'The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive,' Albert Einstein said in a speech in Albany, New York, in 1936. The quote sums up how accountant Paul Chan Mo-po sees public service and has guided him in his last four years as a lawmaker.
Earlier this month, Chan stood down from the legislature, leaving him at a crossroads in his political journey. That quote, which featured in his 2008 book Pure at Heart, may yet help him decide how to proceed.
Chan is tipped to join the government as development secretary after the resignation of Mak Chai-kwong on July 12, when Mak was arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption over allegations that he abused a government rent allowance scheme in the 1980s.
The arrest came less than two weeks after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's cabinet took office.
A week later, Chan admitted that the administration had approached him about filling the post. 'If the government invites me, I will proactively consider it and I am willing to take it up ... [the administration] needs someone to help out now.'
Chan rejected suggestions that he might not be qualified for the job, noting that he was a former secretary general of the Construction Industry Training Authority and non-executive director of a listed real estate firm.