Elsie Tu
Elsie Tu GBM CBE (née Hume; Chinese: 杜葉錫恩; 2 June 1913 – 8 December 2015), known as Elsie Elliott in her earlier life, was an English-born Hong Kong social activist, elected member of the Urban Council of Hong Kong from 1963 to 1995, and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1988 to 1995.
The Honourable Elsie Tu GBM CBE | |||||||||||||
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| Member of the Legislative Council | |||||||||||||
| In office 22 September 1988 – 17 September 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Hilton Cheong-Leen | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mok Ying-fan | ||||||||||||
| Constituency | Urban Council | ||||||||||||
| Member of the Provisional Legislative Council | |||||||||||||
| In office 25 January 1997 – 30 June 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Member of the Urban Council | |||||||||||||
| In office 1 April 1963 – 31 March 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alison Bell | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Szeto Wah | ||||||||||||
| Constituency | Kwun Tong West (1983–1995) | ||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | Elsie Hume 2 June 1913 Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||||||||||||
| Died | 8 December 2015 (aged 102) Kwun Tong, Hong Kong | ||||||||||||
| Citizenship | Hong Kong | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Reform Club (1963–1967) | ||||||||||||
| Spouses | William Elliott
(m. 1946; div. 1964)Andrew Tu
(m. 1985; died 2001) | ||||||||||||
| Residence | Hong Kong | ||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Benwell Secondary Girls' School Heaton Secondary School Armstrong College, Durham University | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 杜葉錫恩 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 杜叶锡恩 | ||||||||||||
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Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Tu moved to Hong Kong in 1951 following a period as a missionary in China. She became known for her strong antipathy towards colonialism and corruption, as well as for her work for the underprivileged. She took the main role in the 1966 Kowloon riots when she opposed the Star Ferry fare increase which later turned into riots and faced accusations of inciting the disorder. She fought for gay rights, better housing, welfare services, playgrounds, bus routes, hawker licences and innumerable other issues and her campaigning is credited with leading to the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1974.
In the run up to the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China and the midst of the Sino-British conflict on the 1994 Hong Kong electoral reform, Tu found favour with the Chinese Communist authorities, and took a seat on the Beijing-controlled Provisional Legislative Council, from December 1996 to June 1998, after losing both her seats in the Urban and Legislative Councils in 1995 to another prominent democrat Szeto Wah. In post-1997 Hong Kong, although without a formal public role, Tu consistently supported the SAR government and policies including the controversial Basic Law Article 23 legislation. She died in Hong Kong on 8 December 2015, at the age of 102.