John So

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John So

蘇震西博士
John So
Incumbent
Assumed office 
November 2001
Preceded by Peter Costigan
Born October 2, 1946 (1946-10-02) (age 61)
Hong Kong
Nationality Chinese Australian
Political party Melbourne Living
Spouse Wendy Cheng

John Chun Sai So JP (Traditional Chinese: 蘇震西, Simplified Chinese: 苏震西) is an Australian businessman and the Lord Mayor of City of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia. He was the first Lord Mayor in the city's history to be directly elected by the people; previously, Lord Mayors were elected by the Councillors. In office since 2001, So is currently the longest-serving Lord Mayor of Melbourne.

On 8 June 2007, John So received a Doctor of the University from Victoria University honouring his service in local government.

Contents

[edit] Background Information

So was born in Hong Kong[1]. When he was 17 years old, he moved to Melbourne and completed his secondary education at University High School. He then went on to his tertiary studies, obtaining a Diploma of Education and Bachelor of Science from the University of Melbourne. After graduating, he taught physics at Fitzroy High School and became a business operator in 1973.

So's career has included positions as Director of Asia Society's AustralAsia Centre, Commissioner of Victoria Ethics Affairs Commission, Director of Melbourne Water, Honorary Member of World Mayors Council on Climate Change, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Racing Carnival and Chairman of the Victorian Chinese Welfare Centre.[2]

So is also actively involved in Australia's major sporting events. He is the number one ticketholder for the Melbourne Demons Football Club (Australian Rules Football) and number two ticket holder for Melbourne Victory Football Club (Association Football). He does not take an interest in rugby, but is an ardent supporter of the Melbourne Storm.

He has been married twice and has four children. His wife, Wendy Cheng, is the Lady Mayoress of Melbourne and chairs the Lady Mayoress' Committee.

[edit] Local Government

In 1991, So contested politics for the first time and was elected as one of the Councillors of the City of Melbourne. He was re-elected in 1996 and 1999. In 1999, So came within one vote of being elected Lord Mayor.

In 2001 the Victorian Government prematurely dismissed the Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and Councillors for ongoing infighting, which resulted in the Council's inability to function. The Government immediately reformed the system to give the Lord Mayor a stronger mandate. Under the new system, the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor were to be directly elected by the citizens in a US-Presidential Style Election, as opposed to being elected by the Councillors.

[edit] First Term as Lord Mayor, 2001-2004

In the 2001 Lord Mayor Elections, So polled the second highest number of primary votes of 14.9%. The candidate with the most primary votes, Peter Sheppard received 15.2%. After preferences, So comforably defeated Sheppard and became the first directly elected Lord Mayor of Melbourne. So also defeated then-Premier Steve Bracks' preferred candidate, Peter McMullin and former Federal Minister and Australian Democrats founder, Don Chipp.

So has been a popular Lord Mayor and has been credited for re-establishing confidence and unity in the Town Hall. So presided over a prosperous term in which Melbourne was voted World's Most Livable City on more than one occasion.[3] Observers commend So on his humble, low-key approach to the job and applaud him for choosing to walk to appointments whenever possible. Along with television presenter Livinia Nixon, So has been the face of the "That's Melbourne" campaign to encourage tourism. He has campaigned strongly 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 been criticised as some see him as a poor communicator, partly due to his heavily accented English. A restaurant with ties to So was also fined $75,000 for breaches of the Food Safety Act by his own Council.[4]

In 2002, So snubbed the Dalai Lama during his Australian visit, and it was left to the Geelong Mayor to meet him.[5] More recently, the Council was punished by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for throwing the Falun Gong out of the city's annual Moomba parade.[6]

[edit] Second Term as Lord Mayor, 2004-present

Though he had been a relatively popular mayor, So was widely expected to be defeated at the 2004 elections.[7] Despite this, So polled tremendously well on election day, achieving 42.2% of the primary votes (compared to his nearest rival who received 9.2%), and was re-elected in a landslide.[8] So's ticket for the Councillor positions was also successful, winning a historical majority in the Town Hall.[9]

During the 2006 Commonwealth Games, John So was warmly welcomed by Melbourne as a figurehead of the city, more than Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and Prime Minister John Howard. This led to "John So, he's our bro'" t-shirts and "John So for PM'" shirts and stickers 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 cheers and chants 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.[10] 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.[11]

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 'Wok This Way ft. John So' and had John So repeating "share your fish with everyone" and other comments he had 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 7 April 2006. It has lyrics that say "we like his style" and that "there's no disputin' he's the new Bert Newton".

