33-year-old appointed Hong Kong’s deputy technology chief as government reveals latest line-up of undersecretaries, political assistants
- Six of eight new undersecretaries promoted internally within administration
- Youngest newly minted deputy is Lillian Cheong, 33, who will work under technology minister
Only two deputies for Hong Kong’s top officials have been chosen from outside the government, with the new administration unveiling its latest line-up of undersecretaries and political assistants.
The youngest newly appointed undersecretary is 33-year-old Lillian Cheong Man-lei. Cheong, who previously worked for property giant New World Development, was promoted in the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau after serving a five-year term as a political assistant there.
Analysts said they believed the younger members in the new team could make Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s administration appear more approachable, but it remained to be seen whether the government could rebuild its relationship with the same demographic.
One among the eight new undersecretaries was from a statutory body. Dr Libby Lee Ha-yun, an anaesthesiologist and the Hospital Authority’s director of strategy and planning, was appointed as deputy to the health minister.
The other newcomer from outside the administration is Clarence Leung Wang-ching, 43, a vice-chairman of the All-China Youth Federation. Leung, also the son of Legislative Council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, will join the government as undersecretary for home and youth affairs.
The remaining six new undersecretaries were all promoted internally within the administration, with three from the civil service, and another three being former political assistants or undersecretaries in the previous term of government, including Cheong.
Senior civil engineer Liu Chun-san, the undersecretary for development in the previous administration, will join the Transport and Logistics Bureau as minister Lam Sai-hung’s deputy, while Jeff Sze Chun-fai, 36, was promoted to undersecretary for education after serving as a political assistant for a decade.
The civil service trio are: Michael Cheuk Hau-yip, a former assistant police commissioner; Victor Tai Sheung-shing, a project director at the Architectural Services Department; and Raistlin Lau Chun, who previously served as the deputy secretary for financial services and the treasury. They were named as undersecretaries for security, housing and culture, respectively.
Four undersecretaries – for labour, commerce, constitutional affairs and financial services – were reappointed earlier on July 1. The development and environment bureaus are the only two remaining bureaus yet to name their undersecretaries. The civil service chief is the only senior minister who does not have an undersecretary or political assistant.
In addition to eight undersecretaries, the government also appointed 11 more political assistants, who are all in their 30s or early 40s.
