Cheng Hon-kwan (; born 16 May 1927) is a Hong Kong engineer and politician. He was the member of the Executive Council and

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...

in the 1980s and was chairman of the

Hong Kong Housing Authority The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong. It was established in April 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an government agency, agency of the Government of Hong Kong. In the same year, the R ...

from 2000 to 2002.

Education and government career

Cheng was born in Hong Kong on 16 May 1927 and was educated in Beijing and Tianjin. He received Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from

Tianjin University Tianjin University (TJU; zh, t=, , s=天津大学, p=, labels=no), previously Peiyang University (), is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Tianjin, China. Established in 1895 by a royal charter from ...

in 1948 and moved to Hong Kong. He joined the Hong Kong government as an assistant structural engineer to the architectural office of 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 ...

in 1953. He subsequently studied abroad in England and graduated with the Diploma of Imperial College in Concrete Structures and Technology from the

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

in 1964. He returned to Hong Kong and became the chief structural engineer of the Buildings Ordinance Office of the Public Works Department by 1965. He retired from the government in 1977 and started his own consultancy office, H. K. Cheng & Partners, Consulting Engineers.

Public career

He is the fellow 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 ...

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a British professional body for structural engineers. In 2021, it had 29,900 members operating in 112 countries. It provides professional accreditation and publishes a magazine, '' The Structural Eng ...

in the United Kingdom,

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

, and member of the Association of Consulting Engineers in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. In 1978–79, he was elected president of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. In 2002. the Institution of Structural Engineers, United Kingdom awarded a Gold Medal to Dr. Cheng for his personal contribution in establishing structural engineering as a pre-eminent profession in Hong Kong. He had been appointed to many public positions, including member of Land and Building Advisory Committee, Appeal Tribunal (Buildings Ordinance), Committee of Review Panel (Buildings Ordinance), Engineering Advisory Committee of the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

, board of directors of the Chinese YMCA and board of governors of the Hong Kong Bible Society. He became one of the first elected members of the

when the

indirect elections An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

were introduced in 1985, in which he was elected to the council in 1985 and 1988 through the Engineering, Architectural, Surveying and Planning functional constituency elected by engineers architects, surveyors and urban planners. In 1988, he was appointed to the

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the c ...

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Sir David Wilson until his retirement in 1991.

Recent career

He remained active in the public arena after 1997. In 1998, he was among the first recipients of the

Gold Bauhinia Star The Gold Bauhinia Star (, GBS) is the highest rank in Order of the Bauhinia Star, under the Order (distinction), honours system of Hong Kong, created in 1997 to replace the British honours system after the Handover of Hong Kong, transfer of sovere ...

. He was appointed chairman of the

from 2000 to 2003. He was also chairman of the Council of the

City University of Hong Kong The City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) is a public research university in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and formally established as the City University of Hong Kong in 1994 ...

and the

Open University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU, previously known as the Open University of Hong Kong) is a public university in Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is the only self-financing university set up by the Hong Kong government. The universi ...

, as well as vice-chairman of the Council of the

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status, and the firs ...

. He also serves on the Standing Committee of the Tianjin Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Hon-kwan 1927 births Living people Chinese structural engineers Hong Kong civil servants Hong Kong civil engineers Hong Kong Methodists Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Heads of universities in Hong Kong Tianjin University alumni Alumni of Imperial College London Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star Officers of the Order of the British Empire HK LegCo Members 1985–1988 HK LegCo Members 1988–1991 Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong