Kwok Meil Wah was the maiden name of Stephen's mother. Stephen has also established The Red Emperor/Pillar of Han group as a means of celebrating his best students; the phonetics involved here are similar to those used in pronouncing his father's name. In these ways, he is seeking to honour his parents who have now both died.

The oriental martial arts can have a positive effect in Africa :

1. by facilitating pride in championship performance, or community service;
2. by teaching self-defence;
3. by instilling discipline;
4. by helping to create fitness and strength;
5. by exposing students to other, particularly oriental, cultures;
6. by providing a means to escape the mental burdens and constraints of poverty.

The Kwok Meil Wah Foundation has been registered as a charity with the purpose of assisting school students and others undertaking education to study and excel in the oriental martial arts. The target recipient groups will be students in Africa, particularly in Zambia and Zimbabwe .

All donations to the Kwok Meil Wah Foundation are charitable donations and thus tax-deductable. Outside the Kwok Meil Wah Foundation there are three other main programmes of support for African martial arts. Donations to these programmes are not charitable donations and hence not tax-deductable.

The three major programmes:

1. ADOPT AN INSTRUCTOR

£100 will equip an instructor with competition gi, and WKF-approved mitts. These are not available in Zambia or Zimbabwe.

2. EDUCATION FOR INSTRUCTORS

This should be a club project, as education fees can run to several hundred pounds. The aim is to fund, or help fund, educational programmes, e.g. computer or business training courses, so that the instructor may have the possibility of securing employment and income.

3.HEALTH SUPPORT FOR INSTRUCTORS

HIV and other diseases affect karate instructors and their students as much as other members of the community. HIV and AIDS-related illnesses are rampant in Zambia and Zimbabwe . Poverty, lack of health-care facilities, and the high cost of pharmaceuticals mean, more often than not, that life-expectancy and quality are much reduced. Please contact Stephen if you want to help in this area. Given the cost of pharmaceuticals, and the need for these to be administered on a life-long basis (the more successful the results, the longer financial support needs to be given), this would make an ideal club project, or group of black belts project.

Those wishing to assist in any of the above can contact Stephen Chan at sc5@soas.ac.uk