Solomon Rafeek, BEM was an elected member of the

Urban Council of Hong Kong The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

Biography

Rafeek was a graduate of St. Paul's College, Hong Kong. He worked as a sales manager, P. J. Lobo Co., Ltd. He was an Officer-in-Charge of the Demonstration Team of the

Civil Aid Service The Civil Aid Service (CAS) is a civil organisation that assists in a variety of auxiliary emergency roles, including search and rescue operations in Hong Kong. CAS is funded by the Hong Kong Government and its members wear uniforms. Hist ...

and received

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

for his civil service in 1956. Rafeek was first elected to the

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

in a by-election on 25 June 1964 when

Chan Shu-woon Chan Shu-woon (25 December 1921 – 30 November 2003) was an educator in China, Hong Kong and the United States. Chan was the third son of Chen Jitang, Guangdong warlord from 1929 to 1936. During his stay in Hong Kong, he was the principal of Tak M ...

, a former

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club, owned and controlled by its members, on the south side of Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it had an all-male membership for ...

councillor was sued by the Club chairman

Brook Bernacchi Brook Antony Bernacchi (; 22 January 1922 – 22 September 1996) was a lawyer and politician in Hong Kong. He was the long-time chairman of the Reform Club of Hong Kong, the then quasi-opposition party in the colony and the longest serving ele ...

for alleged corruption during the election campaign. Rafeek won a seat by defeating Napoleon Ng who represented the Civic–Reform coalition, the alliance between the

Civic Association Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

and Reform Club, the two political groups in the Urban Council to demand for democratic reform from the government. The Reform Club accused some members of the Civic Association had used their influential to back up Rafeek who was already a member of the Association. The Club found this unacceptable within the terms of the Coalition, and became one of the reasons for the coalition being dissolved. Rafeek formally joined the Civic Association in April 1965. Rafeek stood for re-election in 1971 as an independent but failed to retain his seat. During serving on the Council, he was a member of the Abattoirs & Offensive Trades, Environmental Hygiene, Hawker Management and Markets Select Committees, and was also Chairman of the Cemeteries, Crematoria & Funeral Parlours Select Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafeek, Solomon Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong Recipients of the British Empire Medal Hong Kong Civic Association politicians