T. V. Soong

Tse-ven Soong, or Soong Tzu-wen , was a prominent businessman and politician in the early 20th century Republic of China. His father was Charlie Soong and his siblings were the Soong sisters. His Christian name was Paul. Soong's brothers-in-law were Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and financier H.H. Kung.

Biography

Born in Shanghai, T. V. Soong received his education at Harvard University, received his Ph. D. degree from Columbia University and returned to China to engage in private business. In the Kuomintang-controlled government he served as governor of the Central Bank of China and ; minister of foreign affairs ; and president of the Executive Yuan . Soong left his legacy as head of the Chinese delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, April 1945 which later became the United Nations.

During the war years, he financed the "Flying Tigers" -- the American Voluntary Group that later was incorporated into the United States Air Force. Gen. was listed as an employee of Bank of China. On this project he worked very closely with his sister, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. He once remarked to John P. Davies, one of the China Hands, that there were no memos sent from China that he did not have access to within a few days.

With the defeat of the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War, he moved to New York and lived there until his death at the age of 77. He remained an influential member of the China Lobby. Soong had a stroke and died in San Francisco while on business in April, 1971.

Soong was married to Lo-Yi Chang .

Supachai Panitchpakdi

Supachai Panitchpakdi is the Secretary-General of the . Prior to this, he was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization from September 1 2002 to September 1 2005. He was succeeded by Pascal Lamy. Born in Thailand, he is of Hakka descent.

In 1986 Supachai Panitchpakdi was appointed as Thailand's Deputy Minister of Finance, but when the parliament was dissolved in 1988 he left politics and became president of the Thai Military Bank. In 1992 he returned to politics and became Deputy Prime Minister until 1995, responsible for trade and economics. During the Asian financial crisis in November 1997 he returned to be Deputy Prime Minister and also became Minister of Commerce.

In September 1999 he was elected to become Director-General of the World Trade Organization , sharing the post with competitor Mike Moore when a decision could not be reached. Taking the second half of the six year term, he entered office on September 1, 2002.

In March 2005 he was appointed to become the Secretary-General of the following his term at the WTO, a post he took up in late 2005. Keen to reform and revitalise the organisation, he has established a Panel of Eminent Persons to oversee the start of reform of UNCTAD.

Dr. Supachai received his Master's degree in Economics, Development Planning and his Ph.D. in Economic Planning and Development at the Netherlands School of Economics (now known as Erasmus University in Rotterdam. In 1973, he completed his doctoral dissertation under supervision of Professor Jan Tinbergen, the first Nobel laureate in economics. In the same year, he went to Cambridge University as a visiting fellow to conduct research on development models.

He published numerous books, including Educational Growth in Developing Countries , Globalization and Trade in the New Millennium and China and the WTO: Changing China, Changing World Trade .

Soong sisters

The Soong Sisters were three women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. They each played a major role in influencing their husbands, which, along with their own positions of power, ultimately changed the course of Chinese history. Of them, it was commonly said that "one loved money, one loved power and one loved China".

History

Throughout their lifetimes, each one of the sisters followed their own belief in terms of supporting the or the Communist Party of China. In the 1930s, Soong Ai-ling and her sister were the two richest women in China at the time. Both of them supported the Nationalists, while Soong Ching-ling later sided with the CPC.

In 1937 when the Second Sino-Japanese war broke out, all three of them got together after a 10 year separation in an effort to unite the KMT and CPC against the Imperial Japanese army. Soong Ai-ling devoted herself to social work such as helping wounded soldiers, refugees and orphans. She donated five ambulances and 37 trucks to the army in Shanghai and the air force, along with 500 leather uniforms.

When the Japanese occupied Nanjing and Wuhan, the three sisters moved to Hong Kong. In the 1940, they returned to Chongqing and established the Chinese Industrial Association, which opened job opportunities for people through weaving, sewing and other crafts. The sisters frequently visited schools, hospitals, orphanages, air raid shelters and aided war torn communities along the way. While both parties failed to unite at the most critical time in the 1940s, the sisters made a valiant effort in financing and assisting in all national activities.

The three sisters

{|class="wikitable"
! width=20% | English name
! width=20% | Chinese name
! width=60% | Description
|-
|Soong Ai-ling||Simplified Chinese:宋蔼龄
Traditional Chinese:宋藹齡
Pinyin:Sòng ?ilíng|| The eldest and the one who "loved money," was married to the richest man and finance minister of China, H.H. Kung.
|-
|Soong Ching-ling||Simplified Chinese:宋庆龄
Traditional Chinese:宋慶齡
Pinyin:Sòng Qìnglíng|| The one who "loved China," was married to and first President of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen. She became joint President of the People's Republic of China with Dong Biwu from 1968 to 1972 and Honorary in 1981, just before the passing of the Constitution of 1982.
|-
|Soong May-ling||Simplified Chinese:宋美龄
Traditional Chinese:宋美齡
Pinyin:Sòng Méilíng|| Youngest and the one who "loved power," was a prominent political leader in her own right, the wife and partner in power of the leader of the Kuomintang , Generalissimo of the Chinese armies, and later , Chiang Kai-shek.

