Hua Ho’s history is fraught with hardship, starting when the man Lau Ah Kok left Taiwan to avoid the devastation of World War II in his homeland, he traveled to Brunei to start a new journey. The first few months in Brunei were very hard, but he still accumulated a certain amount of money and bought a small farm in Manggis in 1947 and an agricultural shop, and this was where everything started.

However, later due to the influence of World War II as well as illness, Lau Ah Kok had to close Hua Ho and borrow money from everywhere to pay for hospital fees and wages for staff.

In 1961, he decided to reopen another store with a broiler farm at the back of the store. This store grew better and better, but from 1972 to 1982, Manggis farm was not profitable and land use problems forced Mr. Lau to close the Hua Ho store again.

Undeterred, he invested money to buy business premises in Gadong and also opened the first Hua Ho Department Store in Lambak. He also acquired a piece of land in Junjungan to continue with his passion for agriculture. By 1998, another farm in Labi was opened and Hua Ho’s business began to flourish.

By 2000, the Labi farm was producing more than 10 tons of oranges per year while the poultry farm had 100,000 birds. The Ministry of Land also granted him an additional 68 acres to expand the farm. Hua Ho’s business has become strong after 2 bankruptcies.

Today, Hua Ho Department Store is Brunei’s largest retail business, one of the largest and most prominent supermarket chains and department stores in Brunei.

According to Wikipedia and thescoop.co