The story
Hong Leong Group, founded by Kwek Hong Png in 1941 in Singapore, began after he saved $7,000 in starting capital over a decade by working hard in his brother-in-law's hardware shop.
With this savings, he decided to set up his own company and named the business "Hong Leong": "Hong" means big, good, and plentiful, while "Leong" means great prosperity. Together, "Hong Leong" connoted a good harvest.
Kwek Hong Png started the business in a red, two-storey shophouse along Beach Road as a general trading firm dealing in ropes, paints, and supplies for ships and rubber estates.
Kwek Hong Png knew that expanding his business would require increasing his staff, so he invited his brothers Kwek Hong Khai, Kwek Hong Lye, and Kwek Hong Leong to join his firm. He gave them a 65 percent stake in the company, retaining 35 percent for himself.
In the 1950s and 1960s, in line with the Singapore government's industrialization goals, Hong Leong began manufacturing superior products such as cement through joint ventures with Onoda Cement and Mitsui & Co., via Singapore Cement Manufacturing Company.
This also led to new opportunities amidst a developing Singapore, including acquiring land and expanding into consumer financing.
During this period, Hong Leong also entered the Malaysian market, first establishing Tasek Cement Berhad, followed by setting up a Hong Leong Malaysia branch to expand its real estate and banking activities.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hong Leong Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3