Powerful elite say farewell to Lee Quo-wei
Former Hang Seng Bank chairman praised for his perseverance and dedication
Hundreds gathered at the North Point funeral parlour yesterday to remember Lee Quo-wei, the veteran banker who played a critical role in shaping Hong Kong before its handover to Chinese rule.
Many from the city's power elite were among the 600 people who attended the service at the Hong Kong Funeral Home before the casket was carried away to be interred at Cape Collinson Crematorium in Chai Wan. Among the guests were former and current chief secretaries Anson Chan Fang On-sang and Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
His amazing rise through the ranks of Hang Seng, from a junior staff member all the way up to becoming the bank's chairman was, and still is, legendary
At a vigil a day earlier, 1,400 guests, including tycoons Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee, turned out in person to pay respects to the former Hang Seng Bank executive chairman, lawmaker and executive councillor.
Lee Quo-wei's list of pallbearers included former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, former Executive Council convenor Sze Yuen-chung and former chief justice Ti-liang Yang, the only ethnic Chinese to take on the job under colonial rule.
In a short eulogy, Yang, who knew Lee for more than 50 years, said his "perseverance and dedication - along with his amazing career path - made him an inspiration and a role model for us all.
"His amazing rise through the ranks of Hang Seng, from a junior staff member all the way up to becoming the bank's chairman was, and still is, legendary," Yang said.