http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401147.pdf

When his six-year term was up in 1890, he asked not to be reappointed,
and a very prominent "local boy", Dr. Ho Kai (later
Sir Kai Ho Kai) succeeded him.
Dr. Ho Kai, born in Hong Kong in 1859, was the fourth son
of the Rev. Ho Tsun-shin (alias Ho Fuk-tong) of the London
Missionary Society. Having studied Chinese for several years, he
was admitted to Class 4 of the Central School in 1870 at the age
of 12. He was an extremely clever and hardworking boy for,
according to the school record, he was already in Class 1, the
top form, in September 1871. He completed his studies at the
Central School the following year, and proceeded to Palmer
House School, Margate, England. From there he entered St.
Thomas' Medical and Surgical College and received the degrees
of Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from the University
of Aberdeen in 1879. In the same year, he was admitted as a
member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England by examination.
He then turned to the study of law and was admitted to
Lincoln's Inn in May 1879. He was Senior Equity Scholar, Lincoln's
Inn, in 1881 in which year he passed the finals with flying
colours and also married a charming English girl, Alice, the eldest
daughter of the late John Walkden of Blackheath. On his return
to Hong Kong in 1882 with his newly-wedded wife, he first practised
medicine but was unsuccessful, because the Chinese at that
time were not prepared to avail themselves of western medical
treatment unless it was offered free. He then turned to the Bar
and since 1882 had practised as a barrister in Hong Kong.
Until his death in 1914, Dr. Ho Kai rendered his services freely
and ungrudgingly to the Hong Kong community. For many years
he was a valuable member of many important committees, including
the Standing Law Committee, the Public Works Committee,
the Examination Board, the Medical Board, the Sanitary Board,
the Po Leung Kuk Committee, the Tung Wah Hospital Advisory
Committee, the District Watch Force Committee, the Architects'
Advisory Board and the Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong
Technical Institute. For 26 years he was a Justice of the Peace
and for 25 years he represented the Chinese community on the
CHINESE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF COUNCILS 13
Legislative Council. He was awarded the C.M.G. in 1892 and
created a knight bachelor in 1912. His achievements were many
and varied.
Ho Kai's first and foremost contribution to Hong Kong was
the promotion of western treatment and western medical education
among the Chinese, despite the fact that he himself ceased practising
western medicine soon after his return to Hong Kong. In
the year 1884, when his wife died, he offered to provide the cost
of building a hospial as a memorial to her. Thus the Alice
Memorial Hospital, under the control of the London Missionary
Society, was first opened in Hollywood Road in February 1887.12
The formation of a medical school in Hong Kong had been
discussed by Dr. Ho Kai, Dr. (later Sir) James Cantlie and Dr.
(later Sir) Patrick Manson who is often referred to as the
"father of tropical medicine". With the opening of the Alice
Memorial Hospital, the opportunity was therefore taken to start
a medical school. Dr. Manson happened to be Chairman of both
the Hospital's management committee as well as of the newlyfounded
Hong Kong Medical Society, and so was able to enlist
the support of the profession. With Dr. Manson as its dean, the
Hong Kong College of Medicine was formally inauguated on 1st
October 1887 and Li Hung-chang, Viceroy of Kwangtung, was
Patron of the College until 1901. Dr. Ho Kai was the Rector's
Assessor of the College as well as professor of medical jurisprudence.
He held the latter post for nearly 20 years. This College
had the distinction of having Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the
Chinese Republic, as one of its first two graduates in 1892. In
1912 when the University of Hong Kong was founded, the College
merged with it to form the Faculty of Medicine of the new university.
Dr. Ho Kai also played an important part in the founding of
the University of Hong Kong and was a member of the University
Council. When the University was formally opened on 11th
March 1912 by the Governor Sir Frederick (later Lord) Lugard,
the occasion was also marked by the grant of a knighthood to
Dr. Ho Kai.
The work of the Alice Memorial Hospital grew and it was
not long before an extension was necessary. There was no land
available adjoining the hospital in Hollywood Road, so the London
Missionary Society gave a site on Bonham Road for the purpose.
14 T. C. CHENG
Another advance was made in 1904 when several prominent
Chinese, led by Dr. Ho Kai and Mr. Chau Siu-ki (the late father
of Sir Tsun-nin Chau), collected the necessary funds, and, also with
a land grant from the London Missionary Society, started the
Alice Memorial Maternity Hospital, the first maternity hospital
in Hong Kong.
