Ng Ming-yum

{{Short description|Hong Kong politician and writer}} {{family name hatnote|Ng|lang=Chinese}} {{Use British English|date=June 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Ng Ming-yum |native_name= {{nobold|吳明欽}} |native_name_lang = zh-hk |alt = |caption = |order = |office = Member of the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]] |term_start = 9 October 1991 |term_end = 22 June 1992 |alongside =  |deputy = |lieutenant = |president = |taoiseach = |chancellor = |governor = |governor-general = |governor_general = |succeeding =  |predecessor = |successor = [[Tang Siu-tong]] |constituency = [[New Territories West (constituency)|New Territories West]] |majority = |office1 = Member of the [[Regional Council of Hong Kong|Regional Council]] |term_start1 = 1 April 1986 |term_end1 = 22 June 1992 |successor1 = Yim Tin-sang |order2 =  |office2 = Member of the [[Tuen Mun District Board]] |term_start2 = 1 April 1985 |term_end2 = 22 June 1992 |successor2 = Ho Hang-mui |birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1955|4|13}} |birth_place = Hong Kong |death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1992|6|22|1955|4|13}} |death_place = Hong Kong |party = [[Meeting Point]]<br />[[United Democrats of Hong Kong|United Democrats]] |other_party =  |partner =  |relations = |children = |alma_mater = |occupation = Politician |profession = |cabinet = |committees = |portfolio = }} '''Ng Ming-yum''' ({{lang-zh|c=吳明欽}}; 13 April 1955 – 22 June 1992) was a Hong Kong politician and writer. He was a key founder of the [[United Democrats of Hong Kong]] (forerunner of the [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]]), a member of the [[Tuen Mun District]] Council, an elected member of the [[Regional Council (Hong Kong)|Regional Council]] and the youngest member of the Legislative Council to die in office. He supported the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square protesters]] in 1989, and is remembered for carrying a flag, leading a supporting crowd during the related protest in Hong Kong.{{citation needed|date=March 2012}}

A writer for [[Breakthrough Magazine]] ({{lang-zh|links=no|c=突破}}; a Christian magazine published in Hong Kong from 1973 to 1999), [[Lee Wing Tat|Lee Wing-Tat]] was an ally of Ng inside the party and carried his portrait at his funeral. He would later become Democratic Party chairman.

==Political career== Ng was a secondary school teacher and took an active role in community affairs. In 1971, he joined a demonstration asserting China's territorial rights over the [[Diaoyutai Islands]]. He was also active in the "Anti-corruption, Arrest Godber" movement in 1973. In the 1980s, he was deeply involved in the [[Meeting Point]] pressure group, and represented the group to win a seat on [[Tuen Mun District Council]] in 1985, securing the most votes in the territory. He went on to be re-elected with high votes in 1988 and 1991. In 1991, he won a seat on the Legislative Council.

===1985 attack incident=== On 11 October 1985, while going to greet residents in [[Tuen Mun]], he was savagely attacked with knives and metal pipes, hospitalising him for eight days. Of the assailants - thought to have been hired thugs, five were arrested and two went to prison. It was the first time a pro-democracy district councillor had been assaulted and generated widespread concern in Hong Kong. It also led to Ng gaining 70 percent of the votes in his district against the pro-Beijingers in the [[1986 Hong Kong municipal elections|Regional Council Election in 1986]].<ref>[http://www.singtao.ca/news.php?nt_seq_id=146581 Sing Tao news site]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>[https://medium.com/recall-hk/f-7b31979875b7 過渡期暗湧：新西第一滴血，票王吳明欽遇襲 (trans: Undercurrent during the transition period: Xinxi’s first drop of blood, King of Votes Ng Ming-yum attacked)], Medium.com</ref><ref>[https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20120103/2HU6BOP64BT3W6F46RLFUO4VPE/ 拚命三郎, 民主派早殞「明日之星」] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121011216/https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20120103/2HU6BOP64BT3W6F46RLFUO4VPE/ |date=21 January 2021 }}, Apple Daily, 3 January 2012</ref>

===Legislative Councillor=== He united many students and teachers to support the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square protesters in Beijing]] and was part of the [[Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China]], becoming a central committee member of the [[United Democrats of Hong Kong]] when it was formed in 1991.

Ng was elected as a member of the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 1991, and was noted for his hard work during his short term. He strongly opposed proposed cuts in education expenditure and the number of classes in schools. In this cause he helped bring together the Education [[Functional constituency (Hong Kong)|functional constituency]] for a candlelit vigil around the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|LegCo]] to pressure on the government. Although pro-Beijing members and some pro-London members voted in favour of the proposal, this plan was finally cancelled in 1993.

==Illness and death== Ng was diagnosed with [[blood cancer]] in February 1992, but continued to work long hours, even making policy proposals from his hospital bed. Despite his deteriorating health, on 4 June 1992 he attended a candlelight vigil in memory of the people who was killed during the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen massacre]] three years earlier.

A few weeks later, during a fundraising campaign on 22 June 1992, he fainted and died. LegCo members observed a moment of silence before the legislature sat in his memory two days later. He was the only LegCo member ever to receive this honour. He was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

In the LegCo by-election that followed Ng's death, his colleague [[Albert Ho]], later chairman of the Democratic Party, stood but failed to win, later recognising that he lacked Ng's close ties to the area. He nevertheless took on the office and staff that Ng had run, and went to represent the area in Legco and on [[Tuen Mun District Council]].<ref>[https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1882462/albert-ho-exits-urging-his-party-face-future Albert Ho exits, urging his party to face future], [[South China Morning Post]], 24 Nov, 2015</ref>

==Publications== *燃點此生 (1992), published by Breakthrough *昨天的努力，明天的見證 (1992), published by Breakthrough

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off|hk}} {{s-new|constituency}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of [[Tuen Mun District Board]] |district=[[Tai Hing (constituency)|Tai Hing]] |years=1985–1992}} {{s-aft|after=[[Ho Hang-mui]]}} {{s-new|council}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of [[Regional Council (Hong Kong)|Regional Council]] |district=[[Tuen Mun West (constituency)|Tuen Mun West]] |years=1986–1992}} {{s-aft|after=[[Yim Tin-sang]]}} {{s-par|hk}} {{s-new|constituency}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]] |district=[[New Territories West (constituency)|New Territories West]] |years=1991–1992}} {{s-aft|after=[[Tang Siu-tong]]}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ng, Ming-yum}} [[Category:1955 births]] [[Category:1992 deaths]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in Hong Kong]] [[Category:Cantonese people]] [[Category:District councillors of Tuen Mun District]] [[Category:Members of the Regional Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Hong Kong writers]] [[Category:United Democrats of Hong Kong politicians]] [[Category:Meeting Point politicians]] [[Category:HK LegCo Members 1991–1995]]