ALEN LAI
(LAI Kum Hung, 黎錦鴻)
Alen LAI Hung left us far too soon at just 51 years of age in 1985, but his presence is still felt everywhere. He arrived in Sydney back in 1951 on 26 January, Australia Day. He was instantly recognisable with his square face, big ears, and a thick Cantonese village accent. His first job came through his sponsor, Mr Lai War Hing, at the Nanjing Café. According to Shirley Fitzgerald, Alen recalled that in the 1950s, girls would walk past pinching their noses at the sight of Chinese food, and the only Aussies who came in were often drunk and refused to pay.
But Alen didn't just become a Chinatown restaurant owner. He became well-known for his community work as well. When fellow members of the Goon Yee Tong needed help with funeral costs, Alen stepped in. He gave his time and money to community-wide projects too, from the Chinese Rookwood Cemetery Pavilion to the Chinatown gates. His close friend Arthur Yip put it best in Cantonese: “LAI Hung was so popular because of his big heart.”
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His widow, Eileen Lai, remembers how much he loved learning—in his 20's constantly flipping through a dictionary to pick up new English words, even in between cooking dishes as a chef. After long days at work, they’d head to the drive-in for cowboy movies and hamburgers. Their motto was simple: work hard, play harder.
If Alen were here today, he’d be quietly delighted to know his grandson Alcuin (Al for short) was named after him, and to learn just how much Australians have come to love Chinese food.
These details come from Dr Christopher Cheng’s interviews with Mr King Fong, Mr Arthur Yip, Mrs Eileen Lai and Mr Lance Lai, as well as Dr Shirley Fitzgerald’s 1997 book 'Red Tape, Gold Scissors: The Story of Sydney’s Chinese', p.189.
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Click to listen to Mrs Eileen Lai’s life story in Cantonese.
Click to listen to Mr Lance Lai’s life story in English.
Thirteen years before the Dixon Street gates were completed in 1980, Alcuin’s grandfather, Lai Hung, had already imagined a “fair dinkum Chinatown” with traditional Chinese roofs and eaves, a vision captured in this 1967 Bulletin article. At the re-opening of the restored Chinatown Gates on the 14th of June 2025, Alcuin stands with his father Lance beneath the refurbished Chinatown gates, pointing to LAI Hung’s name — the same Chinese name he carries — three generations bound to the same dream for Sydney’s Chinatown.
Alen Lai with former prime minister Bob Hawk and Doug McClelland (President of the Senate).
Left to right: Doug McClelland, Alen Lai and Bob Hawk.
The Dixon Street Committee
1. Alen LAI Hung (Founding Member of the Dixon St Committee)
2. Leon Carter OBE (Town Clerk 1974 - 1992)
3. Nelson Meers (Lord Mayor 1978 – 1980)
4. Doug Sutherland AM (Lord Mayor 1980 – 1987)
5. Stanley Wong (Committee Chair)
6. Bernard Chan (Brad Chan’s Grandfather) whose name is on the southern gate
7. Henry Tsang
8. King Fong
9. Stanley Yee (Emperor’s Garden) - Lance's uncle
Top: The reception for the official gate hand over
(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT)
Alan LAI Hung (Founding Member)
Stanley Wong (Committee Chair)
Patricia Feodosiu (Lady Mayoress)
Doug Sutherland AM (Lord Mayor 1980 – 1987)
1981, Alen Lai with Leon Carter OBE (town clerk 1974 - 1992)
1980, Alen Lai with King Fong, Nelson Meers (Lord Mayor 1978 - 1980).
First Chinatown gates opening ceremony 1980.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
First Row: Leon Carter OBE (town clerk 1974 - 1992), Doug Sutherland AM (Lord Mayor 1980 - 1987) and Nelson Meers (Lord Mayor 1978 - 1980).
Second Row: Alen Lai (middle in white)
Reopening of the restored Chinatown gates on the 14th of June, 2025, 45 years after the completion of the original gates. Notable people including Clover Moore (Lord Mayor 2004 - current), Zann Maxwell (Former Deputy Lord Mayor), Stanley Yee, Robert Kok (Former Deputy Lord Mayor), Alcuin Lai (grandson of Alen Lai), Lance Lai (son of Alen Lai), King Fong
Dinner banquet hosting the Chinese community above The Eastern Café in 1980.
Alen loved sports and here attended the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. He would have been about 23 years old​. (Front of photo.)
(Back of photo)
Alen Lai by the window at Lean Sun Low Café, caught in a quiet moment on an ordinary workday.
