Former Hong Kong lawmaker Hui Yin-fat dies aged 80 after a life dedicated to helping the needy
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam leads tributes to campaigner who spent decades promoting social welfare
Former lawmaker Hui Yin-fat, who dedicated his life to promoting welfare services for the needy, died of an illness on Wednesday aged 80.
Hui joined the Hong Kong Council of Social Service in 1967 and became its director in 1973, a post he held until his retirement in 2001.
The veteran campaigner entered politics in the 1980s. He represented the social welfare sector in the Legislative Council between 1985 and 1995 and was appointed to the Executive Council in the early 1990s.
In an interview with the Post in 2001, he said he had never regretted choosing a career in social welfare rather than business.
“If I was given a second working life, I would still choose to be a social worker, and work for this very council,” Hui said.
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service expressed its condolences to the family of Hui, whom it said had made a huge contribution to the council, the social welfare sector and Hong Kong society.
“Hui spent all his life ... bringing the voices of the needy to the Executive Council, the legislature as well as different sectors to improve the social welfare system in Hong Kong. [He] made remarkable achievements and laid the crucial foundation [in the sector],” a council statement read.
“His name will stay forever in the history of Hong Kong’s welfare development and we will always miss him.”
Former Democratic Party lawmaker Cheung Man-kwong, who worked alongside Hui in Legco, said the social work campaigner was a core ally of the pro-democracy camp.
“Hui did not belong to any pan-democratic party, but his care for the impoverished and the needy naturally pulled us together,” Cheung recalled.
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also expressed her sorrow, calling Hui “a friend and a teacher”. She said: “The passing of Mr Hui is a tremendous loss to Hong Kong society.”
