Eric Peter Ho Hung-luen,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, JP (; 30 December 1927 – 25 March 2015) was a Hong Kong government official. He was the Secretary for Social Services in the 1970s, becoming one of the first Chinese policy secretaries.

Biography

Ho was born in Hong Kong on 30 December 1927 to the prominent Sir Robert Ho Tung family. Eric's grandfather Ho Fook was a prominent Eurasian compradore and philanthropist. He was the chief compradore to the Jardine, Matheson & Co. and unofficial member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...

. Eric's father Ho Sai Ki was the compradore of trading firm E. D. Sassoon. Eric's mother Doris Lo was sister of Sir Lo Man-kam, unofficial member of the

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and Legislative Councils. Eric Peter Ho was educated at the St. Joseph's College but his education was interrupted during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

and the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after Batt ...

. He attended the

Wah Yan College, Hong Kong Wah Yan College, Hong Kong also referred to by its acronym WYHK, is a Catholic Church, Catholic all-boys grant-in-aid secondary education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. It was founded by on 16 December 1919. ...

and then studied Economics at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

. He also joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in 1948. He was appointed Cadet Officer by the Hong Kong government in 1957. He worked as the Assisting Secretary for Chinese Affairs and then was appointed Assisting Secretary for the Office of the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils. In 1963, he was appointed Assisting Financial Secretary and official Justice of the Peace. In 1968, Ho was appointed Deputy Director of Commerce and Industry and acted as Director of Commerce and Industry in 1973. On that capacity, he was also an official member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. He became the Director of Home Affairs in 1973 and Secretary for Social Services in 1976. In 1981, he was awarded

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE). He was appointed Secretary for Commerce and Industry in 1983 and unofficial member of the Executive Council in 1985. He was also a British representative in the Sino-British Liaison Group on the negotiation process the after the 1984

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration was a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and People's Republic of China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance o ...

. He retired from the civil service in 1987. After his retirement, he was appointed chairman of the Public Service Commission until 1991. He moved to the United Kingdom before 1997 and wrote a few books, including ''Times of Change'' and ''Tracing My Children's Lineage''. On 25 March 2015, he died at the Hethersett Hall Care Home in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. His wife, Grace Irene Tsin-kiu Young who died in 2007 was also a public figure, businesswoman of Yaumati Ferry and appointed member of 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Eric Peter 1927 births 2015 deaths Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Government officials of Hong Kong Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Hong Kong emigrants to England Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Biography

See also

References