opium trader, SA Seth.After
three years he set up his own business but was quick to realise the inevitable
decline of the opium trade and switched to other business. His firm was involved
with the Praya Reclamation in Central
district in 1889 and built the :Prince’s Building and Queen’s Building. He
invested in Kowloon when it was not considered worthwhile. He died in 1911, a man of substance and
stature.
Unfortunately his palatial
residence, Buxey Lodge on Conduit Road halfway up the Peak, was occupied by the
Japanese naval commander during World War II and subsequently remained
unattended. It was eventually sold and the proceeds went to the Parsee
Panchayat. Mody Road in the shopping
district of Tsim Sha Tsui is a constant reminder of his life and contribution
to Hongkong.
When the British expeditionary
force of mercenaries under Braemer landed in Hongkong in 1841 three Parsee
merchants were on hand to witness this historic event. Rustomji Dhunji Shaw,
who had set up shop in Canton as early as 1794, Cawasjee Pallanjee and FM
Talati. Although Pesi Talati does not claim to be a direct descendant of FM
Talati, the Talati name continues to exist from those early days of 1841.
What brought these early Parsee
immigrants to Hongkong? Parsees were master builders at the Bombay and Surat
docks. They owned boats and built more
when they saw the advantages of the Chine trade. The Cornwallis,
Wellesley, Salsette and Minden
were some of the famous ships built by them.
Parsee-owned clippers plied
the Calcutta-Canton route. An example of their enterprise can be seen in
the case of Rustomji Cavasji Banaji who became senior partner of the well known
firm, Rustomji Turner & Co which owned 27 ships plying between London,
Calcutta and the China coast.
But boat-building alone was not
the cause of their success. Their
religion involved no taboos to prevent them from overseas travel – a freedom
Hindus could not exercise because they were forbidden from crossing the seas. Having
settled on the west coast of India, a area geographically conducive to
commerce, the Parsees developed from farmers to traders. They possessed a
network within the community to support such ventures. So when the British Empire expanded, they
were quick to take advantage. Moreover, because they had recognised the
benefits of a Western education, and had changed their lifestyles and
learnt English, they were able to
provide the rulers with the necessary substructure of professional and
entrepreneurial skills.
Erach Mehta, the Honorary
Secretary and Trustee of the Zoroastria
Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macau, (established before 1874) came to
Hongkong in 1938.
Explaining the history of the
Parsee people Mr. Mehta said they journeyed to India from Persia to escape the
Arab invasion “When Yazde Zard was King”.
“Conversion to Islam was enforced on the Zoroastrians. They fled to distant lands rather than
submit. Some of them went to India.” He
said. “The ancestors of the Hongkong Parsees went to the province of Gujarat in
India around the 9th century AD.
Their high priest, Dastoor Nairosang Dhaval, approached Jade Rana, the
local king and asked for asylum.
“The Hindus have always been
known for their policy of respect and toleration towards all religions and the
Zoroastrian’s request was granted on two conditions – that they learn the local
language and adopt the local
customs. The Parsees therefore learnt to
speak Gujarati and their women wore sarees.
The Hindus in turn called them Parsees, or Farsis, meaning from Paras
Faras, the ancient name of Persia.
Most Parsees have original
Persian names such as Darius, Kaikobad, Hormus, Sorab, Parvez and Rustam. But many of their surnames have Indian
connotations that signify their occupation, such as Metha, Daruvala, Batlival
Dhotiwala and Master.
The Parsees first settled down at
Sanjan on the Gujarat cost, and build their oldest temple, the Atash Behram,
meaning Fire Temple, a Uduvada, where the original fire still burns.
“That in itself is difficult to
establish, because the holy fire has to be amalgamated from 16 different
sources ranging from lightning to fire from a poor man’s house.”
Mr. Mehta stressed that Parsees
are not fire worshippers. “They venerate the sublime through fire, fire is the
expression of divinity, not divinity itself,” he said.
