'She wished for everyone to enjoy their lives' as funeral for former south Belfast MLA Anna Lo takes place
A humanist ceremony took place as former south Belfast MLA Anna Lo was laid to rest at Newtownabbey Crematorium on Friday.
Ms Lo passed away earlier this month at the age of 74 following complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Anna's younger son, Owen Watson, said at the ceremony: "She wished for everyone to enjoy their lives and to make the most of their potential no matter where they were from. She did it all in her own unique style – fun and serious, loving and honest."
Born in Hong Kong in 1950, she came to Northern Ireland in 1974 and worked on Chinese language programmes for the BBC, then as a social worker, setting up an evening class for Chinese migrants in 1978.
She was awarded an MBE in 2000 for services to ethnic minorities.
In 2007 she became the first ethnic-minority politician elected to the Assembly, representing South Belfast, and the first politician of Chinese ethnicity elected to any legislative body in western Europe.
She served as an MLA until 2016, and also stood unsuccessfully as an MEP in 2014.
Ms Lo had been vice-chair of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities and was a director of the arts charity Arts Ekta and the charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long described Ms Lo as a “ground breaker” and that her legacy in local politics “will live on”.
She is survived by her partner Robert, siblings Henry and Mary, sons Conall and Owen, and two grandchildren.