iSee Tak Wing Pawn Shop

The trademark ‘囍’ neon sign gives it away: this pawnshop belongs to ‘pawnbroker king’ Ko Ho Ning (高可寧). Ko started his businesses in Macau and later expanded to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. At its height, he owned over 20 shops in Hong Kong. The pawn business was thriving in the 1940s-50s, when they provided urgently needed cash in return for gold, jewellery or other valuables. Even today in pawnshops are still very much part of the local landscape in this international financial centre.