William Sui-tak Louey | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
雷瑞德 | |||||||||||||
 Louey inc. 1950s | |||||||||||||
| Member ofUrban Council | |||||||||||||
| In office 31 May 1952 (1952-05-31) – 21 May 1953 (1953-05-21) | |||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1909-07-07)7 July 1909 | ||||||||||||
| Died | 9 December 1962(1962-12-09) (aged 53) | ||||||||||||
| Occupation | Businessman | ||||||||||||
| Known for | Founder ofKowloon Motor Bus | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 雷瑞德 | ||||||||||||
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William Sui-tak Louey (Chinese:雷瑞德; 7 July 1909 – 9 December 1962) was a Hong Kong businessman and the founder and Chief Manager of theKowloon Motor Bus Company.
Louey was born inMelbourne on 7 July 1909 to the son of aChinese Australian. He returned to China when he was young and was educated at the Holy Trinity College inGuangzhou when his father and his uncle founded theKowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) in Hong Kong in 1922. After he graduated, Louey joined the KMB as an assistant manager and rose to Chief Manager in 1933.[1]
At that time, there were several independent bus operators. William Louey bought a few of them and applied for the franchise of the bus service in 1933. He won the franchise to operate bus services inKowloon and theNew Territories, whileChina Motor Bus (CMB) secured the rights to provide services on Hong Kong Island. Together withTang Shiu Kin, Lui Leung, Tam Woon-tong and Lam Ming-fan, William Louey renamed the company 'Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited' (KMB).[1] At the time, there were 106 small single-deck buses in the embryonic KMB bus fleet, offering two seat classes: first class (with cushion) and second class (wooden).[2]
KMB services stopped operating during thePacific War andJapanese occupation. After the war, Louey largely expanded his company from about 100 vehicles to more than 700. Before his death, he ordered more than 100 buses from the United Kingdom, bringing the fleet size to 895.[3] Louey also experienced a few new company's change of policies. In early December 1962 when the workers took industrial action, Louey announced to raise the wage of the bus drivers.
Louey was chair of the Rotary Club of Kowloon andKowloon Residents' Association, deputy director of theCivil Aid Service, founder of the Kowloon Chamber of Commerce and member of the Advisory Committee on Public Transport and Committee on Technical Education. He was made aJustice of the Peace in 1957.[3] Louey also ran in the1952 Urban Council election and was elected to theUrban Council withBrook Bernacchi of theReform Club of Hong Kong. He lost his seat a year later in1953 re-election.
Between 1956 and 1957, Louey became the President of theHong Kong Football Association with the support ofSouth China Athletic Association. He defeatedChan Shu-woon, Urban Councillor and the coach of theChina national football team who was supported byEastern Athletic Association, by 43 votes to 9 on 6 October 1956. By that, He also became the President of theAsian Football Confederation.[4]
In the morning of 22 December 1958, Louey was shot and injured in an armed robbery at his own residence, No. 81,Waterloo Road,Kowloon. Three men entered his house at about 10:30 a.m. wounded Louey on the right side of his abdomen during their struggle with Louey and his son, Ronald. Although the condition was not serious, Louey was admitted to theKowloon Hospital.[5]
Louey died suddenly from acute heart attack at 10:30 p.m. on 9 December 1962 in his residence at No. 81 Waterloo Road at the age of 53. He had two sons, Ronald Kwok-wah Louey and Kwok-kwan Louey, and two daughters, Kwok-chun and Kwok-wan. Kwok-wah and Kwok-kwan were both educated in Australia and Kwok-kwan worked at the Kowloon Motor Bus.[6] The funeral service was held at the All Saints' Cathedral, Kowloon on 12 December and was attended by many government officials and KMB staff. His ashes were sent back to his birthplace in Australia.[7] One-minute silence tribute to Louey was paid in all football matches of the Football Association on 15 and 16 December.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New seat | Member ofUrban Council 1952–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | President ofHong Kong Football Association 1956–1957 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of Hong Kong Football Association 1958–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President ofAsian Football Confederation 1956–1957 | Succeeded by |