Media

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is pleased to present Honorary University Fellowships to nine distinguished individuals this year, in recognition of their contributions to the University and to the community.

They are:
1.    Mr John Koon Chung CHAN
2.    Mr Chan Yau CHONG
3.    Dr York Yat Ngok CHOW
4.    Ms Belinda Kwai Yi HUNG
5.    Mr Philip Bing Lun LAM
6.     Mr Simon Siu Man SUEN
7.     Dr Joseph Sun Pao TING
8.    Mr Joseph Chong Chun WONG
9.     Dr Nicolas Shu Yan YEUNG

The ceremony will take place at 5:30pm on Thursday, October 4, 2012 in the Rayson Huang Theatre at the main campus of the University.

At the ceremony, Dr the Hon David K P Li, the Pro-Chancellor of the University, will present the Honorary University Fellowships to the above persons.

Biographies of the recipients:

1. Mr John Koon Chung CHAN

Mr John Koon Chung Chan is a renowned writer, critic and film producer. He is the founder of lifestyle magazine City, a groundbreaking cultural publication of its kind in the 1970s and 1980s. He has produced more than 10 Hong Kong movies and 3 US movies and is one of the five founders of the Hong Kong Film Directors Guild. A prolific writer, he has published more than a dozen books in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China. His most recent novel, The Fat Years, has received critical acclaim worldwide and been translated into 13 languages. Currently lives in Beijing, he is the founder and chairman of Minjian International. He is also a co-founder of the Hong Kong environmental group Green Power, and has served as a board member of Greenpeace International.

2. Mr Chan Yau CHONG

Mr Chan Yau Chong is currently the President of the Hong Kong Blind Union, Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Joint Council for People with Disabilities, Chairman of the Dialogue in the Dark Hong Kong, Chairman of Carbon Care Asia, and Director of the English Learning Service Provider, EL 2100.  He has served as an administrative officer in the Hong Kong Government, Executive Director of Oxfam Hong Kong, and Director of the HKU Student Development of the Centre for Development and Resources for Students. He received one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Awards in 1991, an MBE in 1995, the Poverty Alleviation Award from the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation in 2004 and one of the Leader of the Year Awards 2011 (Community/Public Affairs Category) from the Sing Tao News Corporation in 2012.

3. Dr York Yat Ngok CHOW

Dr York Yat Ngok Chow is an orthopaedic surgeon by profession and the former Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong SAR Government. He has served as Chief Executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital and of Queen Mary Hospital, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong West Cluster of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. He is currently an Honorary Professor of the HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, and an Honorary Professor in Rehabilitation Science at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He also actively participates in voluntary and community work, and is currently the President of the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and the Sports Association for the Physically Disabled.  He was awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star in 2001 and a Gold Bauhinia Star in 2009.

4. Ms Belinda Kwai Yi HUNG

Ms Belinda Kwai Yi Hung has served in a number of social welfare posts with Caritas Hong Kong from 1975 to 1997, including two years as the Head of the Resettlement Counselling Programme for Vietnamese Refugees at the Hong Kong UNHCR office. She is a co-founder of the Hung Hing Ying and Leung Hau Ling Charitable Foundation. She has actively participated in various educational projects and charitable activities in partnership with universities and social welfare organizations. At HKU, she has established the Hung Leung Hau Ling Distinguished Fellow in Humanities and the Hung Hing-Ying Distinguished Visiting Professorship in Science and Technology. Since 2006, she has supported some 200 high school students each year from needy families in remote villages in Guizhou and Shanxi in their quest to attend tier one universities in Mainland China.

5. Mr Philip Bing Lun LAM

Mr Philip Bing Lun Lam was appointed HKU Director of Finance in 1990 and served in this capacity until his retirement in June 2012. He is currently the Senior Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor on financial, investment and fund-raising matters of the University. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the UK, and an Associate of a number of professional institutes. He has been a board member of all university subsidiary companies and responsible for their corporate governance. On public service, he was a council member of the local Chartered Institute of Management Accountants branch when it was first set up in Hong Kong, a member of the Board of Review of the Inland Revenue Department and a member of the Establishment and Finance Committee of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital.

6. Mr Simon Siu Man SUEN

Mr Simon Siu Man Suen is the founder and Chairman of the SML Group. He has a great interest in Chinese culture and regards Professor Jao Tsung-I as a mentor who has inspired him to promote Chinese classical learning and sinology. He is the Chairman of Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole Fan Club, and the Honorary Chairman of the Jao Studies Foundation. He is also Honorary Director of the Mr Simon Suen and Mrs Mary Suen Sino-Humanities Institute, Honorary Vice President of the Chinese Museums Association and Vice President of Scout Assoication of Hong Kong. He was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 2012. 

7. Dr Joseph Sun Pao TING

Dr Joseph Sun Pao Ting served as the Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Museum of History from 1995 to 2007, during which he was instrumental in the planning and implementation of the new Hong Kong Museum of History, the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence and the Sun Yat-sen Museum. He is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Chairman of the Chinese Modern History Society of Hong Kong, Honorary Assistant Professor in the HKU School of Chinese, and Honorary Advisors to various museums and art galleries in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangdong Province. A specialist in Chinese history and culture, he is the author of award winning books on the cultural heritage of Hong Kong, namely, The Development of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals 1870-1997 published in 2010 and Revolutionaries Buried in Hong Kong published in 2011. 

8. Mr Joseph Chong Chun WONG

Mr Joseph Chong Chun Wong is the Chairman and CEO of Stelux Holdings International Limited, a leading player in the watch and optical retail and wholesale sectors. He was appointed a Director of the Group in 1986, and under his leadership, the Group diversified its product offerings and significantly expanded its business throughout the Asia Pacific region. Mr Wong has served enthusiastically on the Board of Directors of the HKU Foundation for over 15 years, and has recently supported HKU’s Endowed Professorships. He also actively participates in a variety of activities organised by local associations, including, the Hong Kong Retail Management Association and the Hong Kong Management Association as speaker, panelist and judge helping to promote and upgrade service among retail and marketing management in Hong Kong. 

9. Dr Nicolas Shu Yan YEUNG

Dr Nicolas Shu Yan Yeung is the former Director (Project) of the Hong Kong Housing Society and currently an Adjunct Professor of the University of Hong Kong. Professionally, he has strived for total quality performance and management excellence for the construction industry in Hong Kong, and has actively participated in setting up teaching and research programmes linking academia and industry practitioners. He has also worked tirelessly on funding and building primary schools and student hostels for ethnic minority children in the remote Northern mountainous regions of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Mainland China.  He was awarded the Asia-Pacific Business Excellence Standard Prize for an Individual in 2006. 

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk.

Mr John Koon Chung CHAN

Mr Chan Yau CHONG