Fok Hing Tong

Fok Hing Tong (1872-1957) also known as Huo Qingtang, was a Chinese business person and social reformer.

She was the daughter of Fok Chin Shang, one of the first Christian Chinese vicars in Hong Kong. As three of her four sisters, she married a Chinese Christian from Australia; her spouse was Kwok Kwai.

In 1900, her spouse and brothers-in-law founded the retail Sincere Company, regarded as the first Chinese retail company in Hong Kong, who opened the first warehouse in Hong Kong and China. Fok Hing Tong was not just an assistant, but an active partner in the company; reportedly, the idea was in fact hers. In contrast to other Chinese women in business, she engaged openly and officially in business, making her a pioneer and a role model for Chinese women: she became the first female store clerk in China when she manned one of the counters in the warehouse, which was seen as a sensation and attracted large crowds. As a person, she was described as a dutiful wife and mother.

Fok Hing was also active within social reform. In 1918, she, alongside her sister Fok Shui Hue, Katherine Woo and Su Peiqui, became the co-founder of Young Women's Christian Association, the first women's organisation in Hong Kong, which she chaired in 1920-23. She was also actively engaged in the Anti-Mui Tsai Movement, which worked to end the custom of selling girls and women in servitude.

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