Parents

* Their father was American-educated Methodist minister Charlie Soong, who made a fortune in banking and printing. Their mother was Ni Kwei-tseng.
* Their three brothers were all high ranking officials in the Republic of China government, one of whom was the famous T. V. Soong.

Cultural materials

*, the award winning 1997 Hong Kong film depicting the lives of the sisters.
*The Soong Sisters, a 1941 book by Emily Hahn.

Quote

In some literary works, there is a popular characterization said that:



In this characterization, Soong Ai-ling, who married a business tycoon, was described as a person who "loves the money", while Soong May-ling, who married the military leader, was described as who "loves the power", and Soong Ching-ling, who married the father of nation, was described as "loves the country", or, in other words, a patriotic person.

Soong May-ling

Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek (; 1897 She was the third of six children, she was born in Shanghai to Charlie Soong, a Hakka Chinese Methodist minister and businessman who made a fortune selling Bibles in China. Her siblings were: Oldest sister , middle sister , Mayling herself, then her brothers , T.L., and last T.A.

In Shanghai, May-ling attended the McTyeire School for Girls with her sister, Ching-ling, before their father arranged to have them further their education in the United States in 1907. Initially, May-ling and Ching-ling were attending a private school in Summit, New Jersey. In 1908, Ching-ling was accepted by her sister Ai-ling's alma mater, Wesleyan College, at the age of 15 and the two sisters moved to Macon, Georgia to join Ai-ling. However, problem rose as May-ling could neither gain permission to stay with her sister on campus as a family member nor could she gain acceptance as a student due to her young age. May-ling spent the subsequent year in Demorest, Georgia, where one of Ching-ling's Wesleyan friends' family resided. The friend's mother took care of May-ling and enrolled her as an 8th grader at the Piedmont College. A year later, in 1909, Wesleyan's newly appointed president, William Newman Ainsworth, gave May-ling special permission to stay at Wesleyan and assigned her special tutors. May-ling was officially registered as a freshman at Wesleyan in 1912 at the age of 15. She then transferred to Wellesley College a year later to be closer to her older brother, T.V, who, at the time, was studying at Harvard. By then both her sisters had graduated and returned to Shanghai. She graduated from Wellesley as one of the 33 Durant Scholars on June 19, 1917 with a major in English literature and minor in philosophy. As a result of being educated in English all her life, she spoke excellent English, with a pronounced accent which helped her connect with American audiences .

Madame Chiang

Soong May-ling met Chiang Kai-shek in 1920. Since he was eleven years her elder, already married, and a , May-ling's mother vehemently opposed the marriage between the two, but finally agreed after Chiang showed proof of his divorce and promised to convert to Christianity. Chiang told his future mother-in-law that he couldn't convert immediately, because religion needed to be gradually absorbed, not swallowed like a pill. They married on December 1, 1927. While some biographers regard the marriage as one of the greatest love matches of all time, others describe it as a marriage of convenience. The couple never had any children.

Madame Chiang initiated the New Life Movement and became actively engaged in Chinese politics. She was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1930 to 1932 and Secretary-General of the Chinese Aeronautical Affairs Commission from 1936 to 1938. In 1945 she became a member of the . As her husband rose to become Generalissimo and leader of the Kuomintang, Madame Chiang acted as his English translator, secretary and advisor. She was his muse, his eyes, his ears, and especially his most loyal champion. During World War II, Madame Chiang tried to promote the Chinese cause and build a legacy for her husband on par with , and . Well versed in both Chinese and western culture, she became popular both in China and abroad. Her prominence led Joseph Stilwell to quip that she ought to be appointed minister of defense.

In the United States, she drew crowds as large as 30,000 people and made the cover of TIME magazine, first with her husband as "" and second under the title "Dragon Lady." Both husband and wife were on good terms with Time Magazine senior editor and co-founder Henry Luce, who frequently tried to rally money and support from the American public for the Kuomintang. On February 18, 1943, she became the first Chinese national and second woman to address the .

After the defeat of her husband's government in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Madame Chiang followed her husband to Taiwan, while her sister Soong Ching-ling stayed on the , siding with the communists. As the Generalissimo aged, Madame Chiang seized power by assuming the role of "interpreter". Madame Chiang continued to play a prominent international role. She was a Patron of the International Red Cross Committee, honorary chair of the British United Aid to China Fund, and First Honorary Member of the Bill of Rights Commemorative Society. Through the late 1960s she was included among America's 10 most admired women.

Later life

After the death of her husband in 1975, Madame Chiang assumed a low profile. Chiang Kai-shek was succeeded to power by his eldest son Chiang Ching-kuo, from a previous marriage, with whom Madame Chiang had rocky relations. In 1975, she emigrated from Taiwan to her family's 36 acre estate in , Long Island, where she kept a portrait of her late husband in full military regalia in her living room.

