Soo Yuen Benevolent Association
Encyclopedia
The Soo Yuen Benevolent Association was founded in 1846, in the 26th year of the Ching dynasty reign of Daoguang in Shuikou town in Kaiping County
. Reflecting the common origin of the Louie
, Fong
, and Kwong/Fong(hoisanese) families, the Soo Yuen Benevolent Association is made up of members from the three families. The association chairmanship rotates between the three families. In 1880, the main association headquarters were founded in San Francisco and the association building was built in 1886. Today, Soo Yuen Benevolent Association halls are located in over a dozen cities in the United States and Canada, Cuba, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Fiji, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Myanmar(Burma), Hoisan (Toishan, Taishan) China, and Hong Kong. Wherever there are Chinese communities with the Louie/Lui/Lei (雷), Fong/Fang (方), and Fong/Kwong/Kuang (鄺) surnames, Soo Yuen Benevolent Association halls have been established. The organization publishes a monthly journal and commits the majority of its resources to college scholarships, elderly support payments and financial aid programs to members of the three families.
Kaiping
Kaiping : Hoi3 Pen6) or Hoi Ping is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, southern China. It has a population of 680,000 as of 2003 and an area of 1,659 km². The locals speak a variation of the Taishan dialect.-Administration:...
. Reflecting the common origin of the Louie
Lei (surname)
Lei can represent one or more romanized Chinese surname. The most common character is 雷 , meaning "Thunder". 雷 is the 78th most common Chinese surname as of 2006 according to a study carried out by the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.Common...
, Fong
Fang (surname)
Fang is the 47th most prevalent Chinese surname. In Chinese, "方", means "square" or "four-sided".Some more uncommon surnames that appear with the same pinyin are "房" and "芳"...
, and Kwong/Fong(hoisanese) families, the Soo Yuen Benevolent Association is made up of members from the three families. The association chairmanship rotates between the three families. In 1880, the main association headquarters were founded in San Francisco and the association building was built in 1886. Today, Soo Yuen Benevolent Association halls are located in over a dozen cities in the United States and Canada, Cuba, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Fiji, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Myanmar(Burma), Hoisan (Toishan, Taishan) China, and Hong Kong. Wherever there are Chinese communities with the Louie/Lui/Lei (雷), Fong/Fang (方), and Fong/Kwong/Kuang (鄺) surnames, Soo Yuen Benevolent Association halls have been established. The organization publishes a monthly journal and commits the majority of its resources to college scholarships, elderly support payments and financial aid programs to members of the three families.