Robert Victor Evan Wong

Robert Victor Evan Wong (4 July 1895 – 19 October 1952) was a Guyanese politician, civil engineer, rancher and businessman, elected to the British Guiana legislature in 1926 and 1934, and appointed to its Executive Council in 1928. He is notable for being the first Chinese-Guianese member of both the British Guiana Legislative and Executive Councils.

Early life Wong was born in Georgetown, British Guiana, the eldest son of a wealthy Chinese merchant.

Politics In 1926, at age 31, Wong won election to the British Guiana Court of Policy from the Essequibo Islands. This body became the Legislative Council following a Constitutional change in 1928. As a result, Wong has been identified as the first person of East Asian descent elected to a national legislature in the Americas. His subsequent appointment to the Executive Council was also a first for a West Indian Chinese. As a legislator, Wong was a principal proponent of the introduction of personal income taxation. Wong won election to a subsequent term on the Legislative Council in 1934 under a slogan reflecting his initials: Right Vanquishes Every Wrong.

Wong's business interests included Good Hope Ranch in the Rupununi Savannah, Anchor Ranch in Berbice, and interests in an abattoir, tannery and shoemaking factory. He owned a number of stone quarries, as well as oil and bauxite mining concessions. Wong promoted a government and internationally financed sustainable development project for tropical hardwood industry, cut short by World War II. Wong was co-founder and President of the Durban Race Club. His stone quarry on the Essequibo was expropriated by the Allies during World War II under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement, and supplied stone for air defenses throughout the Caribbean. Wong died on 19 October 1952.

In popular culture Good Hope Ranch, referred to as Wong's Ranch, is featured in Evelyn Waugh's travel memoir Ninety-Two Days. Wong was a hero to Waugh's guide Yetto, on account of his reputation for high play at cards.

Personal life Wong married Cheu-Leen Ho-A-Shoo, daughter of another notable Chinese family in the Colony, in Barbados, shortly after they completed their University studies in England. He was survived by Cheu-Leen, four daughters and one son, Evan Wong, named for the family patriarch.