Madame Chiang returned to Taiwan upon Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988, to shore up support among her old allies. However, Chiang's successor as president, Lee Teng-hui, proved to be more adept at politics than she was, and consolidated his position. As a result, she again returned to the U.S.

Madame Chiang made a rare public appearance in 1995 when she attended a reception held on in her honor in connection with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Madame Chiang also made her last visit to Taiwan in 1995.

In the , the Kuomintang produced a letter from her in which she purportedly supported the KMT candidate Lien Chan over independent candidate James Soong . James Soong himself had never disputed the authenticity of the letter.

Soong sold her Long Island estate in 2000 and spent the rest of her life in her Gracie Square apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan surrounded only by black-suited bodyguards who cleared the lobby as she passed.

When Madame Chiang was 103 years old, she had an exhibition of her Chinese paintings in New York. To this date her work is not for sale.

Death

Soong died in her sleep in New York City, in her Manhattan apartment on October 23, 2003, at the age of about 105. Her remains were interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, pending an eventual burial with her late husband who was entombed in Tzuhu, Taiwan. The stated intention is to have them both buried in mainland China once political differences are resolved.

Quotations about Soong May-ling

*
*
*

Soong Ching-ling

Soong Ch'ing-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the . She was the first non-royal woman to officially become head of state of China, acting as from 1968 until 1972. She again became head of state in 1981, briefly before her death, as President of China.

Biography

She was born to the wealthy businessman and missionary Charlie Soong in Nanshi , Shanghai, attended McTyeire School for Girls in Shanghai, and graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, United States. Her Christian name was Rosamond.

She married Sun Yat Sen in Japan on 25 October 1915; he had previously been married to Lu Muzhen. Ching-ling's parents greatly opposed the match, as Dr. Sun was 26 years her senior. After Sun's death in 1925, she was elected to the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee in 1926. However, she exiled herself to Moscow after the expulsion of the Communists from the KMT in 1927. She became the first female Chairman and President of the People's Republic of China.

Although Soong reconciled with the KMT during the Sino-Japanese War , she sided with the in the Chinese Civil War. She did not join the party but rather was part of the united front heading up the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang.

In 1939, she founded the China Defense League, which later became the China Welfare Institute. The committee worked for peace and justice, and now focuses on maternal and pediatric healthcare, preschool education, and other children's issues.

In the early 1950s, she founded the magazine, China Reconstructs, now known as China Today, with the help of Israel Epstein. This magazine is published monthly in 6 languages .

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, she became the Vice Chair of the People's Republic of China , Head of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association and Honorary President of the All-China Women's Federation. In 1951 she was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize , and in 1953 a collection of her writings, ''Struggle for New China'', was published. From 1968 to 1972 she acted jointly with Dong Biwu as head of state.

On 16 May 1981, two weeks before her death, she was admitted to the Communist Party and was named Honorary President of the People's Republic of China. She is the only person ever to hold this title.

Media portrayal

In the 1997 Hong Kong movie '''' , she is portrayed by Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung.

Soong Ai-ling

Soong Ai-ling , or Eling Soong , eldest of the Soong sisters, was the wife of H. H. Kung, who was the richest man in the early 20th Century Republic of China. The first character of her given name is written as 靄 in some texts. Her Christian name was Nancy.

Born in Shanghai, Soong arrived in the United States on May 28, 1904 at the age of 14 to begin her education at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. She returned to China in 1909 after her graduation. In late 1911, she worked as a secretary for Sun Yat-sen, a job later succeeded by her sister, Soong Ching-ling. She met her future husband, Kung, in 1913, and married the following year in Yokohama. After marrying, Soong taught for a while and engaged in child welfare work.

She went to the United States in the 1940s, and died later at the age of 83 on October 18, 1973 in the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York.

Her children were:
* Kung Ling-i , female
* Kung Ling-kai , male
* Kung Ling-chun , also known as Kung Ling-wei , female
* Kung Ling-chie , male

Media portrayal

In the 1997 Hong Kong movie "" , she was portrayed by actress Michelle Yeoh.

=

Solomon Hochoy

Sir Solomon Hochoy , , , , was the last Governor of Trinidad and Tobago, the first non-white Governor and the first Governor General after independence and the first viceroy of non-European descent.

Hochoy is of Hakka background and migrated to Trinidad at the age of 2, and grew up in Blanchisseuse. After rising through the civil service, Hochoy was appointed Governor in 1960 . When Trinidad and Tobago became independent in 1962 Hochoy was appointed Governor General. He retired from that position in 1972 and was succeeded by Ellis Clarke. After retirement he returned to Blanchisseuse where he spent the remainder of his life.

He was married to Lady Thelma Hochoy , a social activist. The ''Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway'' and the ''Solomon Hochoy Trophy'' are named in his honour.

References

*
*

Shi Dakai

Shi Dakai , born in Guigang Guangxi, also known as Wing King , was a commander in the Taiping Rebellion and a poet. He eventually became disgusted with the continuing in-fighting amongst Hong Xiuquan's followers. He was of half- and half-Zhuang parentage. Shi, along with the rest of his family, became followers of the teachings of Hong in 1849.

