Sir Cho-yiu Kwan (; 10 July 1907 – 7 December 1971) was a prominent Hong Kong politician and public figure in the 1960s. He was the

Senior Chinese Unofficial Member Senior Chinese Unofficial Member denotes the highest-ranking Han Chinese, ethnically Chinese member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council of Hong Kong, Executive Council of Hong Kong under British Hong Kong, colonial British rule. A ...

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 ...

and

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the c ...

and the founding chairman of the Council 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 ...

. For his contributions to Hong Kong, he was knighted by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1969.

Early life, education and legal career

Kwan was born on 10 July 1907 with the family root in

Kaiping Kaiping (), postal map romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, in local dialect as Hoihen, is a county-level city in Guangdong provinces of China, Province, China. It is located in the western secti ...

, Guangdong. He was educated at the

Diocesan Boys' School The Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) is a day and boarding Anglican boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131 Argyle Street, Hong Kong, Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. The school's mission is "to provide a liberal education based on Christianity ...

and graduated in 1924. He later went abroad and studied law at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in England. In May 1931, he was called to the bar in

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 received his professional qualifications. He was a friend of General Ho Sai-lai, the son of Sir Robert Ho Tung during his time in England. He set up his own law firm, CY Kwan & Co, with the help of Sir Ho Tung in 1931 soon after he returned from England. During 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 ...

, Kwan was appointed the officer in administering the staple food control. After the war, he was the vice-president of the Standing Military Court from 1945 to 47 and chief magistrate of the Central Magistracy. He had also been president of the Law Society of Hong Kong from 1950 to 51.

Political career

Kwan was increasingly involved in the public affairs. In 1948, he was appointed to the Committee on Chinese Law and Custom in Hong Kong. He was the director of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service in 1950. Other public positions included membership in the

Public Service Commission Public Service Commission may refer to: * Public utilities commission ** Alabama Public Service Commission ** Public Service Commission (Indiana) ** Public Service Commission of Utah ** Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ** Public Utilities Com ...

, the Chinese Temples Committee, the General Chinese Charities Fund and many others. He was one of the founders of the

Hong Kong Housing Society The Hong Kong Housing Society, or Housing Society for short, is the second largest public housing provider in Hong Kong (the first being the Hong Kong Housing Authority). The Society housed around 130,000 residents as of 2020. The Housing Soci ...

, invited by Bishop Hall, and sat on the Executive Committee of the Society for many years which devoted in providing housing suitable for the low-income residents in Hong Kong in 1948. He was also member of the School Committee of the Diocean Boys' School and was briefly the chairman of the Committee after Bishop Hall retired and before the new bishop arrived. He was also chairman of the School Committee of the

Heep Yunn School Heep Yunn School ( Chinese 協恩中學) is an Anglican girls' secondary school founded in 1936, commonly known simply as HYS. It is located in Ma Tau Wai, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The School commenced operation in the DSS (Direct Subsidy Scheme) ...

. In 1961, he became the chairman of the preparatory committee of the

to oversee the establishment of the university and finalised the agreement with the government on the university location in

Ma Liu Shui Ma Liu Shui is an area in Sha Tin District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The area faces Tide Cove (Sha Tin Hoi) and Tolo Harbour. The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science Park are located in Ma Liu Shui. Name et ...

. He became the founding chairman of university council from its establishment in October 1963 until his death in October 1971. He had also been member of the council of 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 ...

. From 1956 to 1961, he was appointed unofficial 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 ...

, until he retired and was succeeded by Wilson Tze-sum Wang on 7 April 1961. In July 1959, he was appointed

unofficial member Unofficial Member is the name given to individuals who are members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and Legislative Council of Hong Kong but who are not members of the Hong Kong Government. The terms "Unofficial" (or "non-official") and ...

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 ...

. In May 1961, he was appointed unofficial member of the

. In 1967, 1968 and 1969, he led the Hong Kong delegation to the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. He was also on numerous government's advisory boards. For example, at the time illegal gambling activities especially off-course betting was flouring, Kwan was appointed chairman of the Advisory Committee on Gambling Policy in 1964 to examine whether new form of gambling should be legalised. The committee concluded the off-course betting should not be legalised for its moral arguments. He was also chairman of The Festival of Hong Kong Steering Committee to organise programmes for the Hong Kong Festival and member of the Advisory Committee on Corruption. He was also director of the

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 ...

and some other companies.

Sudden death and family

On the morning of 7 December 1971, SIr Kwan had a heart attack while the Executive Council was in session and died despite attempts at resuscitation . In his eulogy for Kwan,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Crawford Murray MacLehose said: "He always proffered fearless, frank and wise counsel and he worked tirelessly until the last." He married Chow Wai-fun and had two sons and two daughters. His eldest son, King-chiu worked in the pharmaceutical company

Merck Group The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German Multinational corporation, multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and a presence in 66 countries. The group include ...

in the United States; youngest son, King-hong, earned a B.S. in chemistry at Marquette University and a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Honours

Kwan was made Justice of the Peace in December 1946. For his numerous contributions to Hong Kong, he was awarded the 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 ...

(OBE) in 1959 and the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1965. He was knighted by

at the

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

in March 1969. For his effort in the establishment of the

, he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree of law by the university in 1964. Cho Yiu Chuen, a housing estate built by the

Kwai Chung Kwai Chung is an urban area within Tsuen Wan New Town in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Together with Tsing Yi Island, it is part of the Kwai Tsing District of Hong Kong. It is also part of Tsuen Wan New Town. In 2000, it had a popula ...

, is named after Sir Kwan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwan, Cho-yiu 1907 births 1971 deaths Alumni of the University of London Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong justices of the peace Hong Kong solicitors British Hong Kong judges Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor People educated at Diocesan Boys' School

Early life, education and legal career

Political career

Sudden death and family

Honours

See also

References