James Wong didn’t necessarily need Scouting to achieve the success he’s enjoyed as one of Hawaii’s most influential real estate developers.
He needed it to make sure the goodness and good fortune he’s experienced in his life — blessings, he calls them — are repaid in the lives of thousands of young men for whom Scouting provides self-confidence, ethical grounding and a sense of civic responsibility.
Wong grew up in Kahului, where his father, an immigrant from China, operated a struggling grocery store in the midst of the Great Depression.
"Our family was so poor that my parents couldn’t afford for me to go Scouting," says Wong, 91.
In 1944, Wong was drafted into the Army. He spent the last months of World War II in the Philippines before being deployed for a two-year tour in Korea.
Following his military service, Wong attended Golden Gate University in San Francisco, where he earned a certified public accounting degree. He returned to Hawaii and started his own accounting firm.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Wong turned his attention to real estate, filling a vacuum left by the decline of the Big 5 and riding a wave of post-statehood development in Hawaii.
While developments in Enchanted Lake, Alewa, Aiea, Haiku Gardens, Manoa and elsewhere made him a millionaire several times over, Wong says he has always been chastened by a passage from the Book of Matthew that he memorized as a young man: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
Over the years, he has donated millions to worthy organizations, provided equal or better value in shared expertise and consultation, and forgiven nearly a million dollars in bad debt from struggling businesses.
But Wong’s most heartfelt contributions have come through his work with the Boy Scouts of America, which Wong credits with helping to preserve ideals of self-sufficiency and democracy.
Wong first became involved as the leader of Troop 42, through which each of his three sons advanced to Eagle Scout. He later assumed leadership positions in the BSA Western Region, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting and the BSA Aloha Council, logging some 10 million miles in air travel to fulfill his duties.
Wong was recently given a lifetime service achievement award from the Aloha Council in recognition of more than 50 years of service.
But Wong isn’t done. He’s already knee-deep in a new Scouting initiative to register voters and improve voter participation in the 2016 elections.
"We are only stewards of God’s work," Wong says. "It’s giving, not receiving, makes you richer in life."
Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.
