Sir Man-kam Lo, CBE (; 21 July 1893 – 7 March 1959) was a Eurasian lawyer in Hong Kong and unofficial member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Early life and education
Man-kam Lo was born into a prominent Eurasian family in July 1893. His father was Lo Cheung-shiu, a compradore of Jardine, Matheson & Co. At the age of 13, he left Hong Kong to study law in England in 1906. He graduated with First Class Honours in the Law Society Examinations in London and returned to Hong Kong in 1915. He began practicing law and later became the senior partner of the law firm Lo & Lo.
In 1918, he married Victoria Hotung, the eldest daughter of Robert Ho Tung, a prominent Hong Kong businessman and close friend of his father's.
Family
Man-kam Lo was the eldest child of Lo Cheung-shiu and Shi Sheung-hing. He had three brothers (Man-wai, Man-ho and Man-hin) and five sisters. Man-wai Lo also became a lawyer and partner in Lo and Lo, and served on the Legislative and Executive Councils.
Man-kam Lo and Victoria had six children: Gwendolyn, Wilbur, Phoebe, Vera, Rita and Lo Tak-shing.
Lo Tak Sing followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a lawyer and member of the Executive and Legislative Councils. He ran as a candidate in the first elections for Chief Executive of Hong Kong following the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China in 1997.
Public life
When the first large-scale labour strike broke out in Hong Kong in 1920, Man-kam Lo acted as a legal adviser to the strike organiser, the Chinese Mechanics Institute, and negotiated an agreement between the workers and employers. He was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1921.
During the Canton–Hong Kong strike, Lo and his brother Lo Man-wai joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, and more Hong Kong Chinese followed.
Lo was ambivalent on the mui-tsai system, a form of child slavery then prevalent in colonial Hong Kong. Initially an ardent defender like Sir Robert Hotung, his father-in-law, he later supported its abolition.
From 1929 to 1930, he was the chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital and the honorary legal adviser for the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. In 1931, he served as honorary legal adviser for the Po Leung Kuk society and the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange. He became the vice-chairman of the Rotary Club in 1932 and the chairman the following year. In January 1934, he was named chairman of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children.
In May 1929, he was elected member of the Sanitary Board. He was also a member of the University Council of the University of Hong Kong from 1932 to 1956, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association in 1933 and first President of the Asian Football Confederation in 1954.
Man-kam Lo succeeded his mother-in-law Clara Cheung Lin-kok as director of the Tung Lin Kok Yuen in Happy Valley after her death. Po Kok School was founded and expanded by the Tung Lin Kok Yuen under Man-kam Lo.
He received the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935 and the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937. In 1941, he was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Legislative Council Unofficial member
In 1935, Lo-man Kam succeeded Robert Kotewall as one of the three Chinese representatives in the Legislative Council. During his tenure, he was an outspoken advocate for the Chinese community.
Lo supported the government's policy on hiring more local civil servants after a report on government salaries led to a public uproar. Governor Andrew Caldecott adopted the policy in 1935 to consider local candidates before vacancies were advertised in Britain.
Amidst the threat of a Japanese invasion, Lo was appointed to the Taxation Committee in December 1938, which intended to introduce new taxes to raise extra revenue in preparation for war. The Taxation Committee was replaced by the War Revenue Committee in 1940 and Lo was reappointed to the committee. Due to pressure from the business sector, the Committee rejected the government's proposed Income Tax Bill, recommending instead a partial income tax.