‘I hope to bring in negotiation and understanding,’ says Hong Kong’s new top man on equal opportunities, Alfred Chan Cheung-ming
Former social worker to take the helm of the Equal Opportunities Commission in April
Negotiation instead of confrontation. That was the pledge from professor Alfred Chan Cheung-ming, the expert on ageing who will helm the Equal Opportunities Commission from April.
Speaking to the Post after his appointment to Hong Kong’s human rights statutory body was announced on Thursday, Chan said many of the rights-based issues – like gay rights or the advancement of disabled people – should be up for more public discussion and debate.
“I take this position with trepidation, but I’m also drawn to it for the challenge,” said Chan. “I could live out comfortably as a university professor until my retirement, or do something new [at this stage], and I chose the latter. They call those of us in our 60s the ‘new middle-aged’ with a lot left to contribute to society...so I’d like to do something meaningful.”
With extensive experience as part of governmental advisory committees – including a 15-year stint as part of the Elderly Commission, of which he is currently chairman – Chan, 61, sees himself in a negotiator role, hoping to bring together “evidence-based decisions, informed and open discussions and public debates” in rights issues.
“There have been too many arguments in society. I hope to bring in negotiation and understanding [among different groups.] A lot of these issues deserve in-depth discussion; we don’t need to move so fast, but we need inclusive consultation,” said Chan.
Chan is also a member of the Minimum Wage Commission and the Independent Police Complaints Council, as well as several health-related boards.
He said he will be resigning from all his advisory roles, as well as his position as chair professor of gerontology at Lingnan University.
Well-known for his expertise in ageing, the professor however said he started his working life after university as a social worker, dealing with race issues in the UK.
In the 1980s, Chan was a social worker in Britain, and had done research for the Commission on Racial Equality, as well as working at a radio programme for ethnic minorities.
Chan said he also had experience working with disabled people in the UK.
“You see, I’m not coming in with nothing,” he said. “But obviously the biggest contribution I bring would be in the area concerning the elderly.”
He came back to Hong Kong in the 1990s and entered academia, teaching at Chinese University then City University, while he completed his PhD as a part-time, long-distance student at the University of Surrey.
