Michael Suen

Michael Suen Ming-yeung
孫明揚
Secretary for Education
In office 1 July 2007 – 30 June 2012
Chief Executive	Sir Donald Tsang
Chief Secretary	Henry Tang
Undersecretary	Kenneth Chen
Permanent Secretary	Cherry Tse
Political Assistant	Jeremy Young
Preceded by	Arthur Li (as Secretary for Education and Manpower)
Succeeded by	Eddie Ng
Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
In office 1 July 2002 – 30 June 2007
Chief Executive	Tung Chee-hwa Sir Donald Tsang
Chief Secretary	Sir Donald Tsang Rafael Hui
Permanent Secretary	Thomas Chan & Rita Lau
Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
In office 4 August 1997 – 30 June 2002
Chief Executive	Tung Chee-hwa
Chief Secretary	Anson Chan Sir Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Nicholas Ng
Succeeded by	Stephen Lam
Secretary for Home Affairs
In office 7 November 1991 – 3 August 1997
Governor	David Wilson Chris Patten
Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
In office 1 March 1989 – 2 October 1991
Governor	David Wilson
Succeeded by	Michael Sze
Personal details
Born	1944 Chongqing, China

Michael Suen
Traditional Chinese	孫明揚
Simplified Chinese	孙明扬
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūn Míngyáng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Syun^1 Ming^4 joeng^4 Yale Romanization Syūn Mìhng yèuhng

Michael Suen Ming-yeung GBS CBE JP; born 7 April 1944) was the Secretary for Education of Hong Kong.

Education

Suen attended Wah Yan College, a Jesuit school in Hong Kong.^[1]

Career

He joined the colonial Hong Kong Government in 1966 as an Administrative Officer and was promoted to the rank of Director of Bureau in January 1991.^[2]

During the early years of his career, he served in the former New Territories Administration, Resettlement Department and Environment Branch. He was appointed Secretary for Constitutional Affairs in March 1989 and Secretary for Home Affairs in November 1991. He continued his post as Secretary for Home Affairs on 8 July 1997 and took up the appointment as Secretary for Constitutional Affairs on 4 August 1997. Suen took up the post of Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands on 1 July 2002.^[2]

Upon the resignation of Donald Tsang on 25 May 2005, he assumed the post as the acting Chief Secretary for Administration, until Rafael Hui was appointed. In July 2007, he took over the position of Secretary for Education after Arthur Li retired.^[3]

Around 2007 he was known for pushing trilingual education with English, Cantonese and Putonghua to boost Hong Kong's competitiveness.^[4]

Health

On 27 April 2011, Suen announced that he was suffering from renal failure.^[5] Suen was also diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease on 21 December 2011. The new HK government headquarters found as many as 19 areas contaminated with legionella bacteria out of 43 water samples. Suen announced his recovery in January 2012.

Controversy

2007 protest at home

For years as a housing chief, Suen denied to meet with housing rights activists until 2007, when some 30 activists, including Longhair Leung Kwok-hung finally camped out at Suen's house in Happy Valley to protest. Public housing citizens were suffering from excessive rent increase, and the activists tried to voice the concern. The protest turned violent outside his home, with five policemen and one protester injured. Leung was also arrested.^[6]

Illegal extension case

In 1994 Suen purchased a new home, the low-rise Shuk Yuen building in Green Lane Happy Valley. He then illegally extended the size of his home to make it bigger. As the former Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, his staff reportedly warned him against the illegal extension,^[7][8] sending him a letter in April 2006 to remove the extension, which he reportedly ignored it. In 2011, he agreed to reduce the size of the structure. Both the democratic and pro-Beijing camps criticised him.^[9]

See also

• List of graduates of University of Hong Kong

References

1. "華仁仔再出擊 師兄拔刀相助". Paper.wenweipo.com. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
2. "Profile of Michael Suen Ming-yeung, GBS, JP, Secretary for Education". GovHK. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
3. Winnie Chong (13 July 2007). "Grants chief opposes creation of body to settle disputes". The Standard. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
4. "Language plan gets mixed reviews". The Standard. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
5. "Transcript of Secretary for Education"
6. "'Long Hair' among Suen home protesters held". The Standard. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
7. "OK, I'll pull them down now". The Standard. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
8. "承辦商準備拆卸孫明揚寓所僭建物". Rthk.org.hk. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
9. "Suen tries to mend fences". The Standard. Retrieved 28 May 2011.