Like a path up a misty mountainside in a Chinese watercolor, Louise Ing's family history wends
and winds between China and the Islands, intertwining with Honolulu history along the way.
Ing's great-grandparents, Dr. Khai Fai Li and Dr. Tai Heong Kong, immigrated to Hawai'i from
Canton in 1896 and were Hawai'i's first licensed medical doctors of Chinese ancestry.
"My great-grandmother," Ing says, "was featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not because she'd
delivered 6,000 babies." In 1899, her great-grandfather diagnosed and reported Honolulu's first
case of bubonic plague. Chinatown was subsequently quarantined and burned down when a sanitary
fire got out of control.
Their daughter, Ing's grandmother, met and married Dr. Richard Sia. The couple moved to Beijing,
where Ing's mom and siblings were born, but returned to Honolulu during the Japanese occupation
of China during World War II. "My grandfather got a teaching position at the University of
Hawai'i," Ing says. "To get out of China, they told the authorities they'd come back in a year."
Ing's mother, Julia Sia, married real estate developer Sheridan Ing. As a highly successful
investor, Sheridan wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps. But business wasn't Louise's
focus.
While attending Yale College, Ing protested against the Vietnam War and supported civil rights.
After completing her undergraduate degree, she enrolled at the University of California at
Berkeley. "I was part of a group who entered law school thinking we'd change the world," she
says.
Upon graduating, Ing returned to Honolulu and spent her first year clerking for Judge Samuel
King. "That was a great year," Ing says. "It demystified the process and gave me a feel for
courtroom work."
As Ing's career progressed, she became partner in a small firm. When the firm broke up in 1991,
she and three of the other attorneys founded Alston, Hunt, Floyd and Ing, which currently employs
more than 40 lawyers. Ing practices business and employment litigation, dispute resolution,
and counseling.
"As a young lawyer," Ing says, "I'd complain about the long hours. And my father would tell
me, 'Face it! You're going to have to work really hard until you're in your 40s.' And I'd think
I couldn't last. Then, before I knew it, I was past it!"
As she neared mid-life, Ing decided to get into top condition. She began with hula classes
at the YWCA, then added regular workouts at a gym. "It's helped me feel younger and more energized,"
she says.
Another activity that adds balance to Ing's life is serving on the boards for various organizations,
including HMSA. It feels good, she says, to contribute to an organization's growth and well-being,
and it helps her stay in tune with the community. "I also get to meet a wide variety of people
I'd never encounter doing legal work," she says.
The experience has confirmed lessons she's learned from years of legal work. "Things are usually
more complicated than they seem," she says. "When a big case hits the papers or there's an
attention-grabbing headline about HMSA, you have to be a skeptic and get all the facts before
you draw conclusions. It's been interesting learning the real story behind the news stories
and the real issues involved. I'm impressed with the dedication and commitment of the people
working for HMSA."
Over the years, Ing says, her legal work has tempered her idealism by teaching her to reserve
judgment until she has all the facts. "With more information comes greater understanding,"
she says.