Harry WONG

In recent years, new quality productive forces have become an important topic in Hong Kong, with the development of the innovative technology industry taking center stage. In this issue of our Lingnanian stories, we invited Mr WONG Yuet Yeung (Harry) for an interview. Harry recognized the potential over a decade ago and has since founded several companies in innovative technology and manufacturing. Harry is best known for co-founding “SAVEWO” during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is one of the few local brands in Hong Kong that integrates research and development, production, and packaging, and consistently ranking as the best-selling masks in Hong Kong. The Alumni Relations Team specially visited his 100,000-square-foot factory to delve into Harry's experiences at Lingnan and explore his entrepreneurial journey from childhood to the present.

Setting Growth Directions from a Young Age: Diverse Learning Fosters a Generalist

Harry is a graduate of Lingnan University, having completed a BBA in Marketing in 2003. He recalls his humble beginnings and the concept of earning a living from a young age, starting to hand out flyers on the streets around the age of ten. By middle school, he was already trading stamps and coins, gaining valuable insights into business transactions. As he considered his post-graduation path, Harry recognized as early as Form 4 that Lingnan could offer him a wealth of diverse opportunities. He also believed that three years of living in the dormitory would enrich his learning experience, which is why he chose Lingnan University as his first choice for university application and worked hard to gain admission.

During his studies, Harry encountered two influential teachers: Professor CUI Geng and Professor LUI Hon-Kwong from the Department of Marketing and International Business. Harry noted, “What I remember most about Professor CUI is his sharing of knowledge regarding mainland brands in his research. Previously, these brands rarely appeared in the Hong Kong market, and it was during this time that I first encountered the brand ‘Li-Ning’; and then there’s Professor LUI, who taught marketing in a very relatable way and introduced me to the existence of a credit card known as the ‘black card’.”

While attending university, Harry continued to take on various jobs to support himself and maintain financial independence. While most of his classmates chose tutoring jobs, Harry leveraged the writing skills and knowledge he had accumulated since Form 5 by writing articles for several newspapers and magazines. At his peak, he wrote six technology-related columns simultaneously and worked as a freelancer in the marketing and public relations departments of two companies. Apart from local opportunities, he even travelled to Las Vegas to assist with a large electronics exhibition and through the university’s internship programme, he interned at a large pharmaceutical company’s factory in Mainland China. Harry's diverse work experiences, combined with his lifelong passion for reading various newspapers, have shaped his understanding of the market and business operations. Since high school, he developed a habit of reading economic publications, and during university, he focused on annual reports of listed companies. These insights have provided him with a multifaceted perspective on market trends and business risks, significantly aided him in expanding and developing his information technology-related businesses.

In addition to taking on part-time jobs, Harry was highly active in participating in a wide range of on- and off-campus activities. He often referenced the term “generalist”, which implies broad knowledge and various talents, and he consistently applied this concept to his approach to learning. During his studies, he took part in the Chinese debate team and student organizations, and frequently attended seminars at various tertiary institutions to expand his knowledge beyond his field of study. Moreover, he was deeply motivated by a desire to “care for and serve society.” Throughout his three years at university, he collaborated with numerous social welfare organizations and voluntarily organized events focused on disability support and elderly care services. His extensive commitment to social service earned him the “Outstanding Service Award for Tertiary Students” in his third year of university. Reflecting on these experiences later, Harry realized that he had dedicated an average of 50 days per year to various exhibitions, lectures, and extracurricular activities.
 

After graduation, driven by his aspiration to serve society, Harry applied for the Master of Social Work programme at the Polytechnic University and the W.T. Chan Fellowship, established by the Lingnan Foundation, with the goal of becoming a professional social worker. Although these plans did not come to fruition, Harry remained undeterred. With his wealth of experience, he understood that volunteer activities often lack participants. Inspired by this realization, he established a social welfare platform called the “Joint Institute Service Network” two years after graduation. He recruited a total of 18 students from various tertiary institutions to serve as committee members, creating a system where students could easily learn about and sign up for volunteer opportunities organized by different social welfare organizations, aiming to infuse the sector with more youthful energy. To ensure the platform’s success, Harry and the committee members held weekly meetings to discuss strategies and refine arrangements. However, as time went on, the committee members graduated and entered the workforce. With Harry, who had graduated years earlier, finding it increasingly challenging to maintain the connection between himself and the student community, the platform eventually ceased operations after three years. This experience led Harry to shift his focus entirely to business, concentrating on building his own ventures.

Daring and Adventurous Personality: Self-Challenge Sparks the Entrepreneurial Journey

In 2003, when SARS swept across Hong Kong, industries across the board were severely impacted, and securing a job as a fresh graduate felt like an impossible task. In contrast, fresh out of university, Harry leveraged his extensive resume to successfully obtain a well-paying job as a public relations manager. Shortly after starting, he chose to leave the job when faced with his boss’s demand for a “seven days a week, no breaks” work schedule, and began focusing on developing his own business. Reflecting on that time, Harry recalled, “I had a connection with Lingnan University. One night, I went back to Lingnan to ‘stay over’ (crashing in a dorm), but after spending the night, I felt something wasn’t right, so I decided to start my own company.”
 
He leveraged the technology and market knowledge gained from his university studies and writing experience, along with his understanding of the popularity of MP3 players, to establish an agency for distributing them. Utilizing his connections with IT journalists from his part-time work for newspapers, he promoted his business while also targeting the less-explored Macau market, leading to considerable success. Subsequently, when digital television emerged in Hong Kong in 2008, he expanded his business by selling “LC8 Set-Top Boxes,” eventually becoming the top seller of “LC8 Set-Top Boxes” in Hong Kong. 
 
