Choi Lok Chi and His Sons

Born on 17 March, 1867 in the Parish of São Lázaro of Macao, Choi Lok Chi married thrice during his life. The first wife was a Portuguese and the rest were local Chinese women converted into Christianity. In 1899, his Portuguese wife Emília gave birth to a son in Lisbon named José Choi Anok, being the first mixed-race child of Choi’s family. Named as Choi Sio Lok in Chinese, he returned to Macao with his father where he worked for the local branch of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino.

Roque Choi was born to Choi Lok Chi with his third wife and was the most important member of the Choi’s family. He had worked as the Portuguese secretary of Ho Yin, who co-founded Seng Heng Bank with him. During his lifetime, Roque had been a nominated legislator of the 2nd and 3rd Legislative Assembly of Macao, the vice-president of the Macao Chamber of Commerce, vice-president of Tung Sin Tong Charitable Society and a member of the Consultative Council of the Macao Government.

In commendation to Roque’s significant social contributions to Macao over the years, he was awarded with decorations by the colonial Portuguese government of Macao and by the MSAR government, namely the Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry and Gentleman of the Order of Merit from the former and the Medal of Valor, Medal of Cultural Merit and Medal of Philanthropic Merit from the latter.