Politics no longer under doctor's skin
Dr Louis Shih surprised many by teaming with Regina Ip in 2008 poll. Now the dermatologist has a sober prescription for his fellow medics
Dermatologist Dr Louis Shih Tai-cho has decided that politics may not, after all, be his cup of tea.
But the newly elected president of the Medical Association, who last week joined a delegation of the city's elite to meet President Xi Jinping and discuss Hong Kong's political and economic future, may soon realise that politics is everywhere, and escaping it is impossible.
After all, he finds himself at the heart of one of the most vexing political issues of the day: how does the city provide and fund health services for a population that is rapidly ageing?
Shih, who has a private dermatology practice in Central, made a failed attempt to be elected as a legislator for the Hong Kong Island constituency in 2008. He was the second-ranked candidate on a slate led by former secretary for security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who was elected.
Shih later served as Ip's deputy chairman when she set up the New People's Party, but stood down earlier this year. He says he has no plans to run for the Legislative Council again.
Perhaps the political setback was what pushed him to put his talent and expertise to better use by working on behalf of his fellow doctors?
"I believe I can contribute more in the medical sector than in politics," he told the South China Morning Post.