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Michael Suen
Michael Suen
Traditional Chinese	孫明揚
Simplified Chinese	孙明扬
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Sūn Míngyáng
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	Syūn Mìhng yèuhng
Jyutping	Syun1 Ming4 joeng4

Michael Suen
GBS CBE JP
Michael Suen GBS CBE JP
孫明揚
	Suen in 2008
Chief Secretary for Administration; Acting
	In office; 28 September 2011 – 30 September 2011
Chief Executive	Sir Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Henry Tang
Succeeded by	Stephen Lam
	In office; 25 May 2005 – 30 May 2005
Chief Executive	Henry Tang (Acting); Sir Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Sir Donald Tsang
Succeeded by	Rafael Hui
Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
	In office; 4 August 1997 – 30 June 2002
Chief Executive	Tung Chee-hwa
Preceded by	Nicholas Ng
Succeeded by	Stephen Lam
	In office; 1 March 1989 – 2 October 1991
Governor	David Wilson
Preceded by	John Chan
Succeeded by	Michael Sze
Secretary for Home Affairs
	In office; 7 November 1991 – 3 August 1997
Governor	David Wilson; Chris Patten
Secretary for Education
	In office; 1 July 2007 – 30 June 2012
Chief Executive	Sir Donald Tsang
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
Personal details
Born	7 April 1944; Chongqing, China
Died	22 October 2024 (aged 80); Hong Kong

Michael Suen Ming-yeung GBS CBE JP (7 April 1944 – 22 October 2024) was a Hong Kong politician who served as the acting Chief Secretary for Administration in 2005 and 2012 and as Secretary for Education of Hong Kong from 2007 to 2012.

Early life and education

Suen was born Chongqing, China on 7 April 1944. His family fled the then provisional capital to Hong Kong in 1947. He attended Wah Yan College, a Jesuit school in Hong Kong.^[1]

Career

Suen joined the colonial Hong Kong Government in 1966 as an Administrative Officer and was substantively promoted to the rank of Secretary, Government Secretariat 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 Sir 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]

Illness and death

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.

On 22 October 2024, Suen died in Hong Kong at the age of 80.^[6]

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.^[7]

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,^[8]^[9] sending him a letter in April 2006 to remove the extension, which he reportedly ignored. In 2011, he agreed to reduce the size of the structure. Both the democratic and pro-Beijing camps criticised him.^[10]

References

^ 華仁仔再出擊師兄拔刀相助. 文匯報 (in Chinese). 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Mr Michael Suen Ming-yeung, GBS, JP, Secretary for Education". GovHK. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
^ Chong, Winnie (13 July 2007). "Grants Chief Opposes Creation of Body to Settle Disputes". The Standard. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
^ Patel, Nishika (13 November 2007). "Language Plan Gets Mixed Reviews". The Standard. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
^ 教育局局長與傳媒談話全文（只有中文）. info.gov.hk (Transcript of Secretary for Education) (in Chinese). 27 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
^ "前教育局長孫明揚逝世享年80歲政壇不倒翁曾推「孫九招」穩樓市影響深遠" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Sing Tao Daily. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
^ Chong, Winnie (6 June 2007). "'Long Hair' Among Suen Home Protesters Held". The Standard. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
^ Lee, Diana (25 May 2011). "OK, I'll Pull Them Down Now". The Standard. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
^ 承辦商準備拆卸孫明揚寓所僭建物. rthk.org.hk (in Chinese). 25 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
^ Ho, Serinah (26 May 2011). "Suen Tries to Mend Fences". The Standard. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2011.

Political offices
New creation	Secretary for Constitutional Affairs 1989–1991	Succeeded by Michael Sze
Preceded by Peter Tsao	Secretary for Home Affairs 1991–1997	Succeeded by David Lan
Preceded by Nicholas Ng	Secretary for Constitutional Affairs 1997–2002	Succeeded by Stephen Lam
Preceded by Dominic Wong as Secretary for Housing	Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands 2002–2007	Succeeded by Eva Cheng as Secretary for Transport and Housing
Preceded by John Tsang as Secretary for Planning and Lands	Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands 2002–2007	Succeeded by Carrie Lam as Secretary for Development
Preceded by Donald Tsang	Chief Secretary for Administration Acting 25 May 2005 – 30 June 2005	Succeeded by Rafael Hui
Preceded by Arthur Li as Secretary for Education and Manpower	Secretary for Education 2007–2012	Succeeded by Eddie Ng
Order of precedence
Preceded by Nellie Fong Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star	Hong Kong order of precedence Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star	Succeeded by John B. Mortimer Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star