Ma Man-fai ( zh, 馬文輝; 1905–1994) was a Hong Kong politician and social activist active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the founder and the chairman of the United Nations Association of Hong Kong (UNAHK) from its establishment in 1953 to 1983.

Biography

He was born in Hong Kong in 1905 into a merchant family of Ma Ying-piu, an Australian Chinese who founded the Sincere Department Store in Hong Kong in 1900, and his wife Fok Hing-tong. Ma Ying-piu also a supporter of the anti-Qing revolution and funded

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 ...

's revolutionary activities. Ma attributed his father and his time in London as a buyer of his father's company as the inspirations of his liberal values. His mother was a social reformer, founder of the Chinese YWCA of Hong Kong and an anti-mui tsai movement leader. Ma Man-fai was educated at the Lingnan College in Canton and lived in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

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 ...

. In 1932, he was a director of the Tung Wah Hospital. He also held various public positions including vice-chairman of the

Hong Kong City Hall Hong Kong City Hall (HKCH, ) is a building located at Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. In the 19th century, the British founded the Victoria, Hong Kong, City of Victoria in the present-day Centra ...

, vice-chairman of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong and secretary of the

Hong Kong Arts Festival The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), launched in 1973, is an international arts festival held in Hong Kong. It covers all genres of the performing arts as well as a diverse range of educational events in February and March each year. Histor ...

. He was also a founder of various civic organisations including the Sino-British Club of Hong Kong, Hong Kong City Hall Committee, Hong Kong Music Association and Hong Kong Caritas Career Association. He served as an

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

for

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 ...

Alexander Grantham Sir Alexander William George Herder Grantham, GCMG ( zh, c=葛量洪; 15 March 1899 – 4 October 1978) was a British colonial administrator who governed Hong Kong and Fiji. Early life, colonial administration career Grantham was born on ...

. In January 1949, he co-founded the

Reform Club of Hong Kong The Reform Club of Hong Kong was one of the oldest political organisations in Hong Kong, existing from 1949 until the mid-1990s. Established by expatriates who were concerned about the Young Plan proposed by Governor Mark Aitchison Young in ...

with other expatriates to push for constitutional reform as initiated by the

Young Plan The Young Plan was a 1929 attempt to settle issues surrounding the World War I reparations obligations that Germany owed under the terms of Treaty of Versailles. Developed to replace the 1924 Dawes Plan, the Young Plan was negotiated in Paris f ...

and the Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association with a Chinese-oriented membership. In 1953, he founded the United Nations Association of Hong Kong (UNAHK) to promoted the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

values to Hong Kong residents, especially the rights of

self-government Self-governance, self-government, self-sovereignty or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any ...

of the colonised people. He also held the "Hyde Park Forum" and the "Public Opinion Forum" weekly at the City Hall. In 1963, he and other self-government advocates founded the Democratic Self-Government Party of Hong Kong to call for the internal self-government in Hong Kong. He was soon squeezed out from the party leadership. Without any result, the self-government party became less active in the 1970s. In 1983, his position in the UNAHK was squeezed out and replaced by a pro-Beijing leadership. Afterwards, he left the association. He continued to hold the "Hyde Park Forum" at the City Hall until his death in 1994. He was remembered with his iconic long beard and

cheongsam ''Cheongsam'' (, ), also known as the ''qipao'' () and sometimes referred to as the mandarin gown, is a Chinese dress worn by women which takes inspiration from the , the ethnic clothing of the Manchu people. The cheongsam is most often seen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Man-fai 1905 births 1994 deaths Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong democracy activists Reform Club of Hong Kong politicians Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association politicians United Nations Association of Hong Kong politicians Democratic Self-Government Party of Hong Kong politicians