Andrew So Kwok-wing, SBS, OBE, JP (; born 29 March 1939) is a Hong Kong educator and politician. So was born on 29 March 1939. He studied at the

Wah Yan College, Kowloon Wah Yan College, Kowloon (WYK; ; demonym: ''Wahyanite'', pl.: ''Wahyanites'') is a Catholic secondary school for boys run by the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus. It is located in Kowloon, Hong Kong and is a grant-in-aid secondary sch ...

and the

Grantham College of Education The Education University of Hong KongUniversity title ...

and worked as an educator. He took an active role in the

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

movement since 1963 and was the founding president of the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions in 1971. he was also managing director of the Credit Union League of Hong Kong and director of the CUNA International/ World Council of Credit Unions from 1969 to 1981. He had also served as International vice president for Asia and Africa with CUNA Mutual Group from 1974 to 1994. At the time he was the chairman of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese. He was made

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1980. From 1978 to 1985, he was the unofficial member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong ...

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

Sir

Murray MacLehose Crawford Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, (; 16 October 1917 – 27 May 2000), was a British politician, diplomat and the 25th Governor of Hong Kong, from 1971 to 1982. He was the longest-serving governor of the colony, with four ...

. He and another member of Legislative Council Rev. Patrick Terence McGovern who appointed around the same time, were generally recognised as unofficial spokesmen for the workers and the underdogs of Hong Kong. He was also member of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service and Education Commission. In 1983, he was awarded Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) for his services in Hong Kong. In 1994, he was made the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints, the ombudsman of Hong Kong, to succeed Arthur Garcia, by Governor

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...

. He held the position until April 1999 when

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Tung Chee-hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chin ...

replaced him with a civil servant Alice Tai Yuen-ying. During his spell, So aggressively took government departments to task, finding their faults and exposing their problems through mass media. For his public services, he was awarded the

Silver Bauhinia Star The Silver Bauhinia Star (, SBS) is the second Bauhinia Star rank in the honours system of Hong Kong, awarded to people who have taken a leading part in public affairs or voluntary work over a long period. The award was created in 1997 to repla ...

Award (SBS) in 1999. He is also an expert in

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

, having published many works on opera theories, critics and history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:So, Andrew Kwok-wing 1939 births Living people Alumni of Wah Yan Hong Kong educators Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Silver Bauhinia Star