The Oldest Private Club founded in Macao

According to historical documentation, the I On Company was a private club founded in early Macao. In the old days, it was necessary to gain the consent of the Portuguese administration of Macao and pay the required tax in yuan and stamp duty for setting up any venue of this nature. The Company, as defined in its statutes, had a total share capital of 4,000 yuan divided into 80 shares at 50 yuan per share. Major company decisions must be discussed through meetings and voted for approval by the shareholders, whose number of votes that they have corresponded to the number of shares they owned. For ones holding 1 to 5 shares, they were entitled to cast one vote, those having 6 to 10 shares were entitled to two votes and so on and so forth. The Company was run by three directors chosen annually amongst the shareholders with the assistance of a secretary. With the passing of time, more and more people became rich in Macao alongside its socio-economic development. Seeing that the I On Company was faring very well, some of them opened private clubs of different nature, which was considered a status symbol of the wealthy class of Macao in history.