Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai had been President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong since the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom in 1997. She was the first woman to hold the position. In March 2008, Fan was elected into the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress.

 

Rita Fan has been a member of Hong Kong Legislative Council since 1983. She suggested that the government should increase the university graduates ratio of primary teachers. She insisted British Hong Kong government on repatriating Vietnamese boat people to protect the interests of the Hong Kong residents. She became famous for these accomplishments.

Rita Fan is a good mother and wife as well as a successful politician. She was married to Stephen Fan Sheung-tak until his death from liver cancer in 2004 and has a son and a daughter from the marriage. When their daughter suffered from renal failure in 1994, Fan donated a kidney to save her daughter's life. Fan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and underwent a mastectomy, she still worked very hard. She was awarded "No.1 housewife" in Hong Kong at the end of 2006.