Hoo Ah Kay (; 1816 - 27 March 1880), better known as Whampoa (), was a Singaporean businessman and community leader. An immigrant from China to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, he held many high-ranking posts in Singapore, including honourable consul to China, Japan and Russia.

Early life

Hoo Ah Kay (Hu Hsuan-tse) was born 1816, in Whampoa, Canton,

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(present-day Huangpu District, Guangzhou, China). He immigrated to Singapore in 1830. Initially working with his businessman father at food supplier Whampoa and Co., Hoo inherited the establishment after his father died.

Career

Hoo received the honorific ''Mr. Whampoa'' for his political achievements and contributions to the Singaporean society. He is cited as both "the first Japanese honorable consul in Singapore" and "the first Chinese consul

n Singapore N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

, two posts he was given in 1879 and 1877 respectively. In 1859, Hoo played a key role in establishing the

Singapore Botanic Gardens The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a -year-old tropical garden located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden, to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...

(now a UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

). In 1869, he was announced as the first Legislative Council member of Chinese ethnicity by the British, albeit an unofficial one. He was also a retail dealer specialising in ships working for the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. For a period of time he ran a business supplying ice imported from the United States to Singapore; it folded in 1856. Hoo was hailed as "one of the most influential Chinese (Cantonese) tycoons in Singapore". He was awarded the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

, Class Companion (CMG). In 1869, he became the first Asian member of the Legislative Council and within a few years was made an extraordinary member of the Executive Council, the only Chinese to have held this position.

Personal life

Hoo was described as having led a rich and glamorous lifestyle, occasionally organizing elaborate meals, mostly intended for overseas visitors. He would hire many dancers to perform for him, as well as personal servants to fan him, as depicted in an illustration by English painter Edward Cree. He also owned a few race horses; one of them reportedly earned him about a hundred thousand dollars. Hoo frequently let the public at large visit his residence, which was depicted as sprawling with lush greenery. Despite being eloquent in the English language, he maintained a Chinese personality, preferring to wear Chinese robes. His son Hoo Ah Yip (), was educated in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. When his son snipped off his

ponytail A ponytail is a hairstyle in which some, most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip, or other similar accessory and allowed to hang freely from that point ...

and converted to Christianity, Hoo Ah Kay was written to have been "outraged".

Death

Hoo Ah Kay died on 27 March 1880, aged 64. A housing estate, Whampoa located in the subzone of Balestier, which is a part of Novena planning area in Singapore is named after him.

Popular culture

Hoo Ah Kay appears in

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman. Biography Fraser was born to Scottish parents in Carlisle, England, ...

's historical novel ''

Flashman's Lady ''Flashman's Lady'' is a 1977 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the sixth of the Flashman novels. Plot introduction Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashm ...

'' and in ''The Hills of Singapore'' by Dawn Farnham.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Hoo Ah 1816 births 1880 deaths Businesspeople from Guangzhou Chinese emigrants to Singapore Singaporean people of Cantonese descent Singaporean businesspeople