Ma Man-fai (; 1905–1994) was a Hong Kong politician and social activist active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the founder and the chairman of the United Nations Association of Hong Kong (UNAHK) from its establishment in 1953 to 1983.

Biography

He was born in Hong Kong in 1905 into a merchant family of

Ma Ying-piu Ma Ying-piu (; 21 December 1860 – 15 July 1944) was a Hong Kong retailer and businessman. He founded the Sincere Department Store in 1900, the first Chinese-owned department store in China and is widely regarded as the "father of Chinese depart ...

, an Australian Chinese who founded the

Sincere Department Store Sincere Department Store () is a department store under the Sincere Company Limited and one of the oldest department chains in Hong Kong. Prior to 1949, its largest operation was in Shanghai, and along with Wing On (which survives in Hong Kong ...

in Hong Kong in 1900, and his wife

Fok Hing-tong Fok Hing-tong (; 1872–1957), also known as Huo Qingtang, was a Hong Kong businesswoman and social reformer. Wife of Ma Ying-piu, founder of the Sincere Department Store, she was the director and chairwoman of Chinese YWCA of Hong Kong and the lea ...

. Ma Ying-piu also a supporter of the anti-Qing revolution and funded

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

's revolutionary activities. Ma attributed his father and his time in London as a buyer of his father's company as the inspirations of his liberal values. His mother was a social reformer, founder of the Chinese YWCA of Hong Kong and an anti-mui tsai movement leader. Ma Man-fai was educated at the Lingnan College in Canton and lived in Mainland China during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...

. In 1932, he was a director of the

Tung Wah Hospital Tung Wah Hospital is a Charitable hospital in Hong Kong under the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. Located above Possession Point, at 12 Po Yan Street in Sheung Wan, it is the first hospital established in Colonial Hong Kong for the general publ ...

. He also held various public positions including vice-chairman of the

Hong Kong City Hall Hong Kong City Hall () is a building located at Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong is a " Special Administrative Region" and not a normal Chinese city, there is no mayor or city council; therefore, the ...

, vice-chairman of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong and secretary of the

Hong Kong Arts Festival The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), launched in 1973, is a major international arts festival committed to enriching the cultural life of the city by presenting leading local and international artists in all genres of the performing arts as we ...

. He was also a founder of various civic organisations including the Sino-British Club of Hong Kong, Hong Kong City Hall Committee, Hong Kong Music Association and Hong Kong Caritas Career Association. He served as an interpreter for

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 ...

Alexander Grantham Sir Alexander William George Herder Grantham, GCMG (; 15 March 1899 – 4 October 1978) was a British colonial administrator who governed Hong Kong and Fiji. Early life, colonial administration career Grantham was born on 15 March 1899 ...

. In January 1949, he co-founded the

Reform Club of Hong Kong The Reform Club of Hong Kong was one of the oldest political organisations in Hong Kong, existing from 1949 until the mid-1990s. Established by expatriates who were concerned about the Young Plan proposed by Governor Mark Aitchison Young in 1 ...

with other expatriates to push for constitutional reform as initiated by the

Young Plan The Young Plan was a program for settling Germany's World War I reparations. It was written in August 1929 and formally adopted in 1930. It was presented by the committee headed (1929–30) by American industrialist Owen D. Young, founder and for ...

and the

Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association The Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association () is a pro-Beijing political organisation established in 1949 in Hong Kong. It was one of the three pillars of the pro-Communist leftist camp throughout most of the time in Hong Kong under colonial ru ...

with a Chinese-oriented membership. In 1953, he founded the United Nations Association of Hong Kong (UNAHK) to promoted the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

values to Hong Kong residents, especially the rights of

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

of the colonised people. He also held the "Hyde Park Forum" and the "Public Opinion Forum" weekly at the City Hall. In 1963, he and other self-government advocates founded the Democratic Self-Government Party of Hong Kong to call for the internal self-government in Hong Kong. He was soon squeezed out from the party leadership. Without any result, the self-government party became less active in the 1970s. In 1983, his position in the UNAHK was squeezed out and replaced by a

pro-Beijing The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) t ...

leadership. Afterwards, he left the association. He continued to hold the "Hyde Park Forum" at the City Hall until his death in 1994. He was remembered with his iconic long beard and

cheongsam ''Cheongsam'' (, ), also known as the ''qipao'' () and sometimes referred to as the mandarin gown, is a Chinese dress worn by women which takes inspiration from the , the ethnic clothing of the Manchu people. The cheongsam is most often see ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Man-fai 1905 births 1994 deaths Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong democracy activists Reform Club of Hong Kong politicians Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association politicians United Nations Association of Hong Kong politicians Democratic Self-Government Party of Hong Kong politicians