Anti-smoking stand of tobacco tycoon lives on in Hong Kong
Charles Ho, who has died after developing lung cancer, turned from a staunch supporter of Hong Kong smokers' rights to a firm opponent of deadly habit It is not that unusual for well-known people to become public anti-smoking converts after being diagnosed with diseases related to tobacco use. An example was tycoon Charles Ho Tsu-kwok, who died this week aged 75, months after revealing he had lung cancer. Ho was involved in national and local affairs as a standing committee member of China's top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and as a former owner of Sing Tao News Corporation. But what really set him apart as the anti-smoker he became was that he inherited a tobacco empire from his grandfather, Ho Ying-chie, founder of the Hong Kong Tobacco Company. Indeed, Ho was until late in life a staunch advocate of smokers' rights in the face of incontrovertible evidence of the deadly health risks. He once said ...