Kenneth Fung Explained

Sir Kenneth Fung
Native Name Lang:zh-tw
Honorific-Suffix:CBE, KStJ, LLD, DSocSc, JP
Office:Unofficial Member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong
Term Start:28 May 1962
Term End:30 June 1972
Predecessor:Chau Sik-nin
Successor:Chung Sze-yuen
Appointed:Sir Robert Black
Sir David Trench
Office1:Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Term Start1:8 July 1959
Term End1:23 June 1965
Appointed1:Sir Robert Black
Sir David Trench
Birth Date:1911 5, df=yes
Birth Place:British Hong Kong
Death Place:Hong Kong Adventist Hospital, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Occupation:Businessman, politician, philanthropist
Alma Mater:University of Hong Kong
Spouse:Lady Ivy Fung Kan Shiu-han, OBE
Children:Fung Hing-lun, Lawrence
Dr. Fung Hing-biu, Robert
Fung Hing-cheung, Kenneth, BBS
Fung Hing-chiu, Cyril
Fung Chi-yee, Angela (Bender)

Sir Kenneth Fung Ping-fan, CBE, KStJ, LLD, DSocSc, JP (; 28 May 1911 – 16 May 2002) was a prominent Hong Kong politician and businessman.

Biography

Fung was born on 28 May 1911 to Fung Ping-shan,[1] a co-founder of the Bank of East Asia,[2] with his twin brother Fung Ping-wah. He graduated from School of Chinese Studies at the University of Hong Kong in 1931.[3]

He took up his family business after his father's death in 1931, becoming the general manager and the director of his family business, the Bank of East Asia. At 28 Fung also established the Fung Ping Fan Group, which in 1975 bought a McDonald's franchise and introduced the fast-food chain to what was then the British colony of Hong Kong.[2] He co-founded the Ocean Park Hong Kong and was a founding chairman of the park.

From 1951 to 1960 he was the appointed unofficial member of the Urban Council of Hong Kong. He was appointed to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 1959, in which he served until 1965. From 1962 to 1972 he was the unofficial member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. For his public services in Hong Kong, Fung was knighted in 1971.

Fung was the founder and president of Hong Kong's World Wide Fund for Nature and was district governor of Rotary International.[2] He was among the first members of the Photographic Society of Hong Kong when it was formed in 1937.[4] He was involved closely in the work of the Scout movement and of the Y.M.C.A. He is a past commissioner of the St. John Ambulance Brigade and was the first chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme in Hong Kong. He became a member of the Court of the University of Hong Kong in 1948. In 1969 he was given an honorary degree of doctor of social sciences.[5] In 1973 he received the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award.[6]

Fung died on 16 May 2002 at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital, aged 92.[2] He married Ivy Kan Shiu-han and was survived by his four sons and one daughter.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Fung . Cornelia Lichauco . Wan . Yiu Cheun . Fung Ping Shan: The Man, His Life and His Library . 1 January 2012 . The Commercial Press Ltd. . Hong Kong . 978-9620744761 . 229 . 1st .
  2. News: K. Fung Ping-fan, 92; Brought McDonald's to Hong Kong. 20 May 2002. Los Angeles Times.
  3. Book: 65. Growing with Hong Kong: The University and Its Graduates : the First 90 Years. Hong Kong University Press. 2002.
  4. News: SIR KENNETH FUNG PING-FAN DIES AT 92. 19 May 2002. Associated Press.
  5. News: The Hon Sir Kenneth FUNG Ping Fan. The University of Hong Kong.
  6. Web site: Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement . www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.