Christine Chow Ma
Christine Chow Ma is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese lawyer and former First Lady of the Republic of China from 2008 until 2016. She is married to Ma Ying-jeou, the former president of Taiwan.
Biography
Chow was born in British Hong Kong in 1952, with family roots in Nanjing in Jiangsu province of mainland China.After graduating from Taipei First Girls' High School, Chow studied law at National Chengchi University and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree. She then completed graduate studies in the United States at New York University, earning her Master of Laws from the New York University School of Law.
Chow was a high-school classmate of Ma Ying-jeou's sister. Chow and Ma married in New York. She worked as a research assistant, assistant librarian, and maître d’hôtel at a Chinese restaurant to support her husband through Harvard Law School. They have two daughters, Lesley and Kelly. Lesley was born in 1980 in the United States when Ma was attending Harvard; she completed her undergraduate work at Harvard University, her MA at New York University, and her PhD at the University of California San Diego. She is the Ming Chu Hsu and Daniel Xu Associate Curator of Asian Art in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The younger daughter, Kelly, was born in Taiwan and completed her undergraduate studies at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Career
Ma was employed at the Mega International Commercial Bank in Taiwan in its legal department. After Ma won the 2008 presidential election, she said she would continue her professional work. At the time, the only change she has made to her lifestyle was taking a chauffeured ride to work instead of public transportation.In a change of course, Ma, in a 15 July 2008 CNN interview, stated that his wife would resign her post at the bank to avoid any conflicts of interest or arouse suspicions during his presidency. Her resignation marked a major change for the career-oriented First Lady.