Henry Fok | |||||||||||
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| 霍英東 | |||||||||||
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| Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (8th, 9th, 10th) | |||||||||||
| In office March 27, 1993 – October 28, 2006 | |||||||||||
| Chairman | Li Ruihuan→Jia Qinglin | ||||||||||
| Member of theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China | |||||||||||
| In office April 27, 1988 – March 27, 1993 | |||||||||||
| Chairman | Wan Li | ||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||
| Born | 霍官泰 Fok Koon Tai (1923-05-10)10 May 1923 | ||||||||||
| Died | 28 October 2006(2006-10-28) (aged 83) | ||||||||||
| Resting place | Hong Kong Buddhist Cemetery | ||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | |||||||||||
| Children | 10 sons and 3 daughters With Lui
With Fung
With Lam
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 霍英東 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 霍英东 | ||||||||||
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Henry Fok Ying TungGBM (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 theNational Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He was one of the Hong Kong's wealthiest persons.
Fok was born on 10 May 1923 in Hong Kong to an ethnicTanka family.[1] Fok's father died in a boating accident when he was just seven. He studied atQueen's College, but was not able to finish junior high due to theJapanese invasion in 1941. He worked as a labourer during that time while helping to run the family's small boat business.[citation needed]
After the war, he became a successful businessman. His business interests included restaurants, real estate, casinos and petroleum. Fok reportedly made his first fortunegun-running intothe mainland during theKorean War in the early 1950s, circumventing a United Nationsarms embargo.[2] Fok vigorously denied weapons trafficking, but admits having violated sanctions by smuggling steel and rubber as well as other items.[2]
He was the President of theChinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the President of theHong Kong Football Association, and the President of theReal 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 outOOCL from bankruptcy shortly after its founderTung Chao-yung died.[3]
Fok developed the Zhongshan Hot Springs Hotel, which had a golf course designed byArnold Palmer.[4]: 58 It was one of the first golf courses built in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China.[4]: 58
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.
Before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, Henry Fok was a member of theDrafting Committee for the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the vice-chairman of thePreliminary Working Committee of Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong SAR, and the vice-chairman of thePreparatory Committee of Hong Kong SAR. He was also Standing Committee member of 7thNational People's Congress.
The press frequently reports that Henry Fok had introducedTung Chee Hwa toJiang Zemin as a possible candidate of the firstHong Kong Chief Executive.[5]
Henry Fok helped Tung Chee Hwa out of a near-bankruptcy of his family'sOrient Overseas Container Line 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.[citation needed]
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 inNansha District,Guangzhou.[when?] He is said to have visited the site more than 500 times, and through the Foundation, pledged HK$800 million (US$100 million) to theHong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2005 to support the initiative.[2][6]
Fok's wife was Elaine Lui (呂燕妮), and he had twoconcubines, Elaine Fung (馮堅妮) and Lam Sook-duen (林淑端), according to theGreat Qing Legal Code, which remained in force for Chinese people in Hong Kong until 1971. Some forms ofpolygamy remained legal in Hong Kong until it was outlawed in 1971.[7] Among Fok's children, the best-known are:
Fok had family roots inPanyu District,Guangzhou, Guangdong.
On 28 October 2006, Fok died at the age of 83 at thePeking Union Medical College in Beijing, where he was being treated for cancer. He had been diagnosed withlymphoma 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 theChinese national flag since the handover (the others beingT. K. Ann andWong Ker-lee).[8] He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Reform Pioneer.[9]
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