Szeto Wah, born Szeto Wai-wah, was also nicknamed "Uncle Wah". He was born February 28th, 1931, Hong Kong (with his ancestry tracing back to Chikan, Kaiping in Guangdong Province). He passed away January 2nd, 2011 in Hong Kong. For decades, the group events and social movements that Szeto participated in formed an important part of Hong Kong's history. Szeto had already become involved in politics in 1985. However, in April of 1989, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Yaobang passed away, which sparked the 1989 democracy movement, and the June 4th crackdown that followed after it. With these events, Szeto's involvement in politics became even deeper.
From its inception until his death in 2011, Szeto Wah was chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. In 1990, he was a participant in the formation of the United Democrats of Hong Kong (forerunner to the Democratic Party), and served as a central committee member. That same year, he also began serving as general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions. In 1994, he was part of the founding of the Democratic Party, serving as central committee member and party whip until 2008. In addition to his efforts in politics, Szeto was honored with many international awards. Examples include the Distinguished Contribution to Chinese Democracy award from the Chinese Democratic Education Foundation in the US, in 1989; the Homo Homini Award from the Czech organization People in Need, in 1997; the Human and Trade Union Rights Award from Education International, in 2001; and in 2002, the American Federation of Teachers' Bayard Rustin Human Rights Award.