Lam Ka-tai, key figure in Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department, dies at 59; praised as ‘modest and dedicated’ by city leader
- The deputy director of social welfare (services) had collapsed in his office in Wan Chai 10 days ago
- Top officials praise Lam, who served the department for more than three decades, as devoted to his work and an ‘outstanding policymaker’
Lam Ka-tai, who rose through the ranks of the Social Welfare Department in Hong Kong over more than three decades of service, died on Saturday at age 59.
The city’s leader praised Lam as modest and devoted to bettering the lives of the elderly and disadvantaged throughout his career. He held several senior posts with the final one deputy director of social welfare (services).
Lam fainted in his office in Wu Chung House in Wan Chai on January 20, a person with knowledge of the matter said. He was sent to Ruttonjee Hospital and later to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital as his condition became critical. He died at 11.48am, according to the insider, while reports claimed he had suffered a brainstem stroke.
I told him to go home, and he’d always say no. He was the best deputy director of social welfare. He had no enemies
Lam joined the department in July 1987, eventually becoming assistant director (subventions), a position he held from September 2010 to June 2012. He later served as assistant director (rehabilitation and medical social services) from June 2012 to September 2013, before rising to his final role in September 2013.
“I worked with Ka-tai while I was the director of social welfare from 2000 to 2003,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said in a statement. “I was deeply impressed by his enthusiasm for work, care for senior citizens and disadvantaged groups and the way he upheld the profession of social workers.”
“Modest and dedicated, he was willing to listen and resolved problems proactively, earning him the respect of the social welfare sector and the love of his colleagues in the department.”
Former social welfare-sector lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun offered his condolences in a Facebook post, recalling how Lam, who he knew for many years, would refuse to go home from meetings that dragged on till 11pm, even though he had to be at work at 8am the next day.
“I told him to go home, and he’d always say no,” Shiu said. “He was the best deputy director of social welfare. He had no enemies.”
Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, who had known Lam since 1999, said he was highly respected by people across the welfare sector.
“We have lost an outstanding social welfare policymaker and practitioner with a strong sense of professionalism. I have lost a brilliant colleague and true friend. KT will be sorely missed,” Cheung said.
