CUHK Library E-newsletter

Mr. Cheong-Leen remains the longest-serving elected public official in Hong Kong’s history. He played a pivotal role in Hong Kong’s business and political landscape. In 2023, Ms. Flora Cheong-Leen, daughter of Mr. Cheong-Leen, generously donated the Hilton Cheong-Leen Collection, including correspondence, speeches, photos, publications such as Hong Kong Hansards, the official Urban Council proceedings, documents from the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony, and exclusive interviews with Mr. Cheong-Leen, to the CUHK Library. This treasure trove holds significant value for understanding Mr. Cheong-Leen’s life and social contributions, as well as the activities of the Urban Council and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Some highlights of the Collection are as follows.

Correspondence

Over 250 letters in the Collection span the 1960s–2010s. Most are items of official correspondence between Mr. Cheong-Leen and the leaders of the Hong Kong and British governments and of various government departments. This correspondence covers a wide range of topics and includes letters from Mr. Cheong-Leen to two former British Prime Ministers: one to Margaret Thatcher on granting the right of abode to British nationals, and another to John Major regarding the construction of a new airport in Hong Kong. The letters also reveal Mr. Cheong-Leen’s attention to, among other subjects, the handling of the Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong, the development of Hong Kong’s political system after the handover, and the promotion of education, recreation, and cultural affairs.

Speeches

The Collection contains scripts of more than 100 speeches spanning more than half a century in 1955–2007. Most of these are speeches delivered by Mr. Cheong-Leen at meetings of the Urban Council and the Legislative Council or at venues at which he was invited to speak on different occasions. For instance, after meeting with Ji Pengfei, then Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, in December 1985, Mr. Cheong-Leen gave a speech titled ‘The Legislative and Executive Councils during the Transition Period’ at the Hong Kong Lions Club in January 1986; the English manuscript and notes on the speech are included in the Collection. Mr. Cheong-Leen’s early speeches collection Hong Kong Tomorrow (published in 1962) was also donated.

Photographs

In the Collection, more than 200 photographs capture many significant moments of Mr. Cheong-Leen’s political career, such as succeeding Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales as the first Chinese Chairperson of the Urban Council in 1981; meeting Margaret Thatcher in 1982; meeting Deng Pufang, Chairperson of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, in 1984; and attending the Farewell to the Legislative Council Building in 2011. They also include precious photographs from events that Mr. Cheong-Leen attended on different occasions.

Publications

The Collection also contains many distinctive publications and printed materials, including over 20 volumes of Mr. Cheong-Leen’s copy of the official Urban Council proceedings and Hong Kong Hansards bearing his and his company’s names and seals, programme and invitation cards from the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony, and Mr. Cheong-Leen’s published interviews from newspapers and magazines. In addition to reflecting Mr. Cheong-Leen’s political activities, these publications also reveal his family life and interests, thus giving us a more comprehensive understanding of Mr. Cheong-Leen as a person.

Readers are welcome to browse this webpage to learn more about the Hilton Cheong-Leen Collection and request access to the materials.