Kenneth "Nicky" Chan Nai-keong,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, JP (; 17 November 1931 – 9 May 2003) was a Hong Kong engineer and government official. He was the first Chinese person to become Secretary for Lands and Works from 1983 to 1986.

Biography

With a family root in

Zhongshan Zhongshan ( zh, c=中山 ), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is n ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, Chan was born in 1931. He was educated at

Loughborough College Overview Loughborough College is a large general further education college in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It provides both further education (FE) and higher education (HE) courses on a single campus. The colleg ...

and became a student engineer at the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

of the Hong Kong government. His first task was road-widening work in

Wong Nai Chung Road Wong Nai Chung Road is a major road in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. It is a U-shaped road that encircles the southern, western and eastern sides of the Happy Valley Racecourse. Location Wong Nai Chung Road starts northeast at the junction wit ...

outside the

Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) was founded in 1884 and is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong. In 1960, it was granted a royal charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name in 19 ...

in Happy Valley. One of this major projects was the construction of the

Connaught Road Connaught Road ( Chinese: 干諾道) is a major thoroughfare on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It links Shing Sai Road in Kennedy Town to the west and Harcourt Road in Admiralty to the east. Location The road consis ...

pedestrian underpass to the Star Ferry Terminal in Central. He was promoted to the assistant engineer in 1960 and was sent to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

for advanced graduate studies in traffic engineering. He became senior engineer in 1962, the chief engineer in 1965 and later the government's chief engineer in 1973. In 1977, he was promoted to the project manager of the Tuen Mun New Town Development Office, head of the Highways Office and director of engineering development. He then became the Deputy Director of the Lands and Works. He was the first Chinese to become Secretary for Lands and Works from 1983 to 1986 before he became the Postmaster General. For his contribution, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Loughborough and was elected to the British Fellowship of Engineering in 1986. He retired from the civil service in 1987 to take the position of managing director of Hong Kong Electric Holdings which sparked controversy of a potential conflict of interest. After his retirement, he was active in the public sphere, becoming the founding president of the Hong Kong Former Senior Civil Servants Association, chairman of the

Hong Kong Institution of Engineers The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE, ) is a professional body of engineers in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1947 as the ''Engineering Society of Hong Kong'' and was incorporated by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong as ''The Hong Kong ...

and president of the Association of Engineers in Society. He was appointed member of the

Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region The Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was a body established by the People's Republic of China government on 26 January 1996 for the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. Overview The Preparatory Committee was respo ...

and

Hong Kong Affairs Advisor Hong Kong Affairs Advisers () were appointed by the Chinese government after the last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten carried out his electoral reform in the British Hong Kong, in the eve of the handover of the sovereignty of the city-state f ...

on the eve of the handover. He was also a member of the Selection Committee and a member of the

Election Committee The Election Committee is the electoral college in Hong Kong that selects the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, elects 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong which states ...

. In 1997, Chan formed the Hong Kong Experts Consultancy which employed former senior civil servants to offer advice to engineering and property businesses. Chan died of cancer in 2003 and was survived by his wife and three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Nai-keong 1931 births 2003 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Government officials of Hong Kong Hong Kong engineers Hong Kong businesspeople Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Alumni of Loughborough University Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Members of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hong Kong Affairs Advisors Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 1998–2000 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2000–2005