Former Exco member Marvin Cheung dies after long battle with leukaemia
Former Exco member who also sat on many public bodies dies after battle with leukaemia
Former executive councillor and Airport Authority chairman Marvin Cheung Kin-tung died yesterday after a long battle with leukaemia. He was 67.
His death came a little over three months after his departure on health grounds from the Airport Authority.
An accountant by profession, Cheung was a high-flier throughout his career. At the age of 27, he became the youngest person to enter the Hong Kong partnership of the international accountancy giant KPMG in 1974. He rose to be the chairman of the company's China and Hong Kong business in 1996, a role he held until his retirement from the firm in 2003.
Cheung was also active in public life. In 1985, he joined the now-defunct Urban Council, and was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1991, serving a four-year term.
After Donald Tsang Yam-kuen took over as chief executive in 2005, Cheung was appointed to the Executive Council. It was during his time in the cabinet that his health problem emerged. In 2006, he took eight months' leave from the council to receive treatment in the US after a medical check found he was at risk of developing leukaemia. He resumed active public service after his recovery.
He had sat on many other important public bodies, including the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's board of directors, the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee and the Consultative Committee on the West Kowloon Cultural District. At the time of his death, he was the chairman of the University of Science and Technology's council and a member of the Lantau Development Advisory Committee.