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Ho Sin Hang (; 1900 – 4 December 1997), also known as S. H. Ho and He Shanheng, was a Hong Kong entrepreneur, philanthropist and financier. He co-founded
Hang Seng Bank Hang Seng Bank Limited () is a Hong Kong–based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Grou ...
in 1933, and served as its chairman. Ho also cofounded the Hang Chong Investment Co Ltd. and Dah Chong Hong Ltd., and was the first chairman of
New World Development New World Development Company Limited (NWD) is a Hong Kong–based company focused on property, hotels, infrastructure and services and department stores. It was established on 29 May 1970 by Cheng Yu-tung. The company is publicly listed on t ...
Company. Ho was a renowned philanthropist. In 1970 he founded the S.H. Ho Foundation to support charitable causes. Many buildings and institutions in Hong Kong and China bear his name, including the S.H. Ho College of the
Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
and the Ho Sin Hang Campus of
Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a public Liberal arts education, liberal arts university with a Christian ethics, Christian education heritage in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university was established as Hong Kong Baptist ...
. Owing to
childhood poverty Child poverty refers to the state of children living in poverty and applies to children from poor families and orphans being raised with limited or no state resources. UNICEF estimates that 356 million children live in extreme poverty. It is esti ...
, Ho received little formal education, and education became the main focus of his charitable endeavours. He was one of the four founders of the
Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (HLHL, ) is a Hong Kong–based non-government organisation which annually bestows prizes upon Chinese scientists. It was established on 30 March 1994, with funds donated from the charitable foundations of Ho Sin ...
.


Early life

Ho Sin Hang was born in 1900 in
Panyu Panyu, formerly romanized as Punyü, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Since January 1975, Panyu County has been under Guangzhou's administration. In 1992, Panyu C ...
, Guangdong, southern China. Due to poverty he only received a few years of education and began working at the age of 14. He worked in a salt warehouse for two years before taking up a position as an apprentice in a goldsmith's shop.


Career

Ho completed his apprenticeship and was promoted to assistant manager at age 22. Two years later he resigned from his position to set up a trading business in Guangzhou. In 1933, Ho co-founded Hang Seng Ngan Ho with three partners, Lam Bing Yim ( 林炳炎), Sheng Tsun Lin (盛春霖) and Leung Chik Wai (梁植偉). Hang Seng began as a small currency changing booth on Wing Lok Street in
Sheung Wan Sheung Wan (Chinese: 上環) is an List of places in Hong Kong, area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central, Hong Kong, Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Weste ...
. Lam, the main shareholder, managed the firm's business in Shanghai and Ho managed its
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 ...
branch. After the outbreak of the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
in 1937, Shanghai and Guangzhou were occupied by the Japanese, but Hang Seng initially made substantial profits by facilitating the foreign exchange needs of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. In December 1941, Hong Kong also fell to the Japanese and Hang Seng was forced to close. Ho moved to
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
, which, as a Portuguese colony, remained neutral throughout the war, and continued the business as Wing Wah Ngan Ho. After the
surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
in 1945, Ho revived Hang Seng, which became a leader of Chinese-owned banks in Hong Kong. In 1952, Hang Seng Ngan Ho was incorporated and in 1959, was renamed
Hang Seng Bank Hang Seng Bank Limited () is a Hong Kong–based banking and financial services company with headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of Hong Kong's leading public companies in terms of market capitalisation and is part of the HSBC Grou ...
Ltd. From 1960 until 1983, he served as Chairman of the Bank, guiding the bank through its IPO in 1960 and its sale to
HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
in 1965 when the bank suffered a run on its deposits. In 1983, on the 50th anniversary of the Bank, Ho was named Hang Seng's Honorary chairman for the remainder of his life. Ho later co-founded Dah Chong Hong Ltd and the Hang Chong Investment Co Ltd. Ho co-founded New World Development company in 1970 with Chow Chi Yuen. He served as the company's first chairman while Chow acted as Director and general manager. Ho also served as a director of
Wing Lung Bank CMB Wing Lung Bank (; former stock no: ) is a bank based in Hong Kong. As of December 2018, the bank has 35 branches in Hong Kong, 4 branches in mainland China, 1 branch in Macau and 2 overseas branches, located respectively in Los Angeles and Sa ...
as well as Bangkok Mercantile Company. His other directorships included the Miramar and Furama hotels and he had business interests in the shipping and insurance industries. Ho also served as the Chairman of the Gold & Silver Exchange Society of Hong Kong.


Hang Seng Index

Ho conceived the idea of creating the
Hang Seng Index The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is a market-Capitalization-weighted index, capitalisation-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong adjusted for free float. It tracks and records daily changes in the largest stock listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exch ...
as the "
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indice ...
of Hong Kong". Along with Hang Seng Director Lee Quo-wei, he commissioned Hang Seng's head of Research
Stanley Kwan Stanley Kwan (traditional Chinese: 關錦鵬; simplified Chinese: 关锦鹏); born 9 October 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. He first landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist Colle ...
to create the index, which is now globally recognised as the leading benchmark for the Hong Kong stock market.


Philanthropy

Ho was the founder and director of several middle and primary schools, donating many scholarships. In 1970, he founded the S. H. Ho Foundation to support charitable causes in China and overseas, including regional construction, education, medical services, scientific research and the training of new talent."HK charity foundation awards Chinese scientists"
''China Daily'', (Xinhua) 11 November 2004
In 1974, he founded the Hang Seng School of Commerce. In 1980, following the
reform and opening Reform and opening-up ( zh, s=改革开放, p=Gǎigé kāifàng), also known as the Chinese economic reform or Chinese economic miracle, refers to a variety of economic reforms termed socialism with Chinese characteristics and socialist market ...
of mainland China, Ho found his former employee Chen Zhenxia (陳震夏) in Shanghai. Chen had kept HK$10,000 in Ho's trust when the two lost contact in 1949 due to the Communist takeover of China. After three decades of Ho's management, the value of the funds had risen to $120 million. Following Ho's advice, Chen used two-thirds of the windfall to establish the Huaxia Foundation dedicated to the cause of education and health in China and Hong Kong. Ho also donated HK$20 million to help establish the business school of
Zhongshan University Sun Yat-sen University (; SYSU) is a public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education, SASTIND, and Guangdong Provincial Government. The university is p ...
in Guangzhou.


Death

Ho died in Hong Kong on 4 December 1997 at the age of 97.


Honours

Ho was named as an Officer 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 ...
in 1978. He was also honoured by the Thai and Japanese governments for his services to trade and commerce. In 1971 he was given the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences by the
Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
. In 1983 he was conferred the Doctor of Laws by 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 ...
. In 1990, he became an Honorary Adviser to Zhongshan University and was conferred the Honorary Doctorates degree by that university in 1995.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Sin Hang 1900 births 1997 deaths Hong Kong bankers Hang Seng Bank People from Panyu District Businesspeople from Guangdong Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Hong Kong philanthropists