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JUNE 2008
Health Talk on 2/6/2008
Bishop R.O. Hall and the History of the Association
Bishop Ronald Owen Hall (Ho Ming Wah in Chinese) was the Bishop of Hong Kong and Macao (1932 – 1966). When Bishop Hall was appointed the Diocese was still part of Chung Wah Sheng Kung Hui and the diocese covered much of Kwangtung Province of China.
He knew that Christian faith embraces the whole of life with a particular concern for justice and welfare and the well being of society and individuals.
He also knew the importance of good education. Bishop Hall was a brave man and he was awarded a Military Cross of Bravery in the First World War.
After the Second World War, he played a very important part in the reconstruction and recovery of Hong Kong after the Japanese devastation and around 1949 when Chinese refugees poured into Hong Kong putting great strain on the government and other resources in Hong Kong, Bishop Hall established kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. Some of the secondary schools provided technical education, and training in work skill. All these contributed greatly to the Hong Kong society to-day. He started schemes to provide meals for school children, and for adults through housing associations, night shelters, clinics, homes for abandoned babies and orphans such as St. Thomas in Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon; and St. James Settlement in Wanchai, Hong Kong. As Hong Kong prospered, the church grew. Many of the senior clergy were greatly influenced by Bishop Hall's teaching and philosophy.
He was called Ho Ming Wah which means 'Hall who understands the Chinese' because of his work among the Chinese poor and sick in China and in Hong Kong.
While back in United Kingdom on home leave in l964, Bishop Hall noticed that there were many Hong Kong New Territories residents working in United Kingdom. Many of them did not speak or understand English and they were being exploited. On return to Hong Kong he sent Rev. Shui Ying Lee to London to lead the Chinese congregation of the St. Martin-in-the Fields Church and to see how the Church could help the Chinese in the United Kingdom particularly those in London.
In 1977, Rev. Lee supported by the Chinese congregation of St. Martin-in-the Fields Church started to raise funds to establish a Chinese community centre. In 1984 BHMWA was formed to manage the proposed Centre. On 11 November 1987, the Bishop Ho Ming Wah Chinese Centre was formally opened.