On 20 April 2006, Australian film and music website Xdafied 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 invited people to send in messages, cards, poems and any other creative birthday wishes; most of which can be viewed online. In 2005, So was also the subject of a painting by Jiawei Shen, which was a finalist for the Archibald Prize in 2005.[12] The portrait is currently displayed in the Town Hall.

In 2006, So was among 11 recipients of the 'You Bring Charm to the World' Award, presented at Peking University in Beijing. The Award was jointly sponsored by Phoenix Television, Baidu, and Beijing Youth Daily and recognises the achievements of the 'most influential Chinese in 2006'.[13]

[edit] World Mayor, 2006

So's popularity in office resulted in him being named World Mayor for 2006. So won the contest ahead of Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen, who placed second, and Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed who was third. World Mayor cited, amongst other things, the successful staging of the 2006 Commonwealth Games and So's popularity among the young population of Melbourne as a reason for So's victory. In its verdict, the judging panel described So as 'possibly the first city leader to enjoy 'cult status'".[14]

So was humble after the results were revealed: "I am delighted to be elected World Mayor 2006," Mr. So said. In his closing statements to the media, he added "The honour belongs to the amazing people of this wonderful city and the hard working team at the City of Melbourne".[15]

[edit] Criticisms

In 2007, So was criticised for the redundancies of nearly 75 staff at the Melbourne City Council after it was reported that the Council had presided over a $4.2 million deficit.[16] An Ernst & Young report commissioned by the Council found that So's pledge to keep rate increases low, despite increases in spending, had contributed to the deficit. The report also found that the Council will face financial difficulties in 2016 if the spending continued. So defeated a 'vote of no confidence' over this incident by opposition councillors.[17]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Hong Kong-born Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So". 
  2. ^ "Councillors - The Right Honourable Lord Mayor John So", City of Melbourne. 
  3. ^ "Best city in the world", The Age, 2002-10-04. 
  4. ^ "So's campaign for second term trips on a cockroach", The Age, 2004-03-20. 
  5. ^ "Melbourne to snub Dalai Lama", ABC News Online, 2002-05-02. 
  6. ^ "City Council bans Falun Gong from Moomba", The Age, 2003-02-21. 
  7. ^ "The mayor will lose his war", The Age, 2004-11-07. 
  8. ^ "Mayoral Results for Melbourne City Council Elections 2004", Victorian Electoral Commission. 
  9. ^ "Historic second term for So", The Age, 2004-11-28. 
  10. ^ "Melbourne, we did it!", Sydney Morning Herald, 2006-03-26. 
  11. ^ "So, who's a popular mayor?", NEWS.com.au, 2006-03-26. 
  12. ^ "Portraits picked", The Age, 2005-04-21. 
  13. ^ "Zhang Ziyi Brings Charm to the World", china.org.cn, 2007-04-02. 
  14. ^ "John So, Lord Mayor of Melbourne wins the 2006 World Mayor Award", World Mayor, 2006-12-05. 
  15. ^ "So good: the world's best mayor", Herald Sun, 2006-12-05. 
  16. ^ "Melbourne efficiency review to reveal council problems", ABC News, 2007-05-30. 
  17. ^ "Big-spending mayor goes for broke", The Age, 2007-05-31. 

[edit] See also

Preceded by
Peter Costigan		 Lord Mayor of Melbourne
2001-		 Succeeded by
Incumbent