William Yee
{{Short description|Fijian engineer and politician}}
{{Infobox AM
| name = William Yee
| image =
| office = Member of the Legislative Council for Suva General
| term_start = 1966
| term_end = 1972
| office2 = Member of the House of Representatives for Suva/Central General
| term_start2 = 1972
| term_end2 = 1982
| successor2 = James Ah Koy
| birth_date = 18 July 1928
| birth_place = Zhongshan, China
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Alliance Party
| profession = Civil engineerPacific Islands Year Book and Who's Who 1968, p690
}}
Hon Wing William Yee (born 18 July 1928) was a Fijian engineer and politician. He was the first Chinese Fijian to be elected to the Legislative Council.Bessie Ng Kumlin Ali (2002) Chinese in Fiji, p188
Biography
Yee was born in Zhongshan in China, before moving to Fiji as a child. He attended the Marist Brothers High School in Suva and St Bede's College in Canterbury. He then studied engineering at the University of Auckland, and was the first Fijian Chinese to earn a degree in the subject.Pacific Islands Monthly, 1955
=Political career=
The 1966 general elections were the first in which Chinese Fijians were able to vote. Yee was an Alliance Party candidate in the three-seat General constituency of Suva, and was elected by a margin of 90 votes. In the 1972 elections he was re-elected in the Suva/Central General constituency of the House of Representatives. He was re-elected again in March 1977 and September 1977, by which time the constituency had been renamed Suva/Central.[http://fijielections.blogspot.com/2017/02/september-1977-fiji-house-of.html September 1977 Fiji House of Representatives elections] Fiji Elections
=Other roles=
In 1975 Yee became chairman of the new Chinese Education Society and worked as school manager of the Yat Sen School.Ng Kumlin Ali, p156 He remained chairman until 1983, and held the post again between 1987 and 1996.
References
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Category:People from Zhongshan
Category:Chinese emigrants to Fiji
Category:People educated at Marist Brothers High School, Fiji
Category:People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch
Category:University of Auckland alumni
Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Fiji
Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Fiji)