Legal giant and legislator led the way in promoting Chinese culture

Former executive councillor, legislator and prominent legal figure Woo Pak-chuen, who has died aged 98, was praised yesterday as a man who loved Hong Kong wholeheartedly and contributed unconditionally.

'From him, we really learnt a lot. His passion for Hong Kong, his will to serve the community, all these made him such a role model,' Moses Cheng Mo-chi, a senior partner of legal firm PC Woo & Co, said.

Woo established the firm in 1945 and it has long been regarded as one of the city's top legal practices.

A former chairman of Kowloon Motor Bus and a strong advocate of Chinese culture, Woo was born in Hong Kong on January 1910, the son of Woo Hay-tong, who was known for establishing the Woo Hay Tong Scholarships for local students.

Graduating from London University as a Bachelor of Law in 1937, he gained his doctoral degree in law three years later and was president of the Law Society in 1959-60.

Before the handover and especially before the 1980s, he was one of the most prominent local Chinese public figures as an executive councilor from 1972-1976 and legislator from 1964-73. He chaired KMB from the 1980s to the early 1990s.

Woo was vocal on education reform and a pioneering advocate of Chinese culture, at times when it was largely neglected by colonial society.