P R E S S   R E L E A S E

 
        Ms Eleanor Wong was one of Hong Kong's leading textiles and garment industrialists for over 30 years and is an active supporter of the arts, education, medicine, and charity.  Carrying on the proud and successful legacy of her father, Mr Wong Toong Yuen, she took under her wing several areas of the family textiles business, such as knitting, dyeing, and finish and garment industries, and expanded them to new levels of prosperity and prominence.  In so doing, she has contributed to the development of Hong Kong as a world-class textiles centre and to the economic growth of the territory.

        Ms Wong's staunch support of this industry and of Hong Kong is evidenced by the numerous leadership positions in professional bodies and business associations she has assumed since the 1970s.  To name just a few, these include her role as Chairlady of the Garment Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, as a member of the Trade Development Council itself in 1977, and as General Committee and Council Member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.  She continues to lend her unwavering support to the local textiles industry through her participation as the Honorary Chairman of the Textile Council of Hong Kong Limited.

        Apart from industry, Ms Wong has also devoted her life to active social service.  She has contributed significantly to the promotion of higher education and human resource development in Hong Kong and served on the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee from 1984 to 1987.  In 1986, she served as a member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society and the Ladies’ Committee of the Hong Kong Ballet.  In 1994, she became a Silver Life Member of The Society of the Academy for Performing Arts.  Ms Wong has also been a major and active benefactor of the Friends of the Prince of Wales Hospital and the Community Chest of Hong Kong.  She has served as Vice Patron of the Community Chest since 1991.

        Her instrumental contributions towards the betterment of Hong Kong through business and social service culminated in her appointment as Justice of the Peace in 1984 and her being honoured as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1986.

        Elsewhere abroad, Ms Wong has left her mark as well.  She has been a member of the President's Council of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York since 1993 and a significant supporter of other international charitable causes.

        Ms Eleanor Wong and the Wong family are long-time benefactors of the University.  They have given their enthusiastic support to the continued advancement of this University.  Most recently, they established an annual fellowship grant programme to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship on campus.  Ms Wong and her family look forward to the growth and the development of this initiative and others with the University in the years ahead.