LEADING engineers are divided over whether to join a new lobby group formed last week to increase their say in the political scene. The president of the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers, Edmund Leung Kwong-ho, said he believed the existing body had adequate channels for members of the profession to express their views. 'I do not understand Dr Raymond Ho's aims in setting up the group, but liaison between the institute and the Beijing Government has always been closed,' Mr Leung said. So far, he said, the institute had reached no consensus on whether to support the new group. About 50 engineers have joined the lobby group, which is still in the process of registration. A core organiser, Dr Raymond Ho Chung-tai, hopes more people will be interested in joining the group. Dr Ho, chairman of the Transport Advisory Committee, is a former president of the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers. Sir Sze-yuen Chung, a political heavyweight and member of the Preliminary Working Committee, has pledged his support for the new group, called the Hong Kong Association for the Advancement of Participation of Engineers in Society. Those being invited to join include the president of the Hong Kong Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Simon Ho Shek-on, and representative of engineers in the Legislative Council, Samuel Wong Ping-wai. Mr Wong confirmed that he had received Dr Ho's invitation and said he would most probably join the association. 'It's a good thing that there are more people concerned about social affairs,' he said. But he said some members of the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers were worried that resources would be wasted because the institute already had a public affairs committee. Dr Ho said the establishment of the lobby group did not mean that the institute, with 1,400 members and 7,000 corporate members, could not reflect the views of fellow engineers. 'I hope that there would be more voices to express the views of the profession. 'One person [in the Legislative Council] is not enough,' he said. He said the group would not duplicate the roles of the institute, as it was a professional body which did not touch on livelihood issues such as social welfare and education. It was sometimes difficult for some members of the institute to express their views on certain issues because they were working as government consultants, he said. Dr Ho said they hoped engineers would gain as many seats as possible in the 400-member Selection Committee, formed next year to choose the chief executive and the provisional legislature.
