Hong Kong politician and businessman Hilton Cheong-Leen has passed away on Tuesday at age 99.
Cheong-Leen was born in Georgetown, British Guiana in 1922 to a Chinese immigrant father and came to Hong Kong with his family when he was nine.
He has contributed to Hong Kong in innumerable ways. He was the longest uninterrupted serving elected office holder in Hong Kong’s history as the elected member of the Urban Council of Hong Kong for 34 years from 1957 to 1991. He was also the first Chinese Chairman of the Council from 1981-1986.
He was the first unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong on May 1, 1973, appointed by Governor Sir Murray MacLehose.
His relentless push for replacing the over-heated, sub-standard rooftop schools built after 1953, resulted in the government adopting 9 years free education in 1978. He also called for banning child labor in factories and restaurants in Hong Kong.
His hard work also earned him the special title of “Hong Kong’s mayor” after he became the first ethnic Chinese chairman of the Urban Council in 1981.
He, together with Sir Roger Lobo and Sunny O’Sales founded the Hong Kong Civic Association in 1954, the oldest surviving political group in the city which is still active today, as a quasi-political body.
