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Kahon Chan

Veteran Hong Kong political scientist and commentator James Sung Lap-kung has died at the age of 71.
Sung died on Thursday, according to an alumni association for which he had been vice-chairman since 2022.
“During his tenure, he actively promoted the development of the association and assisted in organising large-scale events, uniting alumni from all over the world,” the Hong Kong Pui Ching Alumni Association said on Saturday.
Sung, the founding director of the Hong Kong Progress and Perfection Research Institute, is known for his political commentary and op-ed articles.
After graduating from Pui Ching Middle School, he studied music at the Grantham College of Education – which later merged with other institutions into what would become the Education University of Hong Kong – and taught in a secondary school in Kowloon for nine years.
He then attended Columbia University in the United States in 1986 for a master’s degree in Chinese and Hong Kong politics.
Upon returning to Hong Kong in 1992, Sung set up the public administration course at the school of continuing and professional education at City University (CityU), where he held the position of course coordinator for 27 years.
After retiring from the university in 2019, he established the Progress and Perfection Research Institute the following year and continued sharing his perspectives on Hong Kong politics during a period of profound change.
His last commentary video, which offered a preview of major geopolitical events in 2024, was uploaded to the think tank’s YouTube channel on December 20 last year.

Former lawmaker Frederick Fung Kin-kee said Sung was one of the few scholars who remained committed to making constructive views when divisive politics dominated the city.
Fung also revealed that when he lost the Legislative Council election in 1998, it was Sung who extended a helping hand and hired him as a tutor.
“During the two years I worked at CityU, I witnessed Sung educate and care for his students using an easy-to-understand and thoughtful approach, and I really admire him,” Fung recalled in a social media post.
“With the passing of Sung, I have lost a close friend and society has lost a man who dares to be critical!”
Ex-colleagues also expressed their condolences on Saturday. Fellow political scientist Cheung Chor-yung, who relocated to Britain after retiring from CityU in 2022, shared on social media that Sung’s departure was a loss to the community of thought leaders “regardless of whether we agree with his views or not”.
Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, a former CityU chair professor of political science who retired in 2015, wrote “my condolences” in the comment section of Cheung’s post.
While Sung’s name was featured on the news regularly through his commentaries, he was part of the headlines for different reasons in 2004 when he was one of 83 victims of a DBS bank hiccup that saw the company lose documents being kept in a safe.
Sung was married with no children.


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Sung held leadership roles in academia for most of his career and founded the Hong Kong Progress and Perfection Research Institute


Sung held leadership roles in academia for most of his career and founded the Hong Kong Progress and Perfection Research Institute.


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Obituary

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sung held leadership roles in academia for most of his career and founded the Hong Kong Progress and Perfection Research Institute

Sung held leadership roles in academia for most of his career and founded the Hong Kong Progress and Perfection Research Institute