Christine Chow Ma (Christine Chow Mei-ching) (; born November 30, 1952) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta ...

-born Taiwanese lawyer and former

First Lady of the Republic of China The First Lady of the Republic of China refers to the wife of the President of the Republic of China. Since 1949, the position has been based in Taiwan, where they are often called by the title of First Lady of Taiwan, in addition to First Lady o ...

from 2008 until 2016. She is married to

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

, the former

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

Biography

Chow was born in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British ...

in 1952, with

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

roots in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its c ...

province of Mainland China. She graduated from Taipei First Girls' High School and received her bachelor of laws degree from

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

and a master of laws (LL.M.) degree from

New York University Law School New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

. Chow was a high-school classmate of Ma Ying-jeou's sister. Chow and Ma married in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

. She worked as a research assistant, assistant librarian, and even maître d’hôtel at a Chinese restaurant to support her husband through

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class i ...

. They have two daughters, Lesley (Ma Wei-chung, 馬唯中) and Kelly (Ma Yuan-chung, 馬元中). Lesley was born in 1980 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

when Ma was attending Harvard; she completed her undergraduate work at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and is a graduate student at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, t ...

.Shih Hsiu-chua
"Hsieh's promptings force Ma onto back foot over green card"
''

Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned ''Focus Taiwan'' and ''Taiwan News''; ''The China Post'' was formerly a competito ...

'', Jan 29, 2008. The younger daughter, Kelly, was born in Taiwan and is pursuing her undergraduate studies at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Provide ...

in Rhode Island.Next first lady may keep her Mega job
/ref> Ma was employed at the

Mega International Commercial Bank The Mega International Commercial Bank () is a bank in Taiwan and a subsidiary of Mega Financial Holding Company. It has 108 branches (including foreign department) in Taiwan and 37 overseas units (excluding offshore banking branch). The bank i ...

in its

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

department. After Ma won the 2008 presidential election, she said she would continue her professional work. At the time, the only change she has made to her lifestyle was taking a chauffeured ride to work instead of public transportation.Taiwan's prospective first lady sets example
''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be sai ...

'', Apr 2, 2008. In a change of course, Ma, in a 15 July 2008 CNN interview, stated that his wife would resign her post at the bank to avoid any conflicts of interest or arouse suspicions during his presidency. Her resignation marked a major change for the career-oriented First Lady.

Personality

Chow is presented as a stark contrast from her predecessor, Chen Shui-bian's first lady,

Wu Shu-chen Wu Shu-chen (; born 11 July 1953 in Tainan County, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese politician. She served one term in the Legislative Yuan from 1987 to 1990. As the wife of President Chen Shui-bian, Wu was the First Lady of the Republic of China from 20 ...

; Chow is known for staying out of the political limelight and has rarely joined officials' wives at social or official functions. Chow has stated that she will not fulfill "traditional" first lady responsibilities (no former first ladies held an active occupation); she has, however, said that she will fill in on meeting and greeting dignitaries if she has the time.Taiwan's next first lady to mark shift in style
'' AFP'', Apr 2, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Christine Chow 1952 births Living people First Ladies of the Republic of China 20th-century Taiwanese lawyers New York University School of Law alumni Taiwanese people from Jiangsu National Chengchi University alumni Hong Kong emigrants to Taiwan Taiwanese women lawyers 21st-century Taiwanese lawyers

Biography

Personality

See also

References