Migrants' flawed champion

Wong Chin Foo did not manage to hold on to his celebrity posthumously: most Chinese Americans would not recognise his name today.

But in the 1870s and '80s, Wong's fame was such that his antics were routinely covered in major papers such as the and . And it was no wonder. Not only was Wong one of the first Chinese to successfully gain US citizenship and adopt American ways, making him stand out as an intriguing oddball, but he was also a gifted orator with a flair for the dramatic.

There was no wasted opportunity to draw attention to his causes. Wong started out dressing up in Chinese regalia to help Americans understand Chinese culture, and ended with soaring oration in his passionate fight for equality as he pushed for the US government to overturn a law that made it illegal for Chinese, and Chinese alone, to become naturalised citizens.

Wong was no saint and in , biographer Scott D. Seligman paints him as someone who was unreliable, a brash man who made both Chinese and white enemies easily, an egoist who often contradicted himself.

From the time he was sent by US missionaries from Shandong province to American soil in 1867, when he was 20 years old, until his death 31 years later, Wong survived several assassination attempts in Chinatown, precipitated by his interference in illegal activity and money issues between laundrymen.

He was sued repeatedly, arrested a few times and had a litigious streak, too. He irrationally hated and denounced the Cantonese, calling them "low life" - although his friendly relationship with Sun Yat-sen was an exception.