Disillusioned, Shi led an army of 100,000 out of the Taiping capital in 1857. He fought six years throughout central China against the much larger armies of the Qing Dynasty,and more Taiping forces follow him over 400,000 soldiers along his combat line, but its negative infulence to Taiping Rebellion that broken and shortaged primary area of defense everywhere. by way of example, Chen Yucheng failed and dead on central China.

On the banks of the , a river in Sichuan, he stopped for three days to celebrate the birth of a son, as he was a prince of the Heavenly Kingdom. The Qing finally caught up with Shi Dakai and although pleading that he quickly be killed and that the 2,000 men who were the faithful remnants of his troops be spared, he was slowly dismembered on Chengdu and all his men were massacred.

He wrote some hero's romantic poems that encouraged more and more Chinese people to overthrow the Qing dynasty, something that eventually led to the creation of the Republic of China in 1912.

Sources

*

Shermon Tang

Shermon Tang Sheung Man is a Hong Kong television actress. Shermon was awarded the "Miss Photogenic" award at the 2005 Miss Hong Kong pageant, launching her career in showbiz. Shermon attended an International School before studying in Australia.
Actually, Shermon's childhood ambition was to become a lawyer or a nurse. But as a child, she took part in Kelly Chen's debut movie "Whatever Will Be, Will Be" . "At the time, there was a big group of kids and we were all happily singing and dancing without a care. Acting gives me a huge sense of satisfaction!" she recalls. In 2006, Shermon finds herself on the smaller screen as she plays Lawrence's younger sister Ko Yau Ching in ''Welcome to the House'' .

Filmography

Welcome To The House

A Journey Called Life

Forensic Heroes II

Cordial Heroes

Awards

Miss Photogenic 2005

Qiu Fengjia

Qiu Fengjia was a patriot and a poet. He was born in Miaoli County in Taiwan. He is best known for leading resistance forces against the in 1895.

Feng Chia University in Taichung, Taiwan is named in honor of him.

Qin Rigang

Qin Rigang ,born in Guangxi, eminent military leader of the Taiping Rebellion, and known during his military tenure as the King of Yen (means swallow. He served loyally under Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Administration, led Taiping forces to many military victories attacked toward west and north. He was executed by Hong Xiuquan in 1856 because he kill Yang Xiuqing in inner struggle ,Qin is the most important general for early-Taiping Rebellion, the military ability of Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng were trained and teached by Qin that could say.

Wins

Qin Rigang very excellent goot at Mobile Warfare and the blitz even could praised a Master with these.

Battle of Nanjing

In march 10 1853,Occupied Nanjing with Yang Xiuqing.

Second occupied Wuhan

In 1855

Kill Governor Jeer Hungar

In May 1856

First rout the Army Group Jiangnan

The Jiangnan DaYing were Qing military encircle the Nanjing in strategy, It has two times, the first encircle that Qing military putin 80,000 soldiers from March 1853, but it had been routed by Qin Rigang led Li Xiucheng in May 1856, he defeated the Imperial Inspector Minister Xiang Rong and forced him suicide.

Death

Tianjing's struggle Incident

Penny Wong

Penelope "Penny" Ying-yen Wong , Australian Labor Party politician, is the current and first Australian . She has been a member of the Australian Senate since 2002, representing South Australia. Wong is the first openly gay member, and the first Asian-born member, of an or ministry.

Personal

Wong was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia to a Malaysian Chinese Hakka father and an Australian mother. She moved to Australia at the age of eight with her mother and brother, after her parents separated. After spending a year on exchange in Brazil, Wong studied Arts/Law at the University of Adelaide. While at university, she worked part time for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

Wong is a committed Christian, attending Pilgrim in Adelaide.

Career

She also became involved in political activism at university, winning a position on the National Executive of the . In 1988, Wong joined the Australian Labor Party, winning a position as a delegate to the party's state convention the following year. She has been a delegate each year since, with the exception of 1995.

Wong graduated from university in 1992, and continued on with the CFMEU, working as an industrial officer, gaining admission to the bar in 1993. During 1995 and 1996, she acted as an advisor to the , specialising in the area of forest policy. On returning to Adelaide, she began practising law, won a position on the ALP's state executive, and also took on work as a legal officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union.

Wong ran for pre-selection for the Senate in 2001, and was selected for the top spot on the party's South Australian ticket. Wong is a member of EMILY's List Australia, the support network for Labor women, and currently sits on a number of Senate committees, primarily those related to economics.

In June 2005 Wong was appointed Shadow Minister for Employment and Workforce Participation and Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility. Following the reshuffle in December 2006, she became responsible for the portfolios of Public Administration & Accountability, Corporate Governance & Responsibility, and Workforce Participation.

In November 2007, in the wake of the Labor Party victory in the , Wong was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Water. As a result of this promotion, she is the highest ranked politician representing South Australia. She accompanied Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Bali for the . Wong led final negotiations as Chair of the United Nations Working Group in the closing days of December's .

