History
In the late 1920s , this structure and the entire block it stood on served as a complex for the Hui Bon Hoa family , surrounded by Rues d ’ Alsace-Lorraine , Calmette , Hamelin ( Le Thi Hong Gam ) and d ’ Ayot ( Nguyen Thai Binh ). During this time , four buildings were constructed to fill the Hui Bon Hoa complex , each named after the family patriarch and his three sons . Today , the Hui Bon Hoa and Thang Hung buildings make up the museum , while the Thang Phien building is currently being rented out and the Thang Chanh structure is , sadly , gone .
After their father passed , Thang Hung , Thang Chanh and Thang Phien took on leadership roles in the family business at various times . Thang Chanh was perhaps the most successful of the three brothers , purchasing large amounts of property in the southern hub . Born in 1877 in Quanzhou , he arrived in Saigon shortly after getting married and stayed there until his death in 1934 . His brother , Thang Hung , was a year older and working in China when Thang Chanh passed .
Following Thang Chanh ’ s death , Thang Hung returned to Saigon to carry on the family business . He stayed until his death in 1951 . Throughout the rest of the 1950s , members of the Hui Bon Hoa family began to slowly move abroad , leaving behind the empire their ancestor had created . Though Thang Chanh never lived in his namesake structure , it was designed by a French architect for his wife and sons , who also cared for the business after his passing .
In addition to being Saigon ’ s wealthiest businessman , however , Hui Bon Hoa was also known for his generosity . According to historian Vuong Hong Sen , Bichun writes , Hui Bon Hoa ’ s firm offered low-cost housing to Saigon ’ s less fortunate , and the saying “ ở phố chú Hoả ” came to signify the local preference for living in a Hui Bon Hoa-owned property .
Today , traces of the Hui Bon Hoa legacy remain in several downtown buildings , including the Majestic Hotel , which was built by the prestigious company . Hui Bon Hoa also provided the funding and land for Tu Du Hospital .
By 1975 , the entire Hui Bon Hoa family had left Saigon . Following the end of the war , the newly installed government took over the Hui Bon Hoa complex , turning it into an information and cultural center at first before opening the Fine Arts Museum in 1987 and permitting visitors inside in 1992 .
Under the 1996 Vietnam War Convention , French citizens who owned property in Saigon prior to 1975 were eligible for some compensation , so the family also received some money from the French government for the Hui Bon Hoa complex .
Elsewhere in Vietnam , the original Hui Bon Hoa kept a family cemetery for his sons and their loved ones in Dong Nai province . A Chinese sculptor was hired to craft their tombs and a caretaker hired to watch over the graves . Thang Hung and Thang Chanh are buried there , among others , and as of 2014 the family tasked with watching over the graves was still there , too .
The MAG Vung Tau 9