Edward Leong Che-hung (, born 23 April 1939) is a Hong Kong politician who served as a non-official member of 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 ...

from 2005 to 2012. He previously represented the

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

functional constituency in the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

from 1988 to 2000, and was Chairman of the Council 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 ...

from 2009 to 2015.

Early life

A physician by training, he graduated from

Queen's College, Hong Kong Queen's College () is the first public secondary school founded by the British colonial government in Hong Kong. It was initially named The Government Central School () in 1862 and later renamed Victoria College () in 1890, and finally obtain ...

, the

Bachelor of Medicine A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

and Bachelor of Surgery. Leong specialises in

urology Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...

and

nephrology Nephrology is a specialty for both adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (renal physiology) and kidney disease (renal pathophysiology), the preservation of kid ...

Career

He was elected to represent the medical constituency in the

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 1988 election, unseating Chiu Hin-kwong. He was successfully re-elected in the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

elections, and was elected to the provisional Legislative Council by the 400-member Selection Committee in the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

election. He ran for re-election for the last time in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, before standing down at the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

election. He was Chairman of the House Committee of the Legislative Council for many years while in office as a lawmaker, and often presided over debates in the Council as Deputy President. Leong was appointed as the chairman of the Hospital Authority in 2002, but stepped down two years later due to mishandling of the SARS outbreak. During his leadership, the HA was ill-prepared for the severe pandemic. He failed to coordinate among different clusters to formulate an effective and comprehensive strategy to respond to the disease. After that, Leong served as the non-official member of the Executive Council from 2005 to 2012. He was chairman of the HKU Council until 6 November 2015 and also chairman of the Standard Working Hours Committee.University of Hong Kong alumni vow action to stop ex-minister Arthur Li taking over as chairman of ruling council
SCMP, 25 Oct 2015 Leong was awarded 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 ...

in 2001 and the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2010.

Personal life

Leong is married to Lilian Fung, who was head of the radiology department at Queen Mary Hospital. The couple have three children.

Honours

* Grand Bauhinia Medal (2010) * Gold Bauhinia Star (2001) * Justice of the Peace (1993)

References

External links

Dr the Honourable LEONG Che-hung, GBS, JP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leong, Edward 1939 births Living people Hong Kong medical doctors Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Meeting Point politicians Hong Kong Democratic Foundation politicians Members of the Provisional Legislative Council HK LegCo Members 1988–1991 HK LegCo Members 1991–1995 HK LegCo Members 1995–1997 HK LegCo Members 1998–2000 Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee members Alumni of Queen's College, Hong Kong