Shum Choi-sang (1922-2016)
Shum Choi-sang, a leading figure in the Hong Kong news industry from 1960 to his death in 2016, was the publisher of the Wah Kiu Yat Po, or the Overseas Chinese Daily News, a newspaper founded by his father, Shum Wai-yau, in 1925. In its heyday, the Chinese-language paper was one of the top selling dailies in Hong Kong.
The younger Mr Shum was also a philanthropist and an early benefactor of the JMSC, who led the Shum family to endow multiple scholarships at the JMSC over the past two decades.
“Mr Shum supported us when we were just starting out because he saw the need for professional journalism education in Hong Kong,” Prof Ying Chan, then director of the JMSC, said when he passed away. “He also had faith in us.”
From left to right: Prof Ying Chan, then HKU Vice-Chancellor Lap-Chee Tsui and Mr Shum at the opening ceremony of the Shum Wai Yau Reading Room on October 27, 2005
Mr Shum attending the SCMP Wah Kiu Yat Po Journalism Scholarship Fund ceremony in 2010
In October 2005, the Shum Wai Yau Reading Room opened in Eliot Hall, made possible by a Shum family donation. The gift transformed a dilapidated area on the ground floor into a conference room designed by Nelson Chen, an architect who specialized in the restoration of historical buildings and winner of a UNESCO Heritage Conservation Award.
Over the years, generations of JMSC students have enjoyed studying or attending seminars at the elegant room outfitted with custom-made designer furniture.
In 2006, Mr Shum and his sister, Lee Shum Shuk Yuen, created the Shum Wai Yau Journalism Education Fund, an endowment fund to provide scholarships for JMSC students. Like the reading room, the fund was named after their father, Shum Wai-yau.
For decades, since the 1960s, the newspaper hosted an annual fundraising drive for the Wah Kiu Yat Po Readers’ Loan Fund for Post-Secondary School Students to support underprivileged students to further their education.
After the Wah Kiu Yat Po was acquired by the South China Morning Post in 1992, the loan fund was taken over by the SCMP and renamed the SCMP Wah Kiu Yat Po Journalism Scholarship Fund in 2010.
The newly established fund gifted HK$2 million to the JMSC for disbursement to bachelor’s and master’s degree students.
Shum Choi-sang was born in 1922 in Hong Kong. He attended King’s College, a prestigious boys’ secondary school in the city. He later studied at New York University, where he obtained a master’s degree in economics.
Mr Shum with JMSC students at the opening of the Shum Wai Yau Reading Room on October 27, 2005
HKU Pro-Chancellor David Li presenting Mr Shum an Honorary University Fellowship in 2007
He entered the journalism industry in his 20s, and became a manager at the Wah Kiu Yat Po in 1960. After the passing of his father in 1985, Mr Shum succeeded him as the general manager of the newspaper.
He also served key roles in various press organisations, including chairman of the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong, which he co-founded in 1954; chairman of the Chinese Language Press Institute; and vice-chairman of the Hong Kong committee of the International Press Institute.
Mr Shum was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1967, and awarded an MBE in 1968, an OBE in 1986, the Silver Bauhinia Star in 2002, and an Honorary Fellowship from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003.
In 2007, The University of Hong Kong presented him with an Honorary University Fellowship in recognition of his contribution to the University and the community.
Mr Shum died at the age of 94 on 27 April 2016 at the Hong Kong Sanatorium Hospital.
“For everything Mr Shum had done for aspiring young journalists and the cause of journalism, we are eternally grateful,” Professor Chan said.
Photo of the newly built Shum Wai Yau Reading Room in October, 2005
Prof Ying Chan and Mr Shum at at the SCMP Wah Kiu Yat Po Journalism Scholarship Fund Ceremony in 2010
Mr Shum was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong government in 2002
Mr Shum and ____ at the opening of the Shum Wai Yau Reading Room on October 27, 2005
Mr Shum, with Prof Ying Chan and ____ at the opening of the Shum Wai Yau Reading Room on October 27, 2005
Mr Shum delivering a speech at at the SCMP Wah Kiu Yat Po Journalism Scholarship Fund Ceremony in 2010
Mr Shum and then HKU Vice-Chancellor Lap-Chee Tsui at at the SCMP Wah Kiu Yat Po Journalism Scholarship Fund Ceremony in 2010