Penny Tai

Penny Tai is a Malaysian Chinese singer and songwriter in the Mandarin pop scene. Since her debut in 2000, she has released seven albums.

Biography

Penny Tai was born in Johor, Malaysia, to a Hakka family. She started song-writing at the age of 17, participating in the Halo Song-writing Contest in Kuala Lumpur, a platform which also launched the career of fellow Malaysian singer, Fish Leong. In 1999, she was offered a contract by EMI Music and moved to Taiwan pursue a career in singing and song-writing. She released her self-titled first album, ''Penny'', in January 2000. Her latest album is ''Who I Am'', released in June, 2008. She is marketed by her company as a talented singer-songwriter who is responsible for both the compositions and performance of her songs.

Discography

Albums

# ''Penny''
# ''How's That?''
# ''Just Sing It''
# ''No Penn, No Gain''
# ''So Penny''
# ''Crazy Love''
# ''iPenny''
# ''Who I Am''

Her most popular song to date internationally was the end theme for the Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden" and "Meteor Garden 2" entitled Ni Yao De Ai .

Awards

2006

* Golden Melody Awards - Best Composer

Omar Yoke Lin Ong

Omar Yoke Lin Ong is a Malaysian politician. Born Ong Yoke Lin, he began schooling at the Pudu Girls' English School. He then continued at the prestigious Victoria Institution. He finished his School Certificate in 1932 at the age of 15.

He was a founding member of Malaysian Chinese Association and was one of those instrumental in the formation of the Alliance, present-day United Front . He was in the multi-party team that negotiated the independence of Malaya from Britain.

In 1955, he was in Malaya's first Cabinet. He was appointed Post and Telecoms Minister, and the following year, Transport Minister.

From 1962 to 1972, Yoke Lin was Malaysia's ambassador to the United States and Brazil, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and High Commissioner to Canada. He was, until 1973, Minister without Portfolio. He relinquished his diplomatic appointments in November 1972 and resumed his Ministerial post until February 1973 when he was unanimously elected President of the Senate of Malaysia. He served in this position until December 31, 1980.

He has since embraced Islam and took on the name of Omar Yoke Lin Ong. He was awarded a Tunship for his services to Malaysia.

NYCCA

'''''' is a multilingal Japanese rapper. He raps in , , and .

Biography

NYCCA was born in Hong Kong, and moved to Japan when he was ten, later attending college in New York. While in high school, he became immersed in hip-hop and decided to pursue music.

Releasing a self-produced CD in 2005, NYCCA received high praises and gained popularity. His first album was released on March 16, 2006. He has performed throughout Asia as well as the United States.

Discography

Albums

* ''来恩 - LION'' SUNFLOWER/TBR SFWW-0001
* ''V.O.W. -Victory Over War-'' UMCF-1002

Singles

* ''Die Job'' UMCF-5006
* ''NO.1'' UMCF-5022

Michael Wong (singer)

Michael Wong , born August 30, 1970, is a Malaysian Chinese singer and composer. Wong began his singing career in a duo with . The pair had attained notable success in Taiwan, but in a mutual agreement the two split in 2000. Wong has released five solo albums, the third being his breakthrough album ''''. He also enjoys success as an actor in Chinese dramas and movies.

Biography

Born in Ipoh, Malaysia to a Hakka family of six as the third child amidst two older brothers and one younger sister, the first step of Michael Wong's journey in the world of music began when his parents invested into a piano for him and his younger sister. Wong was ten years old at the time. He then began to accompany his six year-old sister to attend piano lessons together. He has practiced the piano for seven years since then.

Wong, as a devout Catholic, often sang in the church choir during his school days and was once a choir teacher at a church. Graduating from in Ipoh, Wong often participated in musical performances in school and has been writing his own songs since secondary school. Arriving in Kuala Lumpur to pursue a course in computer engineering, and his interest in the world of music and music composition began to grow.

Wu Yin Liang Pin

Entering from up to 30 singing competitions in town in a single year, where he managed to surface as the winner several times, were also the stepping stones to his successful singing career today. Finally noticed by Asia Pacific Music in the karaoke contest, he then joined forces with a college mate, , and together the duo produced a demo album for Rock Records, which in turn, signed them up almost immediately. They then formed a duo group known more commonly known in Malaysia as Michael & Victor or Guang Liang Pin Guan . In Taiwan and China, they were mostly known as Wu Yin Liang Pin , a name given by their record label in Taiwan.

The split

The duo then arguably became the first Malaysians to attain much success in the music scene in Taiwan. Their albums managed to hit the top notch both locally and in Taiwan as their debut album went platinum in both nations. After a few splendid and successful years together as a duo in the Chinese music scene, during which the pair bagged countless awards for their success, Michael and Victor then decided it was time to part cordially and go their own ways in the music scene as solo singers in year 2000.

On November 9, 2007, Wong released his 5th solo studio album, ''Never Apart''.

