Yeung Kwong

This is a Chinese name; the family name is 楊 (Yeung).

Yeung Kwong
Traditional Chinese	楊光
Simplified Chinese	杨光
Transcriptions Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yáng Guāng

Yeung Kwong, GBM (1926 – 16 May 2015) was a Hong Kong Communist trade unionist and activist. He was leader of the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots against the British rule in Hong Kong.

Trade unionist career

Born in 1926, Yeung became a member of the Hong Kong Tramways Workers Union in 1948 and led strikes by Hong Kong Tramway's fare conductors the following year.

He served as chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), the largest pro-Communist labour union in Hong Kong, from 1962 to 1980, and then its president between 1980 and 1988. From 1973 to 1987, he was a local deputy to the National People's Congress.

1967 Leftist Riots

During the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots, which was inspired by the mainland China's Cultural Revolution and escalated from a labour dispute at a plastic-flower factory in San Po Kong, Yeung served as director of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Committee for Anti-Hong Kong British Persecution Struggle. Thousands were injured and 51 died, 15 of whom were killed in bombings planted by the Leftists.

Grand Bauhinia Medal controversy

Nominated by the FTU, then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal, the highest honour in Hong Kong, to Yeung for his "outstanding contribution to the labour movement and labour welfare in Hong Kong and for his dedicated community service" in 2001.

The award ceremony was held on 13 October 2001, and controversy immediately rose after the announcement, with many people believing that Tung, who was seeking re-election at the time, was pandering to the FTU, which is an important bloc of vote in the unique Chief Executive election system in Hong Kong. Yeung had in 1996 and 2002 sat on the Election Committee that elected Tung as Chief Executive. Some critics asserted that Yeung was not suitable for the highest honour of the land. Critics argued the event was a symbolic gesture for approval of the 1967 riot. Criticisms were also from victims of the riots and officials responsible for putting down the unrest, but the government declined to say if Yeung's "contributions" included what he did during the protests.

"It is not a matter of who encouraged this kind of action [bomb attacks]. Oppression will result in popular revolt," Yeung responded. And he said deaths and injuries were inevitable in the struggle when asked if he felt sorry for the victims. Similar protests also occurred outside his funeral on 14 June, 2015, where protesters brought champagne to celebrate his death, and also pineapples (a metaphor and Cantonese slang for bombs and grenades), and also cursed him to go to hell.

Death

In the morning of 16 May 2015, Yeung died at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin after he underwent a heart operation last year. Acting Chief Executive Carrie Lam sent her condolences to Yeung's family and praised the man for his contributions to the labour movement.

References

• RTHK article on Yeung's involvement in 1967 riots
• Cheung Man Kwong's newspaper article
• Editorial in Taipei Times, 2001
• Hong Kong Hansard record on proceedings, 2001

Political offices
Preceded by Lee Sang	Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions 1962–1980	Succeeded by Poon Kwong-wai
Preceded by Chan Yaocai	President of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions 1980–1988	Succeeded by Lee Chark-tim
Order of precedence
Preceded by Li Ka-shing Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal	Hong Kong order of precedence Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal	Succeeded by Elsie Leung Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal