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So has tertiary qualifications in education and science from the University of Melbourne. During his time at university, he campaigned strongly against the White Australia Policy and helped found the University's Overseas and Chinese Students Association. Afterwards, he became a high school science teacher, working at Fitzroy High School. He has been a restaurant proprietor since 1973. He has been married twice and has four children.

So's career has included positions as director of the Melbourne Water Corporation , Ethnic Affairs Commissioner for Victoria, Vice-President of the Melbourne Chinatown Traders' Association, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Racing Carnival and chairman of the Victorian Chinese Welfare Centre. He is also the number one ticketholder for the Melbourne Football Club.

So was elected as a Councillor for Central Ward on the Melbourne City Council in 1991. In March 1999 he came within one vote of being elected Lord Mayor. In July 2001, he achieved his goal, becoming the first directly elected Lord Mayor. He defeated a number of high-profile candidates, including Australian DemocratsThe Australian Democrats (in regular parlance, just the Democrats , is an Australian social liberal party formed in 1977 from the earlier Australia Party by Don Chipp, who left the Liberal Party of Australia to do so. His stated aim was to "Keep the Basta founder Don ChippDonald Leslie Chipp (born August 21, 1925 in suburban Melbourne) is an Australian politician and author. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II. He was the Liberal member for Higginbotham from 1960 to 1968 and then for Hotham from 196.

So has generally been a popular mayor, and has been credited for choosing to walk to appointments where possible, instead of using taxpayer funds to be driven around. Along with television presenter Livinia NixonLivinia Nixon (born March 19, 1975) is an Australian television presenter and actor who has worked on a number of programs appearing on the Nine Network. Nixon appeared in several small roles in telemovies and TV dramas in the mid 1990's, but became much, he has been the face of the "That's Melbourne" campaign to encourage tourism. He has campaigned against crime, and is a member of the Police Minister's Crime Prevention Council. He has also pushed for the federal government to build a national indigenous museum in Melbourne.

So has also been criticised from a number of sectors over his time as mayor. Some see him as a poor communicator, partly due to his heavily accented English. He had connections to a restaurant that was fined $75,000 for breaches of the Food Act by his own Council. So has also been accused of favouring friends when considering appointments to council positions.

In 20022002 is a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). 2002 was the first palindromic year since 1991 and the last until 2112. 2002 was also designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom, he snubbed the Dalai LamaAlternative meaning: Dalai Lama (song The Dalai Lama belongs to the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The current and 14th Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso. Every other Buddhist sect in Tibet recognises the Dalai Lama as the religious and political leader of all during his Australian visit, and it was left to Geelong mayor Barbara Abley to welcome him. More recently, the Council was punished by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for leaving the Falun GongFalun Gong ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , literally "Practice of the Wheel of Law") or Falun Dafa ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , lit. Great Law of the Wheel of Law") is a controversial Chinese spiritual movement with influe out of the city's annual Moomba parade.