Discography

Solo Albums

* ''Michael's First Album'' - May 10 2001
* '''' - November 08 2002
* '''' - January 1 2005
* '''' - March 03 2006
* ''Never Apart'' - November 09 2007
* ''Right Hand Side'' - September 19 2008

Other

* I Believe , compilation of - Released 1994
* The World Shines Because of Love , - December 1997
* "Michael 1996-2006 the greatest hits'' - May 16, 2007

Filmography

Movies

*The Threesome : The Movie - 1998
*Summer Holiday - 2000
*BTS - 2001
*Like A Slave - 2005
*Purple Mirage - 2006

Dramas

* White Love - 2001
*A Change of Fate - 2001
*Good Luck,Angel - 2003
*Love Storm - 2003
* Wintry Night 2 - 2003

Musical Stage Drama :
*Mr. Wing ~ a romantic rhapsody - 2005

Michael Lee-Chin

Michael Lee-Chin is a investor. He is the founder and Chairman of Portland Holdings Inc., a privately held investment company which owns a collection of diversified operating in sectors that include media, tourism, health care telecommunications and financial services. Amongst other positions, he is currently Executive Chairman of AIC Limited , and the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica. In the , he was placed at number 677, with assets worth around $1.8 billion.

Background

Early life

Lee-Chin was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica in 1951. Both his parents were biracial, Black and Chinese, Jamaicans.
When Lee-Chin was aged 7, his mother married Vincent Chen. Chen also had a son from a previous relationship, and the couple had a further 7 children together, including 6 boys and 1 girl.
His mother sold products, and worked as a book-keeper for various local firms, while his stepfather ran a local grocery store.
He attended the local high school, Titchfield High, between 1962 and 1969.

His first job came in 1965 working as part of the landscaping team at the Frenchman's Cove Hotel. In 1966 he got a summer job working on the Jamaica Queen cruise ship, cleaning the engine room.

Introduction

In 1970 he went to Canada on a scholarship program sponsored by the Jamaican Government to study Civil Engineering at McMaster University,
and graduated in 1974.
During the 8th Annual Kumon Instructor Conference Meeting 2007 in Toronto, he says that he personally met the Jamaican Prime Minister, , to request a grant for his studies. In the first year at the University, he was spending by his own money. After the first summer, he requested for the scholarship.

Career

He worked briefly as a road engineer for the Jamaican Government,
but unable to find work in his qualified field , he returned to Canada. At first he worked as a bouncer, but later found employment as a financial advisor for Investors Group.

He spent two years at the Investors Group, in the Hamilton, Ontario office and in 1979, moved to Regal Capital Planners and became regional manager. Whilst at the company, in 1983, he secured a loan from the Continental Bank of Canada for C$500,000 to purchase a stake in Mackenzie Financial Group. By 1987, the investment was worth C$3.5 million.

In 1987, took the proceeds from his Mackenzie investment and he bought a -based company called the Advantage Investment Council for $200,000. At the time, the company had holdings of around C$800,000. He renamed the company AIC, and developed it to a fund that today controls around C$6 Billion, with hundreds of thousands of investors.

Following the acquisition of AIC Limited, Lee-Chin set up the Berkshire group of companies – comprising an investment planning arm, a securities dealership and an insurance operation. By 2007, Berkshire amassed for than C$12 billion of assets under administration. In 2007, Manulife acquired Berkshire from Portland Holdings in exchange for shares, making Portland one of the largest shareholders of Manulife.

Investments 1990 - 2005

In the late 1980s, AIC suffered from a collapse in the real estate market, in which it had invested. It recovered throughout the early 1990s by maintaining investments in large groups, such as Merrill Lynch and TD bank . This caused investments to grow from US$8 million in 1990 to nearly US$8 billion by 1998.

However, Lee-Chin was reluctant to invest in the dotcom boom, and saw AIC investments lose 8 per cent in value, even as the S&P gained 56 per cent. Investors moved US$224 million out of AIC's flagship 'Advantage Mutual Fund'. The Globe and Mail ran an article predicting even more investors to leave the fund, meaning that they would run out of cash and be forced to sell its core holdings. Lee-Chin's response was to sell stock in Coca-Cola, and invest US$65 million into Mackenzie Holdings . Letters were sent to all 350,000 investors, explaining the strategy. The investors were calmed by the purchase, and the stock was later sold to Investor Group at more than twice the price AIC had paid for it. In 2000 and 2001, following the dotcom crash, AIC outperformed the market with 26 per cent growth and 4 per cent decline respectively.

In November 2003, AIC was part of a regulatory investigation involving 105 Canadian mutual funds companies. In it’s review of AIC, investigators found no evidence of late trading and market timing activity by AIC staff or in any of its funds. It did find however, market timing carried out by certain third party investors in AIC Funds. For this, the OSC fined AIC US$58.8 million for its involvement.

On October 5, 2006, Lee-Chin announced his resignation as CEO of AIC, to be replaced by Jonathan Wellum, AIC's chief investment officer. He remains AIC’s Executive Chairman.

