Tong Hing Supermarket Kota Kinabalu

55 Jalan Gaya, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Phone : +60 88 230300 Fax : +60 88 222577

Once upon a time when Kota Kinabalu was still a small town there was Tong Hing Supermarket.

Tong Hing Supermarket never changed much. Only just a couple of years back they started selling wine. The supermarket spans two floors. The ground floor selling food items while the first floor sold books, magazines, stationary, cosmetics and kitchen utensils.

In those day this was the place to go to purchase foreign magazines. (The other alternative was the Iwase bookshop in Wisma Merdeka) and the place to get imported foodstuff

The supermarket is famous for its Gardenia ice cream. Just located opposite HSBC Bank, this supermarket is where to get fresh fruits, ice cream, bacon, cheese...

Tong Hing Supermarket was found by Wong Tze Fatt

Datuk Wong Tze Fatt (1920-2004)

Wong was born on June 22, 1920 on the island of Hainan, China.

Sabah prominent businessman Datuk Wong Tze Fatt, 84, and his wife, Datin Lee Bee Hee, 82, were buried at the Nirvana Memorial Park in Jalan Tuaran, here, Wednesday.

Wong was active in education and sat as a member of several school boards including the Kota Kinabalu High School. He was also a prominent member of the Hainanese association and its records stated that he was born in Guangdong, China, and migrated to Singapore with his family before finally settling in Sabah.

World War II interrupted Wong’s education and he ventured into business, first helping out his father in his sundry business.

In 1954, he opened the Jesselton Hotel, one of the first in the state capital. Five years later, Wong opened Tong Hing supermarket and the Gardenia restaurant. His group later bought the Gardenia bakery and beverage concern in Sabah.

December 2004, an illegal immigrant broke into Wong's house at Signal Hill here. The man, known by the police as Den aged 20's, intended to commit robbery but attacked the owner and his wife when he bumped into them. The man then set fire to the house in what police believed to be an attempt to cover his trail but his action entrapped him. The murderer himself died of suffocation.

Wong Tze Fatt was Chairman of Tong Hing Holdings Sdn Bhd, which has seven subsidiaries - Gardenia Catering Services Sdn Bhd, Gardenia Food Industries Sdn Bhd, Gardenia Beverage Sdn Bhd, Gardenia Marketing Sdn Bhd, Tong Hing (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, Tong Hing Supermarkets Sdn Bhd and Gardenia Classic Hotels Sdn Bhd.

In 1926, Wong, his father and other members of the family left Hainan to settle in Jesselton (today Kota Kinabalu). He met his future wife, Lee, in Johor, when she became his classmate at Chung Hwa High School in Muar.

Wong began a successful business career at the age of 39 by opening Tong Hing Supermarket operations which was then the first purveyor of imported fine foods serving the growing western expatriate community in North Borneo

In 1971, Wong ventured into inn keeping with the management of the Jesselton Hotel here. In the late 60's, together with Sye Slocum and Jim Humpries, both Americans with vast experience in bakery, he co-founded the Gardenia brand of beverages, bakery and creamery food products.

Gardenia brand has since successfully been franchised throughout Southeast Asia as a group of fine food manufacturing companies.

Wong was also the founder of Kota Kinabalu High School and had been the Chairman of Sabah United Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry for three terms.

An avid soccer fan and a keen golfer, he was a well-known figure around the greens of Kota Kinabalu.
He also loved ballroom dancing. The couple have a daughter and three sons and seven grandchildren.