In addition to learning quickly and deeply, Harry made it a habit of constantly anticipating future market needs and trends. At that time, he foresaw the rise of online media and took his first step by investing in “Guru Online”, a local advertising agency. With his support, “Guru Online” won the “Social Media Agency of the Year” award for three consecutive years and later has been successfully listed. Shortly thereafter, he founded his own KOL company, expanding into a full range of online media businesses, including music production, concerts, web series and TV dramas. Later, this company was acquired by a well-known telecommunications company. “My comfort zone is always outside.” Harry shared his motto.
 
After the dot-com bubble in 2000, society generally believed that developing innovation and technology meant “High Tech for getting trouble, Low Tech for earning.” From Harry’s perspective, he believed he could overcome various challenges over a decade ago. He recognized the future growing demand for digital solutions and a shortage of programming talent, which led him to launch “CodeFree Soft.” Its platform “DragOnce” allows users to create the systems they need without any programming knowledge, and is compatible with Windows, Android, and iOS, significantly reducing the cost of customizing and using new systems.

Simultaneously, Harry also founded another company “Sing Sharp”. Recognizing that traditional vocal training with professional teachers can be prohibitively expensive, Harry launched the world’s first singing tutorial app that uses AI dialogue models to analyze vocal pitch and range. By introducing artificial intelligence to enable users to learn singing on their smartphones at a lower cost, Harry made it more accessible and personalized for a broader audience. Currently, “Sing Sharp” has surpassed 2 million downloads across both Android and iOS platforms. In 2024, the company collaborated with professors at Lingnan University and Hong Kong Metropolitan University to publish a research paper titled “RAG for Vocal Training Question-Answering Based on Domain Knowledge Base,” exploring how large language models combined with external retrieval mechanisms can enhance AI's potential and user experience in vocal training.

The Journey in Innovative Technology is Long: Focus More on Long-Term Development

Over the past decade, these two companies have relied on revenue from Harry’s other businesses to sustain their operations. Despite the challenges, Harry has remained committed to their development, viewing them as investments in future societal trends and a way to stay ahead of the curve. He emphasized, “To succeed in entrepreneurship, the most important thing is to avoid being easily copied or replaced. You must identify future opportunities earlier than others and be unafraid of failure to gain a competitive edge. By the time market demand begins to rise, it’s often too late, as you’ll face a surge of competitors emerging simultaneously.” Additionally, Harry firmly believes that borrowing can become a weakness for a company’s growth. As a result, he has always relied on existing businesses to support new ventures, steadfastly avoiding loans to fund his projects.
 
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2023, Harry once again identified a market need and co-founded “SAVEWO”, meaning “Save the World.” While other brands focused on producing traditional flat masks, his brand stood out with an innovative 3D mask design, quickly becoming the best-selling mask in Hong Kong. As a result, Harry discovered that developing manufacturing in Hong Kong was not as difficult as he initially imagined. After the pandemic, he intensified efforts to allocate resources towards increasing local research and development and production of various medical supplies, focusing on the wound care market. The products from “SAVEWO” feature unique dressing innovations aimed at alleviating pain during wound care while significantly reducing the risk of infection, especially for diabetic patients with hard-to-heal wounds. The uniqueness of the products has garnered high recognition, and within just over a year of development, the production line successfully exported to more than 15 countries, including markets in the Middle East and South America.
 
Everyone says, “Starting a business in Hong Kong is tough, but maintaining it is even tougher.” Despite the long-standing challenges faced by Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry, Harry, who comes from a non-manufacturing background, has managed to carve out a successful niche; he has also notably challenged the longstanding skepticism towards local innovative technology development. The platform “DragOnce” from “CodeFree Soft” has significantly improved work efficiency and reduced operational costs. It also features AI agents that assist users in leveraging a variety of system templates tailored to their daily needs. In recent years, “DragOnce” has been adopted by public organizations, such as the HK Electric. Reflecting on his entrepreneurial success, Harry shared, “Success isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing the right things and placing the right people in the right positions.” He highlighted that job allocations within his companies are not solely based on academic backgrounds, but rather on ensuring that each employee can fully realize their potential in their respective roles. He also noted, “In business, you can’t focus solely on short-term profits.” Thus, even though “DragOnce” has yet to achieve break-even status over the years, he continues to invest resources, and it has finally reached a period of harvest.

Balancing Career and Family: Staying True to His Contribution Roots Over the Years

Beyond his business ventures, Harry remains committed to caring for and serving the community. For instance, when he founded “CodeFree Soft,” he simultaneously offered tutorials to IVE students with the intention to equip them with additional skills, enhancing their competitiveness in both public and private sectors after graduation and increasing their potential salary levels. Besides, to further promote the development potential of Hong Kong’s younger generation, he sponsors the Hong Kong Intercollegiate Debating Competition every year, and provides funding for Mr WONG Chak-lam, a local tennis player who has achieved a double Grand Slam and recently became the first from Hong Kong to reach the Round of 32 at the ATP 1000 Masters, helping him pursue his dreams and achieve new heights for Hong Kong. 

With multiple business ventures, it’s hard to imagine how Harry balances a heavy workload with family life. Out of curiosity, we asked him for his time management secrets. With a smile, he explained that he does not work around the clock. Instead, he prioritizes driving his daughter to and from school every day and accompanying her to extracurricular activities. Those who know Harry well place great trust in him, and as he often says, “Success isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing the right things.”

Apart from that, Harry has never forgotten to give back to his alma mater. Over the years, he has sponsored various activities at Lingnan University, including providing scholarships for the debate team he once participated in. He also returned to campus to share his experiences, hoping to pass on his insights and inspire the next generation, contributing to enriching the learning experiences of future students at Lingnan and supporting their development after graduation.