Sir Kai Ho (; 21 March 1859 – 21 July 1914), better known as Sir Kai Ho Kai and born Ho Shan-kai (), was a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

barrister, physician and essayist in

colonial Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 to 1981, and a dependent territory from 1981 to ...

. He played a key role in the relationship between the Hong Kong local community and the British colonial government. He is remembered as a supporter of the Reform Movement and as a teacher of

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

, who would become the founding father 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 ...

. Hong Kong's former airport,

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was an international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply K ...

, was named after him as the land the airport sat on was reclaimed by Kai Tack Land Investment Company Limited, founded by him and Au Tak.

Early years

Kai Ho was the fourth son of of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

, and the brother of Ho Miu-ling (wife of Wu Tingfang, Hong Kong's first Chinese barrister and first Chinese 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 ...

, later Chinese

consul-general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

to the US). In 1872, at the age of 13, Ho was sent to the UK to study at Palmer House school in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. In September 1875, he registered at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

. In 1879, he received his MBCM and went to

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospita ...

to take up clinical training. He became the first Chinese qualified physician and graduated from Aberdeen University in the same year. He then studied law at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

and was called to the bar in 1881.

Career

Ho returned to Hong Kong in early 1882, and embarked on changing the landscape of Hong Kong's colleges and universities. Chinese culture at that time placed heavy emphasis on

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

, with

Chinese people The Chinese people, or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with Greater China, China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by ...

in the late 19th century being largely sceptical of

Western medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

. Ho not only gained the people's acceptance, but also helped the British make possible a number of health-related establishments that otherwise would have been misunderstood by the public. In 1887, the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese was opened. He made it an initiative that Chinese medicine practitioners too could benefit from an institution that focused on Western medicine. This college later became the basis from which 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 ...

was established in 1910. Throughout Ho's lifetime, he was a vocal supporter of

and his revolution to overthrow China's

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

-led

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. A prolific critic of the

Self-Strengthening Movement The Self-Strengthening Movement, also known as the Westernization or Western Affairs Movement (–1895), was a period of reforms initiated during the late Qing dynasty following the military disasters of the Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion. The ...

, Ho advocated China to follow the British system in developing a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

. An example of Ho's support was his defence of the 1884 Praya rioters, which were dubiously charged by the colonial administration with the offence of refusing to accept work. The riots was an event that Sun said cemented his determination to bring about revolution. As a minority and unofficial member of the

, he had effected limits to legislation that were discriminatory towards the Chinese. He criticised the proposed Summoning of Chinese Ordinance, Cap. 40 of 1899 as "class legislation" and succeeded, with Wei A Yuk (), in limiting its effect to finite periods of two years at a time. Yet, in 1888, in an effort to protect the property interests of the Chinese elite of which he was a leading member, he stiffly opposed the passing of the Public Health Ordinance, which would've proved a vital step in the development of Hong Kong's public hygiene. Ho was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George in 1902 and was knighted in 1912. In 1912, Ho went into a partnership with his son-in-law Au Tak. The project was named Kai Tak Bund, and was a land reclamation development project of houses and recreation grounds, but it later failed and was liquidated in 1924. The land was taken back by the government and later used by a flying school, then a flying club, then as an airfield for the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, and finally became what would be the world-famous

Kai Tak International Airport Kai Tak Airport was an international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply K ...

. Through his sister Ho Miu-ling, he was the uncle of Wu Chaoshu who served in the Republic China as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the US.

Additional roles

Ho was a member of the Sanitary Board and a Justice of the Peace. In May 1895, he was temporarily appointed to the governing body of Queen's College. Ho was also a key player in many aspects of early Hong Kong development, including the 1894 Hong Kong plague, the founding of Alice Memorial Hospital, and the founding of Po Leung Kuk.

Personal life

In probably the first ever Anglo-Chinese marriage, Ho married Alice Walkden (3 February 1852 – 8 June 1884), the eldest daughter of John Walkden of Blackheath. The marriage took place on 13 December 1881 at St Aubyn's Congregational Church in

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Lambeth, Lambeth and London Borough of Southwark, Southwark. It is north ...

, London. The couple returned to Hong Kong after Ho's studies, and Walkden gave birth to a daughter. Walkden later died of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

in Hong Kong in 1884; the daughter was taken to England to be brought up by her relatives. The daughter died young and never married. Alice was English. Kai Ho later married Lily Lai Yuk-hing (). The couple had 17 children.Book Review
/ref>A forgotten knight
SCMP, 20 July 2014

Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (AHNH) is an acute district general hospital managed under the New Territories East Cluster of the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong. Established by the former London Missionary Society in 1887, it was the fir ...

is named for his wife Alice and his sister Ho Miu-ling.

Death

Ho died in 1914 and was buried at Hong Kong Happy Valley Cemetery near his first wife Alice. Due to the failure of his various business projects and ill health, he died heavily in debt without a will, leaving his family destitute.

Early years

Career

Additional roles

Personal life

Death

References

Further reading