Grasp opportunities in mainland China, former Hong Kong Hospital Authority chairman says

Today’s Moving Forward features a candid chat with former Hospital Authority chairman ANTHONY WU TING-YUK, 61, who now spends much of his time on the mainland as an adviser on matters such as national health care reform, family planning and the development of traditional Chinese medicine. This year the State Council appointed him to its Medical Reform Leadership Advisory Commission. The veteran administrator tells Cannix Yau that to really move forward, Hongkongers should seize the advantages of being part of China.

You actually came from the accounting sector before you joined the Hospital Authority. How did you apply your expertise to a different field?

If you look at all the professions, no matter whether you are an accountant, lawyer, doctor, engineer or a banker, when you move up the hierarchy, the top layer of the management, the basic principles are the same, but of course the ingredients are different. They concern human resources, management of your staff, corporate culture, checks and balances, corporate governance, etc. It's really about how you apply your experience.

If there is something I don't understand I simply ask. Like after I became HA chairman in 2004 I spent a week in the operating theatre in Queen Mary Hospital looking at how operations were being done. I've seen liver transplants, stroke surgery and neurosurgery, etc. I've seen it all.

So for anyone going into a new industry or new business, humility is very important. My advice is you just need to ask. And I'll ask anybody! I think we should have the humility or the courage to ask. If I don't understand the problems but I pretend I understand, how can I make good decisions based on incomplete evidence or knowledge? So I think asking is important, but a lot of people don't like to ask. They feel it's a loss of face.

Don't be afraid of asking. Sometimes you need to be thick-skinned. If people give you an answer that you don't understand, ask again. There's no point pretending that you understand. But you also need to have an independent mind as to what's right and what's wrong. Apart from very factual things, there are a lot of issues that require our own judgment and analytical thinking. As a young person you should read a lot and hone your analytical skills and decide what is the right answer or solution to a lot of questions. What I am suggesting is that we have to be all-embracing and have a wider perspective.