Hoo Ah Kay

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Hoo Ah Kay (Chinese: 胡亞基; pinyin: Hú Yàjī; 1816 - 27 March 1880), C.M.G, better known as Whampoa (Chinese: 黃埔; pinyin: Huángbù), was a Singaporean businessman and community leader. An immigrant to Singapore from China, he held many high-ranking posts in Singapore, including honourable consul to Japan, Russia and China.

Hoo Ah Kay (Hu Hsuan-tse) was born 1816, in Whampoa, near Canton (now known as Huangpu district, Guangzhou city) in China. He immigrated to Singapore in 1830. Initially working with his businessman father at food supplier Whampoa and Co., Hoo inherited the establishment after his father died.

Hoo received the honorific Mr. Whampoa for his political achievements and contributions to the Singaporean society. He is cited as both "the first Japanese honorable consul in Singapore" and "the first Chinese consul [in Singapore]", two posts he was given in 1879 and 1877 respectively. In 1869, Hoo was announced as the first Legislative Council member of Chinese ethnicity by the British, albeit an unofficial one. He was also a retail dealer specialising in ships working for the British Royal Navy. For a period of time he ran a business supplying ice imported from the United States to Singapore; it folded in 1856. Hoo was hailed as "one of the most influential Chinese (Cantonese) tycoons in Singapore". He was awarded the Order of St Michael and St George, Class Companion (CMG). In 1869, he became the first Asian member of the Legislative Council and within a few years was made an extraordinary member of the Executive Council, the only Chinese to have held this position.

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