A Life of Quiet Strength: Celebrating Chun Chiu, Patriarch of the Bonson Family

On 4 August, the Bonson family celebrated a truly remarkable milestone: the 98th birthday of Chun Chiu, father of our CEO David Tsui, and a man whose story of resilience, humility, and hard work is woven into the very fabric of who we are as a company.

From China to Hong Kong to New Zealand

Chun Chiu’s journey began during a time of war, when he and his wife, Hah Lee, migrated from China to Hong Kong in search of safety and a better future. Decades later, in 1988, the couple made another courageous move, this time to New Zealand, to reunite with family and start a new chapter in a country neither of them had known before.

Like so many first-generation migrants, Chun arrived facing real and daunting challenges. He didn’t speak much English. He didn’t have a driver’s licence. Everything around him, the language, the customs, the pace of life, was unfamiliar. It’s a story that will resonate deeply with many in New Zealand’s migrant communities, and one that speaks to a particular kind of courage: the courage to start over, later in life, in a place that owes you nothing and asks everything.

Twenty-Five Years on the Production Floor

Not long after settling in New Zealand, Chun joined Bonson as a helping hand in production. What followed was 25 years of steady, dedicated work. A quarter of a century spent showing up, contributing, and building something alongside his colleagues.

Despite the language barrier, Chun earned something that can’t be taught or translated: genuine respect. Colleagues across every level of the production team came to know him not through long conversations, but through his kindness, his reliability, and his quiet dedication to doing good work. He retired in 2013 at the age of 85, having given more years of service to Bonson than many people spend in their entire careers.

A Life Defined by Resilience

In 2018, the family experienced a profound loss when Chun’s wife, Hah, passed away. Yet even after losing his partner of decades, someone who had migrated with him from China to Hong Kong, and again from Hong Kong to New Zealand, Chun continued to live independently, carrying himself with the same steadiness that had defined his whole life.

That resilience, and the quiet, positive way he has always faced whatever came his way, has been a lasting source of inspiration for the entire family. It’s the kind of example that shapes not just the people who knew him directly, but the values of the company he helped build.

A Note on Names

Longtime friends and colleagues of the family may notice that surnames vary among Chun’s children; David goes by Tsui, while his siblings use Chui. This isn’t a discrepancy in the family record; it reflects a quirk of history. Over the years, the Hong Kong government used different English-language translations for the same Chinese surname, and those variations simply carried forward into the next generation. It’s a small but telling detail, one more thread connecting this family’s story to the broader migrant experience of navigating two languages, two cultures, and two worlds.

Happy 98th Birthday, Chun

As Chun Chiu turns 98 on 4 August, we at Bonson wanted to take a moment to honour the life of a man who helped build this company with his own hands, who met adversity with grace, and whose story reflects the very best of the migrant spirit: humility, hard work, and an unshakeable resilience.