25 Facts About Philip Fang

Philip Fang Shun-sang was a Hong Kong simultaneous interpreter.

Philip Fang provided interpretation services in the United Nations from 1971 to 1999, having served as chief of its Chinese interpretation section.

Philip Fang fell from his apartment on 3 November 2013 at the age of 72; he was suspected of committing suicide because of illness.

Philip Fang was born in Hong Kong on 28 March 1941.

Philip Fang's father was a textile merchant and the son of Philip Fang Zhenwu, a well-known Kuomintang general who fought against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Philip Fang's mother was a Chinese painter and was apprenticed by Chao Shao-an and Chang Dai-chien.

Sir Harry Philip Fang, Shin-hau's younger brother, was a renowned orthopaedist, whose daughter Christine Philip Fang is a former chief executive of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service.

Philip Fang had seven siblings; his sister Anson Chan served as Chief Secretary of Hong Kong during British rule, and later as Chief Secretary for Administration as well as an elected Legislative Councillor of the Hong Kong SAR government under Chinese sovereignty.

Philip Fang moved to mainland China with his family at a very young age to avoid war.

Philip Fang received his secondary education at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong.

Philip Fang completed his secondary education in 1960 and went on to further his studies in the US.

Philip Fang pursued advanced studies at the University of Surrey in 1966, majoring in language.

Philip Fang graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Philip Fang initially served in the UN Secretariat in New York City as a simultaneous interpreter.

Philip Fang later worked as chief of the UN Chinese interpretation section.

Philip Fang became involved in a dispute with his siblings with regard to the allocation of some paintings and property left by his mother; In 2011, Philip and Fang Lam-sang, his brother released a statement, accusing their brothers John and David of embezzling their mother's legacy.

Furthermore, Philip Fang was pro-Beijing, as opposed to his sister Anson, a pan-democrat.

Philip Fang rarely made public his views on politics but, in 2011, he wrote an open letter published in the South China Morning Post, supporting the criterion that the popularly-elected Chief Executive of Hong Kong must be patriotic to China.

Philip Fang even termed Anson, Martin Lee, Jimmy Lai and Joseph Zen as Hong Kong's "Gang of Four", and stated that the four as well as Audrey Eu-led Civic Party were challenging the SAR government.

Philip Fang received medical treatment in Sydney and thereafter lived alone at Tung Chung in Hong Kong.

Philip Fang fell from his 16th-storey apartment at around HKT 21:00,3 November 2013.

Philip Fang was brought to Yan Chai Hospital and pronounced dead an hour later, at the age of 72.

Philip Fang was suspected of committing suicide by jumping off his residence because of illness.

Philip Fang married Cynthia Fong, a Chinese American, with whom he had two daughters.

Philip Fang lived alone in Hong Kong in his later years while his wife and daughters stayed in the United States.