James Tak Wu, the co-founder of Hong Kong's biggest restaurant operator, Maxim's Group, passed away on Oct. 29 at the age of 98. A private funeral service was held last Thursday (Nov. 12), according to an obituary posted by his family on Thursday (Nov. 19).
He and his brother, ST Wu, starting from scratch, co-founded Maxim's Group in 1956 as a small western restaurant. Maxim's has come a long way to become HK's largest restaurant group, with over 1,700 outlets and 24,000 staff in HK, mainland China, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Wu was born in the U.S. and returned to his mother-town, the southern Chinese city of Taishan in Guangdong province at the age of two. He received his education in Guangzhou, and graduated from Lingnan University in 1947, before coming to HK. Despite his refulgent accomplishments in the F&B industry, looking back at his life, what he treasured most was still his profound love for HK and his motherland, and such patriotism had lingered throughout his life.
Wu's success was no fluke. The Wu brothers have been constantly learning from the outside world, introducing Western food culture to HK while sparing no effort to promote the traditional Chinese food culture. For example, the introduction of Japanese fast food culture in the 1970s, the establishment of Western food specialty stores along the MTR lines, and the introduction of Starbucks had all contributed to Maxim's gold-painted signage.
With a generous and charitable heart, he also dedicated himself to serving the community as well as the education sector.
Maxim's has always been a keen practitioner of patriotism and dedicated to helping the people in mainland China when they encounter difficulties. In May 2008, the Maxim's Group donated a total of HK$4 million to the earthquake victims in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province to rebuild their homes. In April 2010, after a severe earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai Province, the Group made a donation of HK$3.5 million to the HK Liaison Office Disaster Relief Fund. These are just among countless similar examples.
In 1987, Sun Yat-sen University established Lingnan (University) College at the initiative of Wu and a group of alumni. Over the period of 10 years, Wu had donated more than HK$20 million to the University, and at the same time, he had traveled around the world at his own expense to initiate contact between alumni and old friends from Lingnan University to raise funds to promote education. In February 2005, Sun Yat-sen University conferred an honorary doctorate upon Wu.
His eldest daughter, Annie Wu Suk-ching, also inherits the spirits of her father's. She spoke up against HK's social rioters multiple times last year out of her deep love for the country and HK. The move stirred up anger among some protesters, making Maxim's cafes and restaurants the target of vandals. Despite all these, not a bit daunted, she braved the outrage and attended the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, in September 2019 to tell the whole world about the real situations in HK. On May 17, 2020, at the age of 72, Annie Wu was honored with the "Touching China Awards 2019".
The glorious deeds and deep-rooted patriotism of Wu are believed to inspire generations of HK people.
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