Chan Kam-hong, a workers’ champion and driving force behind improvements in Hong Kong’s industrial safety for more than 30 years, dies at 60
- The labour rights activist and ‘relentless campaigner’ was on the front line of worker safety in the city for more than 30 years.
- His credo was that the city’s prosperity was built on the sacrifice of workers
Hong Kong labour rights activist Chan Kam-hong, the indispensable driving force behind improvements in industrial safety laws and practices over the years, died on Sunday night. He was 60.
Chan, chief executive of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims, had a fall at his home last month and subsequently suffered a stroke. He later had problems with his lungs. Chan died at Princess Margaret Hospital.
The day after he fell, he was due to fly to Australia and visit his son, a university student there. His wife was also in Australia at the time.
Chan or his staff were always on the scene to help and console victims and their families – from the collapse of a work platform during the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in 2012, to most industrial accidents over the past three decades.
“He devoted himself to helping workers and their families. He has been on the front line for more than 30 years. Whenever there was an industrial accident, he would rush to the scene. The only times you did not see him on the front line was when he was sick or when he was out of town,” said Fay Siu Sin-man, a colleague of Chan.
