So Chung Ping

Mr SO Chung Ping, MH

Honorary University Fellow (2013)

Mr So Chung Ping is a well-respected community leader in Hong Kong. He dedicated his early years to education and later turned to business and charity enterprises. For over 40 years he has devoted himself to community services: he founded the Lions Club of West Kowloon in 1978 to offer aid to the underprivileged; from 1984 to 1986, he was a Director of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals; in 1985, he became the first District Councillor of the Tsim Sha Tsui District generated through a public ballot. The Tsim Sha Tsui District Kai Fong Welfare Association has, under Mr So’s leadership, contributed greatly to medical welfare, education, and services for senior citizens. Besides building the Tsim Sha Tsui District Kai Fong Welfare Association Activities Centre for the Elderly, the Association has also made donations to 8 local universities to establish bursaries, as well as donated toward the building of numerous rural schools in the Mainland under Project Hope. The Association has also contributed to the building of the Tongzhou District Welfare Hospital in Beijing and the Tianbao Township Health Centre in Malipo County, Yunnan Province.

Mr So is extensively engaged in public service. He is now the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Tsim Sha Tsui District Kai Fong Welfare Association, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Guangdong Community Organisations; Vice-President of the Hong Kong Civic Association, Deputy Chairman of The Unified Association of Kowloon West, Founding President of the Lions Club of West Kowloon, and Honorary Superintendent of the Tongzhou District Welfare Hospital in Beijing.

Mr So’s distinguished services to the community have been officially recognised on numerous occasions. In 1985 and 1986 respectively, he received Community Services Awards from the Government of the HKSAR. In the year 2000, the Government of the HKSAR conferred him the Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service. In 2012, he was made Honorary University Fellow by the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, and in the same year he received the Medal of Honour from the Government of the HKSAR. He is also an Honorary Citizen of the Tongzhou District of Beijing.

With Mr So’s support, the Tsim Sha Tsui District Kai Fong Welfare Association has made numerous donations to the University: in 1995, HK$200,000 was donated to help outstanding students with financial needs; from 1999 to 2003, a total HK$1 million was also donated toward the establishment of the Tsim Sha Tsui District Kai Fong Welfare Association Scholarship for the School of Continuing Education of the University. The Association has also collaborated with the University on several occasions: in 2011, the Association gave its support to the University for establishing the first Chinese Medicine Teaching Hospital in Hong Kong; in 2012, the Association collaborated with the University to start a Chinese Medicine Specialty Centre.

Mr So has a strong devotion to community services. His enormous contribution as well as unreserved support for the University, particularly in developing Chinese medicine teaching and clinical services, have been most invaluable.