Michael Suen
Michael Suen Ming-yeung was a Hong Kong politician who served as the acting Chief Secretary for Administration in 2005 and 2012 and as Secretary for Education of Hong Kong from 2007 to 2012.
Early life and education
Suen was born in Chongqing, China on 7 April 1944. His family fled the then provisional capital to Hong Kong in 1947. He attended Wah Yan College, a Jesuit school in Hong Kong.Career
Suen joined the colonial Hong Kong Government in 1966 as an Administrative Officer and was substantively promoted to the rank of Secretary, Government Secretariat in January 1991.During the early years of his career, he served in the former New Territories Administration, Resettlement Department and Environment Branch. He was appointed Secretary for Constitutional Affairs in March 1989 and Secretary for Home Affairs in November 1991. He continued his post as Secretary for Home Affairs on 8 July 1997 and took up the appointment as Secretary for Constitutional Affairs on 4 August 1997. Suen took up the post of Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands on 1 July 2002.
Upon the resignation of Sir Donald Tsang on 25 May 2005, he assumed the post as the acting Chief Secretary for Administration, until Rafael Hui was appointed. In July 2007, he took over the position of Secretary for Education after Arthur Li retired.
Around 2007, he was known for pushing trilingual education with English, Cantonese and Putonghua to boost Hong Kong's competitiveness.
Illness and death
On 27 April 2011, Suen announced that he was suffering from renal failure. Suen was also diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease on 21 December 2011. The new HK government headquarters found as many as 19 areas contaminated with legionella bacteria out of 43 water samples. Suen announced his recovery in January 2012.On 22 October 2024, Suen died in Hong Kong at the age of 80.