ALICE KING TUNG Chee-ping burst into tears the first time she read the final entry in her late father's diary. On April 13, 1982, just two days before his death, Tung Chao-yung noted that he travelled part of the journey to his Kowloon Tong home by MTR.
For most people, taking such a trip is an everyday occurrence, but King's father was a shipping magnate who built an empire comprising a fleet of more than 11 million tonnes, and whose eldest son would become the first chief executive of the SAR.
King instantly saw the irony in the choice made by the 70-year-old tycoon for one of his final journeys, a chauffeur-driven billionaire who had never before ridden the subway. 'Ironically, he was a shipping magnate, but he was going home on the subway,' says King, whose father's chauffeur told her he had not driven him home that night.
For his daughter, it said a lot about who her father really was. 'He didn't ride in a Rolls-Royce and didn't have a yacht,' she says. 'He never did any of that. That wasn't him.'
Indeed, according to his diaries, the tycoon used to wash his own clothes during overseas trips. In an entry in March 1948, Tung wrote that his hands ached after washing seven garments during a business trip to the Philippines. 'I hope my sons and daughters will understand and follow my thrifty lifestyle,' he wrote.
He travelled in economy class during several business trips in the 1960s and wrote how some of those who met him and had flown business class were embarrassed by the fact that they'd opted for the more luxurious travel.
Even after he was named by business magazine Forbes as one of the top shipping magnates in the world in 1970, Tung often had sandwiches for lunch at his offices. 'My father used to lead a simple life and didn't care about daily enjoyment,' King says.