John So
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-->John Chun Sai So (蘇震西, pinyin: Sū Zhènxī) (born 20 October 1946) is Lord Mayor of Melbourne City Council, capital of Victoria, Australia. He was the first in the city's history to be directly elected by the people of Melbourne - previously, Lord Mayors were chosen by the Council. Elected to the position in 2001, So is the longest serving Lord Mayor in the history of Melbourne.
Pre-mayoral life
So was born in Hong Kong, and moved to Melbourne at age 17. His mother later joined him, but he still has brothers in Hong Kong.So has university qualifications in education and science from the University of Melbourne. During his time at university, he campaigned strongly against the White Australia Policy and helped found the University's Overseas and Chinese Students Association. Afterwards, he became a high school science teacher, working at Fitzroy High School. He has been a restaurant proprietor since 1973. He owns Dragon Boat restaurant and many small restaurants in the Bourke St mall shopping complex. He has been married twice and has four children. His wife, Wendy Ming Yee Cheng, bears the official title of Lady Mayoress and currently chairs the Lady Mayoress' Committee. His eldest daughter, Natalie So, and son, Alex So, currently work in investment banks. His third child, Eva So, is currently undertaking a PhD in Science at Melbourne University. His youngest child, John So Jr (John Hong Ping So), is studying Commerce/Law also at Melbourne University.
So's career has included positions as director of the Melbourne Water Corporation, Ethnic Affairs Commissioner for Victoria, Vice-President of the Melbourne Chinatown Traders' Association, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Racing Carnival and chairman of the Victorian Chinese Welfare Centre. He is the number one ticketholder for the Melbourne Demons Football Club (Australian Rules Football) and number two for Melbourne Victory (football (soccer)) clubs.
So was elected as a Councillor for Central Ward on the Melbourne City Council in 1991. In March 1999 he came within one vote of being elected Lord Mayor.
Term as Lord Mayor
In July 2001, So became the first directly elected Lord Mayor. He defeated a number of high-profile candidates, including Australian Democrats founder Don Chipp.
So has generally been a popular mayor, and has been credited for choosing to walk to appointments where possible, although the mayor car and his personal driver are regularly sighted out the front of the Town Hall. Along with television presenter Livinia Nixon, he has been the face of the "That's Melbourne" campaign to encourage tourism. He has campaigned against crime, and is a member of the Police Minister's Crime Prevention Council. He has also pushed for the federal government to build a national indigenous museum in Melbourne.
So has also been criticised by some sectors over his time as mayor. Some see him as a poor communicator, partly due to his heavily accented English. He had connections to a restaurant that was fined $75,000 for breaches of the Food Act by his own Council.
In 2002, he snubbed the Dalai Lama during his Australian visit, and it was left to Geelong mayor Barbara Abley to welcome him. More recently, the Council was punished by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for leaving the Falun Gong out of the city's annual Moomba parade.
Though he had been a relatively popular mayor, So was widely expected to be defeated at the 2004 elections. While he had been elected in 2001 as a result of receiving preferences from many candidates, this time many candidates had preferenced against him. As a result, he needed to triple his primary vote if he was to retain the mayoral position. This challenge was further complicated by widespread allegations of dummy candidates preferencing one or more of his rivals, and one candidate admitting to being a stooge for John So [link]. There were more than a hundred candidates for the nine positions on Council [link]. Despite this, So polled more than 40% of the primary vote on election day, and was re-elected in a landslide. His ticket for the regular council was also successful, winning numerous positions.
Increased popularity
During the 2006 Commonwealth Games, John So was warmly welcomed by Melbourne as a figurehead of the city, on some occasions more so than Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and Prime Minister John Howard. This has led to "John So, he's our bro'" [T-Shirts] being manufactured and worn by some Melburnians as a testament to the city's tolerance and multiculturalism. John So has since been raised to near-cult status, with the mere mention of his name enough to invoke support from many people.
At the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, at every mention of So's name, there was a tremendous applause from the crowd, which got progressively louder with each occurrence. This 'in joke' was a good example of Australia's sometimes 'off-beat' humour, but also a subtle means of supporting So, who had been pushed out of the limelight by Premier Bracks during official celebrations throughout the Games.
Recently a parody of the Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. hit 'Walk This Way' was played on the Nova 100 Station in Melbourne. It was called the 'John So Way' and had John So repeating "Share your fish with everyone" and other comments he has made. It can be downloaded at the [Nova 100 website]. The Music Men, a melbourne rap trio, launched a song called "John So, He's My Bro" on 3AW at 7:40 on the 7th April 2006. It has lyrics that say "we like his style" and that "there's no disputin' he's the new Bert Newton".
On the 20th April 2006, Australian youth entertainment website [Xdafied.com.au] launched 'The John So Birthday Project' to celebrate the Lord Mayor's 60th birthday in October 2006. The creator of Xdafied purchased the domain name http://www.birthdayproject.net/ for the project. The website invites people to send in messages, cards, poems and any other creative birthday wishes and hopes to present them to John So on his birthday.
See also
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