In 1907 when the Chinese started another hospital, along the
lines of the Tung Wah Hospital, in Kowloon — the Kwong Wah
Hospital — Dr. Ho Kai was the motivating force and he became
the Chairman of the first Board of Directors of the new hospital.
In this important venture, he had the staunch support of the
Honourable Wei Yuk, his Chinese colleague in the Legislative
Council, and Lau Chu-pak, both of whom served as directors of
the first Board.
Having received a western education himself, Dr. Ho Kai was
very keen to spread such education among the Chinese youth.
Apart from being an active member of the governing body of
Queen's College, he and other Chinese leaders, including Tso
Seen-wan, founded St. Stephen's Boys College in 1902. In 1901
a number of leading Chinese, including Dr. Ho Kai and Mr. Tso
Seen-wan, had submitted a petition to the Governor setting forth
their view that a need had arisen for a Chinese High School run
on western lines. The fees were to be sufficient to keep the school
without cost to the Colony. In such a school the sons of influential
Chinese parents could be trained for public service and be instructed
in all that was best in both British and Chinese cultures. The
scheme was approved in principle and the Church Missionary
Society stepped in to help and established St. Stephen's Boys
College on Bonham Road. In 1928 it moved to its present site in
Stanley with extensive playing fields. It has catered to Chinese
children from wealthy homes and has tried to establish something
of the tradition of the English public school. It has since occupied
a unique and important place in Hong Kong as an exempted and
independent school.
In addition, Dr. Ho Kai was a very far-sighted land developer.
Just before he died, he and Au Tak,13 a prominent merchant who
was a director of the Tung Wah Hospital in 1908, formed the
Kai Tak Land Development Company to plan the development
of the area in the neighbourhood of the present Kai Tak Airport,
CHINESE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF COUNCILS 15
including a big reclamation project.14 The name of the company
contained the names of the partners, "Kai" from Ho Kai and
"Tak" from Au Tak. Hence the name of our airport may be taken
as a name in commemoration of both Ho Kai and Au Tak.
Although very westernized himself, Dr. Ho Kai always entertained
a very sympathetic understanding of the Chinese masses.
In May 1887 when the Government introduced the Public Health
Bill, Dr. Ho Kai, to the surprise of his European friends, opposed
it strongly as a member of the Sanitary Board. He accused the
Bill of making the "mistake of treating Chinese as if they were
Europeans" and argued that to improve standards indiscriminately
would mean cutting down the available building space, and
forcing rentals to go up,15 thereby causing great hardship to the
poorer Chinese. Because of his opposition the Bill had to be
amended substantially. This is only one example of why Ho Kai
was so much respected by the Chinese community as its leader and
forthright spokesman.
In addition to his interest in Hong Kong affairs, Ho Kai, like
many educated Chinese of his time, was very much concerned with
the modernization and reformation movements that were going
on in China. On 8th February 1887, the China Mail carried a
reprint of an article by Marquis Tseng Chi-tze, Chinese Minister
to Great Britain and Russia, entitled "China, the Sleep and the
Awakening". On 16th February 1887, Ho Kai published, under
the pen-name "Sinensis", a long article in the China Mail refuting
many points raised by Marquis Tseng. In subsequent years he
wrote quite a number of articles, voicing his ideas on political and
economic reforms in China, and refuting the views of such Chinese
personages as Viceroy Chang Chi-tung and Kang Yu-wei, the
reformer who aroused the ire of the formidable Empress Dowager.
In 1897 he was offered a post in China by his brother-in-law,
Wu Ting-fang.16 However, he went to Shanghai to have a look
at things for himself and he decided to return to Hong Kong.
In 1895, when Dr. Sun Yat-sen, one of his students in the
Hong Kong College of Medicine and founder of the Chinese
Republic, started the Hsing Chung Hui, a revolutionary organization,
in Hong Kong, he had the assistance and support of Dr.
Ho Kai. Indeed Dr. Ho took an active part in planning some of
the early abortive attempts in Canton to overthrow the Manchu
Government.
16 T. C. CHENG
Dr. Ho died in September 1914 at the age of 55 leaving over
ten sons and daughters by his second wife who was a Chinese.