Annette Sharp: 30 years of political intrigue at Golden Century restaurant

News that Chinese restaurant Golden Century is closing marks the end of an era, writes Annette Sharp. From the day it opened its doors, many of its diners were behind some of the city’s biggest stories.

Famously frequented by Labor Party politicians over three decades, Chinese restaurant Golden Century, which went into administration during the week, was a hotspot for political intrigue in Sydney from the moment it opened its doors.

That was 1989, the same year restaurateurs Eric and Linda Wong migrated to Australia from Hong Kong, bringing their restaurant management flair and Cantonese seafood expertise with them.

Golden Century owners Eric and Linda Wong.

For a decade prior, Linda had managed restaurants in Hong Kong while Eric had managed a bank branch.

Then, in 1989, on the eve of the economic recession, the hardworking couple decided to break with the old country and open a restaurant in Sydney’s Chinatown, a small district wedged between Dixon, Sussex and George streets in the CBD, and boasting a long and colourful history of opium dens, brothels and backroom gambling rooms.

The Wongs would not be alone in improving the neighbourhood with their new venture.

A syndicate of investors, including businessman and aspiring politician Robert Ho, listed in newspaper reports as one of the restaurant’s licensees, backed it.

As Ho told Fairfax Media in 1999, there were also several other “silent partners” who lived in Hong Kong and joined the syndicate for income and networking opportunities.

The largest among them was reported as being Hong Kong property developer Shing Bor Tang.

Businessman Robert Ho and his wife, former NSW politician Helen Sham-Ho.

Ho’s big year was 1989. Not only did Golden Century open its doors in Haymarket, he was appointed president of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce — a role which saw him officially start promoting trade in Chinatown, a role he must have taken to with gusto as within a decade he and his family reportedly owned a staggering 29 restaurants in Sydney, among which was Century’s popular rival establishment BBQ King.

In 1999 Ho’s political ambitions were revealed when he was named the Labor Party’s candidate for Sydney Lord Mayor, in a campaign which saw him oppose incumbent Frank Sartor and Kathryn Greiner.

Ho’s wife Helen Sham-Ho had by then made a name for herself in politics as a member of the NSW Legislative Council, a position she held from 1988 to 2003.

In 2016 she would wade into the furore engulfing disgraced senator Sam Dastyari, a Golden Century regular, by suggesting too much focus had been placed on his receipt of a $1670 donation from Chinese government-affiliated Top Education Institute, something that coincided with Dastyari making comments sensitive to China’s position on the contested South China Sea.

The incident prompted Dastyari’s resignation from the ALP. His short-lived post-politics career as a TV host on Channel 10 would be conceived at Century, he later revealed.

President George Bush Snr was a famous customer.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered takeaway.

In 2005 right-wing Labor Party MPs, senators and powerbrokers were booked to go to Golden Century to discuss, among other things, the future of then-party leader Mark Latham.

That reservation would, however, be cancelled when Latham went to ground and soon after retired his leadership.

While ALP lobbyist Graham Richardson is perhaps the restaurant’s most famous frequent diner, he’s not the only politico to have graced restaurant’s door.

US President George H. Bush has feasted at the Century, so too have Australian prime ministers Bob Hawke, John Howard, Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard, while present PM Scott Morrison visited the establishment in 2019.

In 2014 Chinese President Xi Jinping requested takeaway from the joint, though history sadly doesn’t relate what that was.