Arthur Li
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (September 2012) |
Arthur Li Kwok-cheung | |
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李國章 | |
Arthur Li Kwok-cheung (left) | |
Vice-Chancellor of Chinese University of Hong Kong | |
In office 1996–2002 | |
Chancellor | Lord Patten of Barnes Tung Chee-hwa |
Preceded by | Charles Kao |
Succeeded by | Ambrose King |
Secretary for Education and Manpower | |
In office 2002–2007 | |
Preceded by | Fanny Law |
Succeeded by | Michael Suen |
Personal details | |
Born | 27 June 1945 |
Spouse(s) | Diana Chester; 2 children |
Relations | Pui-choy Li (great grandfather) Fook-shui Li (father) Tze-ha Wu (mother) David Li (brother) Athena Li (granddaughter) |
Arthur Li | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 李國章 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 李国章 | ||||||
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Arthur Li Kwok-cheung GBS JP (born 27 June 1945) is a member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and was Secretary for Education and Manpower from August 2002 to June 2007. He is the grandson of the co-founder of the Bank of East Asia, Li Koon-chun, and brother of its current chairman, David Li.
Life and career
An alumnus of St. Paul's Co-educational College[citation needed] and a classmate of Professor Lawrence J. Lau, Li received his medical training at the University of Cambridge. He was subsequently trained at Middlesex Hospital Medical School and Harvard Medical School, before returning to Hong Kong to become the founding chairman of the Department of Surgery and Dean of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. [citation needed]
Li's tenure as Secretary for Education and Manpower was marked by an era of education reforms that included the School-Based Management Policy. Since 2000, the Education and Manpower Bureau has implemented a number of mandates, including having teachers spend more time with students outside the classroom, adding exams for subjects such as English and history, and ordering that teachers take benchmark assessments to prove their language abilities. Li ostensibly retired from public service in 2007.
In the role, he caused controversy by proposing mergers first between Chinese University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and later between Chinese University and the Hong Kong Institute of Education.[1]
Li's appointment by CY Leung to the governing board of the University of Hong Kong in 2015 met with strong criticism from staff, a poll shows most of them have little to no confidence in him will uphold academic freedom,[2][3] and his subsequent criticism toward university staff only exacerbated the problem further.[4] [5]
Six months later, when it became known that Li was likely to take over the chairmanship of the Council upon the expiry of the term of Edward Leong on 6 November, there was further strong opposition, with 87 percent of members of HKU Academic Staff Association and almost three-quarters of members of the Professional Teachers Union opposed.[1]
Reputation
Li is known for his arrogance.[neutrality is disputed] His high-handed manner publicly exposed as Secretary for Education earned Li the nickname "King Arthur".[6]
Personal life
He was married to Diana Chester, a registered nurse and graduate of New Hall College, Cambridge University who died in 2013. He has two sons.
Appointments
Before his appointment, Li was Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), as well as:
- Professor of Surgery and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, CUHK
- Member of the Education Commission and Member of the Committee on Science and Technology
- Member of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority
- Member of the Hong Kong Medical Council
- Member of the University Grants Committee
- Member of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong
- Member of the Hospital Governing Committee of United Christian Hospital, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
- Member of the board of directors of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
- Member of the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute
- Vice-President of the Association of University presidents of China
- Patron of the Royal College of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland
- Regent of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
- Honorary Fellow of the American Surgical Association
- Hon Fellow of the America College of Surgeons
- Hon Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and Glasgow
- Hon Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine
See also
- Politics of Hong Kong
- Executive Council of Hong Kong
- School-Based Management Policy
- University of Hong Kong pro-vice-chancellor selection controversy
References
- ^ a b University of Hong Kong alumni vow action to stop ex-minister Arthur Li taking over as chairman of ruling council, SCMP, 25 Oct 2015
- ^ Arthur Li made a HKU council member, RTHK, 21 March 2015
- ^ Most HKU staff have no confidence in Arthur Li, poll shows, EJ Insight, 23 April 2015
- ^ "Li had weeks earlier blamed the drop in international ranking of local universities on "academics who would rather appear in talk shows than do their job of teaching" Most HKU staff have no confidence in Arthur Li, poll shows, EJ Insight, 23 April 2015
- ^ For example, upon appointment he promptly criticised HKU professors for having "become intellectually incompetent".HKU Professors Insulted, South China Morning Post, 6 April 2015
- ^ "'King' Arthur Li tipped as Hong Kong's next chief executive". South China Morning Post. 22 February 2015.
External links
Quotations related to Arthur Li at Wikiquote
- Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong
- 1945 births
- Living people
- Academics of Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Alumni of the University of Cambridge
- Government officials of Hong Kong
- Harvard Medical School alumni
- Hong Kong academics
- Hong Kong doctors
- Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
- Medical educators
- Vice-Chancellors of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star
- Members of the HKSAR Preparatory Committee
- Hong Kong BLCC members
- Alumni of St. Paul's Co-educational College
- Hong Kong politicians