Hon Wing William Yee (born 18 July 1928) was a Fijian engineer and politician. He was the first Chinese Fijian to be elected to the Legislative Council. ^[2]

Biography

Yee was born in Zhongshan in China, before moving to Fiji as a child. He attended the Marist Brothers High School in Suva and St Bede's College in Canterbury. ^[1] He then studied engineering at the University of Auckland, ^[1] and was the first Fijian Chinese to earn a degree in the subject. ^[3]

Political career

The 1966 general elections were the first in which Chinese Fijians were able to vote. Yee was an Alliance Party candidate in the three-seat General constituency of Suva, and was elected by a margin of 90 votes. In the 1972 elections he was re-elected in the Suva/Central General constituency of the House of Representatives. He was re-elected again in March 1977 and September 1977, by which time the constituency had been renamed Suva/Central. ^[4]

Other roles

In 1975 Yee became chairman of the new Chinese Education Society and worked as school manager of the Yat Sen School. ^[5] He remained chairman until 1983, and held the post again between 1987 and 1996. ^[5]

References