Pioneering Paulines

Born in Xinhui, Guangdong, S.K. Yee graduated from St. Paul’s College in 1920. Two years later, he furthered his studies in the United States. He studied at the University of Michigan, the Virginia Military Institute, and obtained a JD from the University of Chicago.

Yee returned to China and served as an instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy, where at one point he directed the aviation school. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, after Guangzhou fell, Yee served as a senior officer of China’s General Staff stationed in Hong Kong and was placed in charge of intelligence and maintaining morale. As Hong Kong fell, Yee assisted Allied troops in their escape while continuing intelligence services in Chongqing; in 1942, he was awarded an honorary CBE for his bravery. Yee was promoted to lieutenant general in 1945. After Japan surrendered to the Allies, he was part of the Chinese delegation at the Hong Kong’s handover ceremony.

Yee retired from military service after the war. In 1947, Yee established the United Chinese Bank. He remained committed to St. Paul’s and was one of many who supported its re-establishment. Yee was additionally a philanthropist: he established the S.K. Yee Medical Foundation in 1983 to improve facilities for the poor, bequeathing his shares and profits from the bank to the foundation posthumously.

余兆麒生於廣東新會，在一九二〇年畢業於聖保羅書院，兩年後赴美升學，曾於密芝根大學、維珍尼亞軍事學院就讀，後獲芝加哥大學法律博士。

學成歸國後，先後出任黃埔軍校敎官及廣東空軍訓練學校敎育長等職位。在一九三八年，廣州淪陷後，余氏赴港擔任軍令部駐港高級參謀，負責蒐集情報及維持紀律。在一九四一年隨香港淪陷，余氏協助盟軍殘部突圍，後獲英國頒贈名譽CBE勛章。其後在一九四二年轉赴重慶，爲戰時情報機關服務，負責與英美盟軍協調。一九四五年，余氏領中將銜，日本投降後代表中方參與盟軍接收香港儀式。

戰後余氏退役營商，在一九四七年創立中國聯合銀行。畢業後多年，余氏仍關注書院事務，曾支持書院一九四〇年代末之復校運動。余氏亦熱心公益，一九八三年設立余兆麒醫療基金，用以改善貧苦大眾的醫療設施，逝後，其聯合銀行股份及利潤一倂贈予基金，遺愛人間。