RTHK assistant director becomes at least sixth senior employee to quit Hong Kong public broadcaster since new boss took charge
- Former child actor and television show host Brian Chow had been with public broadcaster for more than 30 years
- His departure comes after appointment of civil servant Patrick Li as director of broadcasting in March
A veteran television show host at Hong Kong’s beleaguered public broadcaster has become the latest senior employee to quit after the appointment of a civil servant as the new director of broadcasting.
Brian Chow Kwok-fung, the assistant director (radio and corporate programming), who had worked at RTHK for more than 30 years, resigned for family reasons, according to the broadcaster.
Chow, who celebrates his 51st birthday on Tuesday, will leave his office on July 9, an RTHK spokesman said, hours after local media reported his departure.
“RTHK thanked him for his service and contributions over the years,” the spokesman added.
Chow started his media career as a child actor and later became a radio and television host. He became one of two assistant directors in September last year.
His departure came a week after two more government employees, former director of administration Kitty Choi Kit-yu, and ex-assistant secretary for labour and welfare Freda Cheung Yun-chee, would join the broadcaster in senior management positions.
The pair have been tasked with helping Patrick Li, the new head of RTHK, bring it into line after a barrage of complaints from the city’s pro-establishment camp. Choi will work as an adviser to Li, while Cheung has been made a senior manager for special support.
More bureaucrats join management at Hong Kong’s RTHK amid editorial overhaul
Choi’s main duty will be to provide advice on the implementation of a recent government report on RTHK’s editorial management and its mechanism for handling complaints.
On Friday, RTHK announced another personnel change. Jimson Chan Chi-fai and Wilma Wong Wai-yin, both originally entertainment standards control officers specialising in content under the Communications Authority, will join the station as manager (special support), and assistant manager (special support), respectively.
A spokesman said they would start their newly established positions on Monday, and would help implement the government’s report.
The report, compiled by a team of civil servants and released in February, called for an overhaul of the broadcaster’s management, editorial operations and work culture, saying RTHK lacked editorial accountability and transparency in handling complaints, and was not fulfilling its charter as a government department.
The station has recently been hit by a wave of resignations. A source previously told the Post that since Li’s arrival, at least five senior staff members from the current affairs division had resigned.
They included Doris Wong Lok-har, the head of public and current affairs section under RTHK’s Television and Corporate Businesses, and Liu Wai-ling, the producer of satirical current affairs show Headliner.
