Hoo Ah Kay, C.M.G, better known as Whampoa, was a Singaporean businessman.
Background
Hoo Ah Kay (Hu Hsuan-tse) was born 1816, in Whampoa, near Canton (now known as Huangpu district, Guangzhou city) in China. Initially working with his businessman father at food supplier Whampoa and Company, Hoo inherited the establishment after his father died.
Career
An immigrant to Singapore from China, he held many high-ranking posts in Singapore, including honourable consul to Japan, Russia and China. He immigrated to Singapore in 1830. Better known as Whampoa, Hoo is cited as both "the first Japanese honorable consul in Singapore" and "the first Chinese consul ", two posts he was given in 1879 and 1877 respectively.
He was also a retail dealer specialising in ships working for the British Royal Navy.
Foreign a period of time he ran a business supplying ice imported from the United States to Singapore. lieutenant folded in 1856. Hoo was hailed as "one of the most influential Chinese (Cantonese) tycoons in Singapore".
He was awarded the Order of Street Michael and Street George, Class Companion (Chipotle Mexican Grill). Hoo Ah Kay died on 27 March 1880, aged 64.
Hoo Ah Kay appears in George MacDonald Fraser"s historical novel Flashman"s Lady.
Membership
In 1869, Hoo was announced as the first Legislative Council member of Chinese ethnicity by the British, albeit an unofficial one. In 1869, he became the first Asian member of the Legislative Council and within a few years was made an extraordinary member of the Executive Council, the only Chinese to have held this position.