In 2005, two investment product managers offering structured products joined the Portland Holdings portfolio, Copernican Capital Corporation has offered retail investment products, primarily sold by brokers, and has raised more than C$300 million since its launch. Markland Street Asset Management, which launched the Oil Sands Sector Fund, raised C$430 million in one of Canada’s largest closed-end IPOs.

Private life

In 1974, he married Vera Lee-Chin, a Ukrainian Canadian that he had met at University. They parted in 1991, and officially separated in 1997. Ms. Lee-Chin has since contested the separation, claiming that Lee-Chin did not disclose his actual wealth at the time of the separation. The couple had three children .

Lee-Chin now lives with Sonya Hamilton, with whom he has daughters, in , near Hamilton, Ontario.

Current fund growth and difficulties

Investment in Caribbean

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jamaica went through a period of financial crisis.
Lee-Chin saw potential in his native country, and Portland purchased 75 per cent of the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica for 6 billion Jamaican dollars from the Jamaican Government.

In 2003, Senvia Money Services Inc., a global money transfer company was established. This was followed in 2004, by the acquisition of AIC Financial Group Limited, headquartered in Trinidad.

In 2004, he announced plans to set up the AIC Caribbean Fund with the intention of investing in the entire Caribbean region. The stated aim of the fund is to raise US$1 billion in order to "make investments in businesses located in countries of the Caribbean Community , with an emphasis on Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago". So far, it has made a number of large-scale investments.

In 2006, Portland acquired an 85 per cent controlling stake in the United General Insurance Company, the largest auto insurer in Jamaica, and renamed the firm Advantage General Insurance Company. A controlling interest in CVM Communications Group was purchased at the same time.

Portland partnered with Risley Group to form Columbus Communications Ltd. – a Barbadian corporation that holds controlling interest in a number of telecommunications providers in the Caribbean including Cable Bahamas Ltd. Caribbean Crossings Ltd., Merit Communications Ltd. And FibralLink Jamaica Ltd.

In the tourism sector, Michael guided Portland through a number of acquisitions in the Caribbean. Among them, the hospitality operations of the Trident Villas and Spa in Jamaica, Reggae Beach and Blue Lagoon.
Portlands first acquisition in the health care industry sector was announced in July 2006, when Medical Associates Ltd., a privately held hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, joined the Portland Group.

Commodities boom

Similar to the experience of the late 1990s, Lee-Chin again has shied away from investing in commodities and the energy market boom. He has specifically stated that "We do not like commodities-type businesses nor most high-tech companies simply because they are implicitly poor enterprises which we would not want to hold for the long term".

Again, this strategy has meant that AIC has significantly underperformed the S&P index, but Lee-Chin believes that the current boom is just another bubble. Lee-Chin describes the market since 1990 as "a series of rolling speculations", and now 'we see a commodities bubble'.

Business strategy

While at Investors Group, he studied the strategies of successful investors, such as Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham and Kenneth Thomson. Their buy and hold strategy is easily recognisable in the motto of AIC - ''Buy, hold and prosper''.

Accolades and awards

Lee-Chin has received various business awards, including:
* Being placed on the Forbes Billionaires list since 2001. In 2006, he was placed at number 365.
* In 2002, Lee-Chin received the 'Harry Jerome Award' for 'Business Leader of the Decade'
* Time Magazine named Lee-Chin one of 'Canada's Heroes' in July 5, 2004.

He is also a generous philanthropist, and has donated to various causes, including:
* C$5 million to McMaster University which awarded him an Honorary Degree in November 2003.

* JMD$155 million to Northern Caribbean University.

* C$30 million to the Royal Ontario Museum which commissioned a new building named the Michael Lee Chin Crystal. Designed by Daniel Libeskind, it opened on June 2, 2007.
* An unspecified amount of money that makes him one of the leading donors to . He was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the fund in 2003.

On June 19, 2007, an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree was conferred upon Michael Lee-Chin by the University of Toronto.

Business ventures owned or operated by Michael Lee Chin

* - http://www.aic.com/
*Columbus Communications -
::*Cable Bahamas - http://www.cablebahamas.com/
:::*Caribbean Crossings - http://www.caribbeancrossings.com/
::*Columbus Communications Jamaica Ltd. / Flow Jamaica - http://www.flowjamaica.com/
:::*FibraLink - http://www.fibralink.com/
:::*CVM Television Group - http://www.cvmtv.com/
:::*Merit Communications - http://www.meritcom.net/
::::*New World Network - http://www.nwncable.com/
:::::*
:::*Sauce Cable Company
::::*Affordable Enterprise Ltd.
::::*Cabana Cable Ltd.
::::*Dynamic Corp, a company in the making Eastern Cable Network Ltd.
::::*Home Commercial Satellite Ltd.
::::*Universal Cable Network Ltd.
::*Columbus Communications Trinidad Ltd/Flow Trinidad - http://www.flowtrinidad.com/
::*Columbus Communications Grenada Ltd/Flow Grenada - http://www.grenadabroadcast.com/
*Eastern Caribbean Gas Pipeline Company
*National Commercial Bank of Jamaica - http://www.jncb.com/
*Radio Jamaica - http://www.radiojamaica.com/
*Reggae Beach , Jamaica
*Senvia - http://www.senvia.com/
*Total Finance Bank of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd.
*Trident Hotel - http://www.tridentjamaica.com/

Martin Lee

Martin Lee was the founding chairman of the , a pro-democracy political party in Hong Kong. He was the member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , elected by direct election from the Geographical Constituency of Hong Kong Island. Professionally he is a barrister-at-law, and as of 2003 the first on the order of precedence of Senior Counsels in Hong Kong.

