{{Short description|Hong Kong merchant and politician}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Lau Chu Pak.gif | image_size = 180px | alt = | honorific_prefix = | name = Lau Chu-pak | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|size=100%|country=HKG|CMG|JP}} | office = Unofficial Member of the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong]] | term_start = 5 September 1913 | term_end = 7 June 1922 | successor = [[Ng Hon-tsz]] | predecessor = [[Ho Kai]] | appointer = Sir [[Francis Henry May]]<br />Sir [[Reginald Edward Stubbs]] | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1867|6|5}} | birth_place = [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1922|5|3|1867|6|5}} | death_place = [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] | party = | profession = | alma_mater = | resting_place = | spouse = | signature = | footnotes = }} {{Infobox Chinese | order = | showflag = | t = 劉鑄伯 | j = Lau<sup>4</sup> Zyu<sup>3</sup> baak<sup>3</sup> | y = Làuh Jyu baak }}
'''Lau Chu-pak''' {{postnominals|country=HKG|CMG|JP}} (5 June 1867 – 3 May 1922) was a Hong Kong merchant and politician.
Lau Chu-pak was admitted to [[Queen's College, Hong Kong|Queen's College]] in the same year as [[Sun Yat-sen]]. He became a clerk at the [[Hong Kong Observatory]] and later went into business and became a [[comprador]] of the [[West Point Godown Company]] in 1888 and of [[A.S. Watson Group|A. S. Watson]] from 1893. Together with [[Ho Fook]], they founded the [[Chinese General Chamber of Commerce]], where he later served as chairman.
Along with Sir [[Robert Hotung]], Lau was an early developer of the West [[Hung Hom]] (now [[East Tsim Sha Tsui]]) area of Kowloon in the 1890s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Carl T.|last2=Hayes|first2=James|date=1975|title=Hung Hom (紅磡): An Early Industrial Village in Old British Kowloon|journal=[[Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society]]|language=en|volume=15|pages=318–324|issn=0085-5774}}</ref>
He held various public posts, including the chairmanship of [[Po Leung Kuk]] and [[Tung Wah Hospital]], and was a member of the [[District Watch Committee]] and the [[Sanitary Board]].<ref>{{cite book|page=239|title=Governors, Politics and the Colonial Office: Public Policy in Hong Kong, 1918–58|first=Gavin|last=Ure|year=2012|publisher=Hong Kong University Press}}</ref> He was appointed as [[Unofficial Member]] of the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]] from 1913 until his death in 1922.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lugard in Hong Kong: Empires, Education and a Governor at Work|page=199|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|first=Bernard|last=Mellor}}</ref>
He helped found the [[University of Hong Kong]] by donating to the endowment fund in 1911. He later became a member of the University's Court between 1911 and 1914 and was made honorary life member of the Court in 1914. He was a member of the University Council from 1911 to 1922.
In 1921, Lau and fellow Legislative Councillor [[Ho Fook]] established the Society for the Protection of the Mui Tsai, an initiative aimed at curbing the demise of the [[mui-tsai]] system, a form of child slavery in which young girls were bought and sold in Hong Kong and other parts of China. The society had the backing of Chinese community leaders including [[Ts'o Seen Wan]], [[Chow Shou-son]] and [[Ho Kom-tong]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Carl T.|date=1981|title=The Chinese Church, Labour and Elites and the Mui Tsai question in the 1920s|journal=[[Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society]]|language=en|volume=21|pages=91–113|issn=0085-5774}}</ref>
Lau adopted a staunchly conservative and anti-communist stance amid the 1925 Seamen's Strike. He regarded "strong Bolshevist support" as the root cause and opposed any concession.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chan|first1=Lau Kit-ching|date=2000| title=The Perception of Chinese Communism in Hong Kong 1921-1934 | journal=[[China Quarterly]] |language=en| volume=164 |issue= |pages=1048|issn=0305-7410|doi=10.1017/S0305741000019299|s2cid=153886582}}</ref>
His son Lau Tak-po founded the [[Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry|Hong Kong and Yaumatei Ferry Company]], which is still under the control of the family.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|hk}} {{s-bef|before=[[Ho Kai]]}} {{s-ttl|title= Chinese [[Unofficial Member]]|years=1913–1922}} {{s-aft|after=[[Ng Hon-tsz]]}} {{s-bef|before=[[Wei Yuk]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Senior Chinese Unofficial Member#Senior Chinese Unofficial Member in Legco|Senior Chinese Unofficial Member]]|years=1917–1922}} {{s-aft|after=[[Chow Shou-son]]}} {{end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lau, Chu-pak}} [[Category:1867 births]] [[Category:1922 deaths]] [[Category:Hong Kong businesspeople]] [[Category:Hong Kong philanthropists]] [[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Members of the Sanitary Board of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Alumni of Queen's College, Hong Kong]] [[Category:People from British Hong Kong]]