Stephen Lam

The Honourable Stephen Lam Sui-lung OBE, GBM, GBS, JP
林瑞麟
Stephen Lam in 2010
Chief Secretary for Administration
In office 30 September 2011 – 30 June 2012
Preceded by	Henry Tang
Succeeded by	Carrie Lam
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
In office 1 July 2002 – 30 September 2011
Preceded by	Michael Suen (as Secretary for Constitutional Affairs)
Succeeded by	Raymond Tam
Personal details
Born	24 November 1955 Hong Kong
Nationality	Chinese, Hong Kong
Spouse(s)	Florence Ip
Alma mater	University of Hong Kong University of London (law)

Stephen Lam
Traditional Chinese	林瑞麟
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lín Ruìlín Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Lam^4 Seoi^6kei^4

Stephen Lam Sui-lung, OBE, GBM, GBS, JP (born 24 November 1955) was the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs.

Lam was born in Hong Kong attended Wah Yan College. He graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1978 and then began his public service career. During his early years in the civil service he attended the University of London Law School, from which he graduated in 1983.

Career

Lam joined the Hong Kong government administrative service in October 1978. He held senior positions as Administrative Assistant to the Chief Secretary from 1989 to 1991. He was the Deputy Secretary for Constitutional Affairs from 1994 to 1996. He was the director of the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony Co-ordination Office from 1996 to 1997.^[1] In this role he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1997.^[2]

After the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, he was the Director of Administration and Development in the Hong Kong Department of Justice. From July 2002 to September 2011 he was Secretary for Constitutional Affairs. Lam then replaced Henry Tang as the Chief Secretary for Administration, with nine months of the term remaining, due to Tang's resignation from the post in advance of his expected trot to the Chief Executiveship.^[1] Lam has enjoyed the lowest popularity ratings among the three key secretaries – chief secretary, finance secretary and justice secretary – and in May 2012 scored 37.3 points out of 100.^[3]

On 5 and 6 June 2009, Lam met with Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成), Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister.^[4] The meeting took place in Taipei to improve cooperation between Hong Kong and Taiwan trade.^[5] He also met with Lai Shin-yuan, the Chairwoman of the MAC.

Lam decided to leave politics upon the expiry of his term of office on 30 June 2012; he will read theology at Oxford University from September.^[3] He became the official with lowest opinion poll since HK SAR Government was established in 1997.

Criticism

In July 2007 during a Legislative Council meeting, Lam was criticized by the pan-democrats for pocketing millions of dollars in government salary, while making no progress in constitutional development. Lam was dubbed "Eunuch Lam"(林公公).^[6] In 2011, his alleged "manipulation" of political development – in particular, the so-called "replacement mechanism" for filling vacancies in the Legislative Council caused by resignations, led to objections to his promotion to Chief Secretary, including a protest march of more than a thousand people, led by the Civil Human Rights Front.^[7]

References

1. Gov.hk. "Mr Stephen Lam Sui-lung." Retrieved on 17 June 2009.
2. "Supplement to Issue 54794", London Gazette, 13 June 1997, p.25.
3. Phila Siu, (7 May 2012). "Duty calls". The Standard, page 1.
4. The Standard HK. "The Standard.com." Lam seals accord for closer ties with Taiwan. Retrieved on 17 June 2009.
5. News.gov.hk. ""Stephen Lam to visit Taipei". News.gov.hk Retrieved on 17 June 2009.
6. Legco.gov.hk. "Legco.gov.hk." OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS. Wednesday, 11 July 2007. Retrieved on 17 June 2009.
7. "Protests demand Stephen Lam resign", RTHK News, 10 Oct 2011