Lee has been the major face of the Hong Kong democracy movement on the international stage, especially in the United States. He is a controversial figure in Hong Kong. To human rights activists he has been labeled "The Father of Democracy" in Hong Kong. To Beijing officials, he has been labeled a "running dog of the colonialists".

After being a member of the Legislative Council for 23 years, on 27 March 2008, Lee announced that he would not seek re-election when his term ended in September of the year.

Biography

Lee was born in Hong Kong and raised in Guangzhou. He was the sixth of seven children. After he graduated from Wah Yan College, Kowloon, Lee obtained his undergraduate BA degree in and Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. He has been a member from 1985 to 1997. He realised that the long-term trends in the were not in favour of moving towards democracy and . Lee's activism to renew the momentum behind the Chinese democracy movement has stalled since 1989. Most notable is Lee's call for the overthrow of mainland China's leadership.

Internationally he became an icon for fighting the Chinese government for more democracy in Hong Kong, and was recognized and awarded by a number of international organizations, including the "1995 International Human Rights Award" by the American Bar Association, the Prize For Freedom by the Liberal International in 1996, the "Democracy Award" of the National Endowment for Democracy in 1997, and the "Schuman Medal" in 2000 which Lee was the first non-European to receive from the European Peoples Party and European Democrats. Tung Chee-hwa countered the generally negative image of Hong Kong under rule, and said Lee was "bad mouthing" the in front of the international audience.

Improving PRC human rights via Olympic

In October 2007, Lee published an article named "China's Olympic Opportunity" in The Wall Street Journal criticizing People's Republic of China for not living up to its promise to improve its human rights status during the . However Lee urged the West, particularly United States, not to boycott the , and instead take the opportunity when China is opening itself up to the world, to directly engage China in efforts to bring China closer to the international community in terms of its human rights. His article was somehow being twisted and words like "direct engagement" was translated to Chinese equivalent of "intervene", and some media even claimed that Lee asked United States to boycott the games. This immediately stirred backlashes from Beijing loyalists, who virtually accused Lee of being a hanjian. On October 27, the Democratic Party issued an announcement to newspapers setting out the party's position regarding the article Lee published. Chairman Albert Ho reiterated, "It is not an apology, but a clear declaration of what we stand for."

Criticism

As early as 1992 warned Chris Patten, the then new Hong Kong governor at the time that Lee must not be appointed to the cabinet. The pro-Beijing camp have since called Lee a "traitor" in 2004 upon his return from Washington D.C. His patriotism was questioned along with his Chinese identity. Lee's father is connected to the Kuomintang, which can further complicate things. Some have complained the democratic movement have gone too far and his uncompromising stance for universal suffrage at the earliest possible date is destructive to the local business climate and political stability.

Other info

Martin Lee visited the Holy See with Joseph Cardinal Zen in March 2006.

In 2007, Lee took up the application for judicial review of the Government's decision to demolish Queen's Pier.

Luo Zhuoying

Luo Zhuoying was a Republic of China Lieutenant-General during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Military career

*1937 Commander in Chief 15th Army Group
*1937 General Officer Commanding 16th Army
*1937 - 1938 General Officer Commanding XVIII Corps
*1938 - 1941 Commander in Chief 19th Army Group
*1938 Commander in Chief Wuhan Garrison Command
*1939 Commander in Chief Frontline Area 9th War Area
*1941 Deputy Commander in Chief 9th war Area
*1942 Commander in Chief 1st Route Expeditionary Forces, Burma
*1942 Chief of Staff to American General Stillwell
* Commandant of Officers' Training Center Southeast China
*1944 - 1945 Commandant of Officers' Training Center, National Military Council
*1945 - 1947 Chairman of the Government of Quangdong Province

Luo Wen-jia

Luo Wen-jia , a Taiwanese politician, was born in Sinwu, Taoyuan. Luo is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party , he once served as an assistant to Chen Shui-bian, a national legislator at that time. After Chen elected as the mayor of Taipei, Luo became the spokesman of city government. In 1999, Luo started to occupy the chair of Department of Propaganda of DPP.

After Chen became the president of Republic of China , Luo transfered to the vice-chair of Council for Cultural Affairs of central government. In 2001, Luo joined the and was elected as a legislator. He was subsequently appointed as the chair of Council for Hakka Affairs in 2004. Than he joined the election of magistrate of Taipei County in 2005, but lost to Chou Hsi-wei, the candidate of Kuomingtang . Luo joined the again in 2008, but defeated by Lee Ching-An.