By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Hiram Fong, one of Hawai'i's true originals, has gone to his deserved reward. Paeans of fitting praise for his contributions to Hawai'i and the nation have resounded throughout the land. Only one thing sort of got left out: his amazing talent as a standup comedian.

No wonder he kept getting elected as a Republican in rock-ribbed Democratic Hawai'i. Warren Smith of Kailua reminded me of this.

Let's recall Hiram Fong's delightful sense of humor one last time. I'll never forget the speech he gave at age 95 to the United Chinese Society when they named him Chinese Citizen of the Year.

Before we could start the seven-course dinner, we had to sit through two Chinese bagpipers in kilts, the beating of gongs, a lion dance, a Chinese soprano, the installation of officers, introduction of guests, and an invocation and four speeches filled with resounding platitudes that would turn any politician green with envy.

Finally, they let Hiram Fong have the microphone. Did he talk about his pioneering generation of successful Chinese in Hawai'i, shining shoes and peddling newspapers as a boy, getting elected the first U.S. senator of Asian descent, founding a financial empire?

Of course not.

He said he was grateful for the messages of congratulation from Dan Inouye, Dan Akaka, Ben Cayetano and Jeremy Harris because they're all Democrats.

"When I was running for office, nobody in Hawai'i paid attention to a Republican," he explained.

Hiram said he was lucky to be in Hawai'i because his father intended to go back to China until he lost his money gambling on the pier with stevedores before getting on the boat. "I had a hard time coming into this world," said Hiram. "My father, a See Yup, married a Lung Doo. Her angry parents took my mother home. She stayed three days and ran back to my father."

Fong said he wished he had kept his first car, a Model-T Ford, because today it would be a relic worth some money. "Now the only relic I have is my wife," he said.

Fong met his wife, Ellyn, at the First Chinese Church of Christ across from McKinley High School. They married in 1938.

Son Hiram Jr. got up to make a speech and said, "Fortunately, my mother (age 90) is hard of hearing."

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.