Norman Kwong

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The Honourable
Norman Lim Kwong
林佐民
CM AOE LLD
The Honourable Norman Kwong cropped-2.jpg
16th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
In office
January 20, 2005 – May 11, 2010
Monarch Elizabeth II
Governor General Adrienne Clarkson
Michaëlle Jean
Premier Ralph Klein
Ed Stelmach
Preceded by Lois Hole
Succeeded by Donald Ethell
Personal details
Born Lim Kwong Yew
(1929-10-24) October 24, 1929 (age 94)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Spouse(s) Mary Kwong
Profession Professional athlete (Canadian football), businessman, sports executive
Signature

Norman Lim "Normie" Kwong (Lim Kwong Yew Chinese: 林佐民; pinyin: Lín Zuǒmín; Jyutping: Lam4 Cho3 Man4; born October 24, 1929) is a former professional athlete, sports executive, and was the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

His parents immigrated from Taishan, Guangdong, China, and he is the first person of Chinese heritage to serve as lieutenant-governor of Alberta. As the former vice-regal representative in Alberta, he is styled "The Honourable" for life. Kwong is the second Chinese Canadian to be appointed as a vice regal in Canada.

Sports career

Norman Kwong
NormanKwongFootballUniform1957.jpg
Date of birth (1929-10-24) October 24, 1929 (age 94)
Place of birth Calgary, Alberta
Career information
CFL status National
Position(s) RB
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg)
Career history
As player
1948-1950 Calgary Stampeders
1951-1960 Edmonton Eskimos
Career highlights and awards
CFL West All-Star 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956
Records Eskimos Record
  • Most Rushing Touchdowns – Career (73)
Career stats

After playing football at Western Canada High School, he went on to play for the Calgary Stampeders from 1948 to 1950 and, after a trade, the Edmonton Eskimos from 1951 until his retirement in 1960. Nicknamed the "China Clipper", Kwong was the first Chinese Canadian to play on a professional Canadian football team. A powerful fullback, in 11 years of recorded statistics Kwong rushed for 9,022 yards for an average of 5.2 yards per carry and scored 93 touchdowns. He won the Grey Cup four times during his career (1948, 1954, 1955, and 1956). Kwong was a Western Conference all-star running back and three-time winner of the Eddie James Memorial Trophy, in 1951, 1955 and 1956. He was named the Schenley Most Outstanding Canadian in 1955 and 1956. He was named Canadian Athlete of the Year in 1955. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1969, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975, the Edmonton Eskimos' Wall of Honour in 1983 (where his jersey No. 95 was retired), and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. In November 2006, he was one of very few of his contemporaries to be voted one of the Canadian Football League's Top 50 players of the sport's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN. Kwong set the CFL record for the most yards rushing by Canadian in a season with 1,437 in the 1956 season. This record held for 56 years, being broken by Jon Cornish only in 2012,[1] though Kwong accomplished his record in fifteen games, rather than eighteen for Cornish.[2]

He was president and general manager of the Calgary Stampeders from 1988 to 1991, leading the team to a loss in the Grey Cup final in 1991. Between 1980 and 1994, Kwong was a part owner of the Calgary Flames, having been one of the original group of six Calgary businessmen who bought and moved the NHL's Atlanta Flames hockey team to Calgary in 1980.[3] The Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989, making him one of few people whose name is on both the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup.

Public service career

Kwong's public stature from sports helped him move on to politics and government. In 1971 he ran for the Alberta Progressive Conservative party in Calgary-Millican. In this election, the PCs ended Social Credit's 36-year hold on power, winning all but five seats in Calgary. However, Kwong himself was defeated by longtime incumbent Arthur J. Dixon who won by a 1600 vote plurality.

In 1988 Kwong was made a member of the Order of Canada and has served as the national chairman of the Canadian Consultative Council on Multiculturalism. Kwong was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta on January 20, 2005, replacing Lois Hole, who died in office on January 6, 2005. Kwong welcomed Queen Elizabeth II to Alberta in June 2005 on a visit commemorating Alberta's first 100 years in Canadian Confederation. During a private audience the Queen presented Kwong with the insignia of a Knight of Justice in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.

Kwong swore Ed Stelmach into office as the 13th Premier of Alberta on December 14, 2006. His term concluded on May 11, 2010, and he was succeeded by Don Ethell.

Arms

Arms of Norman Kwong
Norman Kwong Arms.svg
Notes
The arms of Norman Kwong consist of:[4]
Crest
Issuant from a coronet Argent the upper rim set with flames proper, a demi-horse Argent winged Or holding a wild rose proper.
Escutcheon
Barry Or and Vert on a bend Vert three footballs Or.
Supporters
Two Lim dragons (i.e., a Chinese dragon with the hindquarters of an Albertosaurus) per fess Or and Vert.
Compartment
Tapissé of wheat Or set with wild roses proper.
Motto
Strive to Excel
Symbolism
The shield represents a Canadian football field viewed from above with the 10 yard lines defined by the bands of green and gold. The colours are the team colours of the Edmonton Eskimos, the Canadian Football League team for which His Honour played and starred. The green band symbolizes a swift path across the field, while the three gold footballs refer to the speed of his advancing the play. The white horse is a reference to the Calgary Stampeders, His Honour’s first football team. The wings refer to His Honour’s nickname, “the China Clipper”, earned from his energetic play, and derived from the airplane of the same name. The rose refers to Her Honour Mary Kwong, an avid gardener who has played a singular role in His Honour’s life as his loving wife and greatest companion. The white circlet with red flames symbolizes His Honour’s long involvement with, and ownership of, the Calgary Flames hockey team, the colours of which are the national colours red and white. The supporters are two mythical creatures which have been named “Lim dragons”, referring to the Lieutenant Governor’s Chinese heritage. They are made from the upper part of a Chinese dragon and the lower part of the Albertosaurus, a dinosaur named for the province. The grain fields represent one of the province’s important and historic sources of wealth, while the wild roses are the provincial floral emblem and refer to His Honour’s family.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/10/31/normie-kwong-proud-of-cfl-rushing-record
  2. ↑ http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/football/lions/Lions+boss+Wally+Buono+says+record+books+should/7492003/story.html
  3. ↑ The other original investors are Harley Hotchkiss, Ralph T. Scurfield, Daryl Seaman, Byron Seaman and Norman Green.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Order of precedence
Preceded by Order of precedence in Alberta
as of 2013		 Succeeded by
Don Getty, Former Premier of Alberta
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