Henry Fok Ying Tung (10 May 1923 – 28 October 2006) was an entrepreneur and politician in Hong Kong. From 1993 until his death, Fok served as Vice Chairman of the

National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is the national-level organization that represents the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the political advisory body in the People's Republic ...

. He was one of the Hong Kong's wealthiest persons.

Biography

Fok was born on 10 May 1923 in Hong Kong to an ethnic

Tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...

family. Fok's father died in a boating accident when he was just seven. He studied at Queen's College, but was not able to finish junior high due to the Japanese invasion in 1937. He worked as a labourer during that time while helping to run the family's small boat business.

Business

After the war, he became a successful businessman. His business interests included restaurants, real estate, casinos and petroleum. Fok reportedly made his first fortune gun-running into the mainland during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

in the early 1950s, circumventing a United Nations

arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...

. Fok vigorously denied weapons trafficking, but admits having violated sanctions by smuggling steel and rubber as well as other items. He was the President of the

Chinese General Chamber of Commerce The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCCHK; ) is a non-profit organization of local Chinese firms and businessmen based in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1900 by Ho Fook and Lau Chu-pak, two prominent leaders of the Chinese community during t ...

in Hong Kong, the President of the

Hong Kong Football Association The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited (HKFA; ) is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. Its current chairman is Eric Fok. History The HKFA was established in 1914. It is one of the ...

, and the President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong. He was also the Chairman of Henry Fok Estates Ltd and the Yau Wing Co of Hong Kong. In the 1980s Fok organized the effort to bail out

OOCL Orient Overseas Container Line, commonly known as OOCL, is a container shipping and logistics service company with headquarters in Hong Kong. The company is incorporated in Hong Kong as Orient Overseas Container Line Limited and separately inc ...

from bankruptcy shortly after its founder

Tung Chao-yung Tung Chao-yung or C. Y. Tung ( zh, t=董兆榮, s=董兆荣, p=Dǒng Zhàoróng, first=t; 28 September 1912 – 15 April 1982), also known as Tung Hao-yun, zh, t=董浩雲, s=董浩云, p=Dǒng Hàoyún), was a Chinese shipping magnate and the ...

died. Fok developed the Zhongshan Hot Springs Hotel, which had a golf course designed by

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

. It was one of the first golf courses built in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 2006, Forbes magazine listed Fok as the seventh wealthiest person in Hong Kong and the 181st in the world, with a fortune of US$3.7 billion.

Political

Before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, Henry Fok was a member of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the vice-chairman of the Preliminary Working Committee of Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong SAR, and the vice-chairman of the Preparatory Committee of Hong Kong SAR. He was also Standing Committee member of 7th

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

. The press frequently reports that Henry Fok had introduced

Tung Chee Hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born May 29, 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and retired politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He served as a vice chairman of th ...

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...

as a possible candidate of the first

Hong Kong Chief Executive The chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of Governor of ...

. Henry Fok helped Tung Chee Hwa out of a near-bankruptcy of his family's

Orient Overseas Container Line Orient Overseas Container Line, commonly known as OOCL, is a container shipping and logistics service company with headquarters in Hong Kong. The company is incorporated in Hong Kong as Orient Overseas Container Line Limited and separately inc ...

in the 1980s. Because of this relationship, it was often said while Tung was the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that Fok 'intervened/advised' if times, or rather Beijing, called for it.

Philanthropy

Henry Fok founded the Fok Ying Tung Foundation in 1984, and it is now one of the largest philanthropic organisations in Hong Kong. Fok founded a high-technology business park in

Nansha District Nansha District may refer to: * Nansha District, Sansha, a municipal district in Sansha, Hainan * Nansha, Guangzhou Nansha District and Nansha New Area is one of 11 urban districts and a state-level new area of the prefecture-level city of ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. He is said to have visited the site more than 500 times, and through the Foundation, pledged HK$800 million (US$100 million) to the

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status, and the firs ...

in 2005 to support the initiative.

Personal

Fok's wife was Elaine Lui (), and he had two

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

s, Elaine Fung () and Lam Sook-duen (), according to the ''

Great Qing Legal Code The Great Qing Legal Code (or Great Ching Legal Code), also known as the Qing Code (Ching Code) or, in Hong Kong law, as the ''Ta Tsing Leu Lee'' (), was the legal code of the Qing empire (1644–1912). The code was based on the Ming legal code, ...

'', which remained in force for Chinese people in Hong Kong until 1971. Some forms of

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

remained legal in Hong Kong until it was outlawed in 1971. Among Fok's children, the best-known are: * Timothy Fok Tsun-ting –

chairman and

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 ...

member. * Ian Fok Chun-wan – managing director, Yau Wing Co. Ltd; Director, Fok Ying Tung Foundation Ltd, a former chairman of the

, whose son was convicted of drug possession in 2005. Fok had family roots in

Panyu District Panyu, Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanized as Punyü, is one of 11 District (China), urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, Guangdong Province, China. Since January 1975, Panyu County has bee ...

, Guangdong.

Death

On 28 October 2006, Fok died at the age of 83 at the

Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College, also as Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is a national public medical sciences research institution in Dongcheng, Beijing, Dongcheng, Beijing, China. Originally founded in 1906, it is affiliated with the Nationa ...

in Beijing, where he was being treated for cancer. He had been diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

in 1984 and the cancer had reappeared in 2004. His body was flown back to Hong Kong for a traditional funeral in accordance with his wishes. Fok was one of the first Hong Kongers to have his casket draped in the Chinese national flag since the handover (the others being

T. K. Ann Ann Tse-kai () also known as T.K. Ann; 26 June 1912 – 3 June 2000) was a Hong Kong industrialist, legislator and sinologist. He was the author of ''Cracking the Chinese Puzzles'', a textbook on Chinese characters. Ann lived in Hong Kong and ...

and Wong Ker-lee). He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Reform Pioneer.

References

External links

short bios at ForbesCommentary in The Standard on Henry Fok's life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fok, Henry 1923 births 2006 deaths Businesspeople in the oil industry Deaths from cancer in China Deaths from lymphoma Hong Kong billionaires Hong Kong casino industry businesspeople Hong Kong businesspeople Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Hong Kong businesspeople in real estate Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Delegates to the National People's Congress from Hong Kong Members of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee members Hong Kong Affairs Advisors 20th-century Hong Kong philanthropists Alumni of Queen's College, Hong Kong Tanka people Arms trafficking Smugglers