A child is initiated between the
ages of nine and 11. He or she then
adopts the sadra and kusti. The sadra is
a white cotton vest worn to denote purity of heart, and the kusti, a thread of
lamb’s wool worn in a special way around the waist, denoting the soldierly
qualities desirable in a righteous person.”
An excellent example of the
spirit of Parsee enterprise is Dorabjee Nowrojee, who came to Hongkong in 1852
to work in the relatively lowly position of a cook. A bakery carrying his name
still exists on Hollywood Road. But his financial success lay not in his
culinary skills. Something of the status
he achieved can be measured by the fact that he went into partnership with the
firm Duddell & Co and was the proud owner of the Victoria and King Edward
hotels on the Island and Kowloon Hotel across the harbour.
But aside from that he should be
remembered by every commuter who enjoys that splendid ride across the harbour.
In 1890, Dorabjee introduced the
colony’s first steamboat service when he took over the franchise from a man
named Grant Smith. The service ran from Peddar Wharf to Tsim Sha Tsui every 40
to 60 minutes.The first four vessels were named Morning Star, Evening Star,
Guiding Star and Rising Star. In 1898 he was bought out by the gentleman of the
Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf Godown Company which took its name from the boats
which all bore the name “Star”. When in
1894, the Hongkong taipans decided to establish a local bank for Hongkong and
the local treaty ports of China and Japan, a provisional committee was set up.
The provisional committee of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation had
amongst its 14 members three representing Bombay interests. Of these, two were
Parsee merchants – Rustomjee Dhunjee Shaw representing Messrs Cama and Co and
Pallanjee Framjee for Messrs P & A Camajee.
Then again there was Dhunjeebhoy
Bisney, a flourising merchant who lent his name to Bisney Road in Pok Fu Lam.
The story of Jamsetji Jejeebhoy,
who traded in co-operation with Dr Robert Jardine (of Jardine Matheson &
Co) is equally interesting. But no account of the Hongkong Parsees could be
complete without mention of the Ruttonjee family.
The last bearer of the Ruttonjee
name, Miss Vera Ruttonjee-Desai, said; “We have an allegiance to Hongkong that
runs through a century.
“The first Ruttonjee, Hormusjee
came to Hongkong in 1894, and soon set up a provisions store but later dealt
exclusively in wine and spirits. His son,
Jehangir Ruttonjee, CBE, OBE, expanded it.” His belief in the beer swillers of
the colony made him set up The Hongkong Brewery & Distillery Ltd. which he
eventually sold in 1948 for $6 million to San Miguel. But it is not as a brewer
that he is remembered, but for his philanthropy.
Always a caring man, he drew
closer to suffering when his daughter, Tehmi Rustom Desai, died of
tuberculosis. Through his generosity the old Naval Hospital on Queen’s Road
East was transformed into the Ruttonjee Sanatorium in 1949. Later the Freni Memorial Convalescent
Home, - named after his second daughter,
Fren Shroff, was set up through another large donation. His total contribution
towards the Anti-Tuberculosis Association exceeded $2 million.
His son carried on the Ruttonjee
tradition. The Hon Dhi Ruttonjee, CBE, OBE, JP, KC of St Sylvester, was as
public-spirited a man as his father. He was chairman of the Hongkong Anti
Tuberculosis and Thoracic Diseases Association, Ruttonjee Sanatorium and the
Grantham Hospital for many years. For 15 years he served on the Legislative
Council, and many committees.
In 1908 there were about 110
Parsees in Hongkong, “The community has come a long way since then. Some fortunes have risen, some declined.
‘There are about 190 Parsees in all
left in Hongkong,” Mr Bhada said. “It is at
once amazing and unique to see so much dynamism generated in such a
small group,” Pesi Talati said. “It can be said that they have given as much if
not more than they have taken and this perhaps has been the hallmark of their
community.”
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