Michael Suen

Michael Suen Ming-yeung (7 April 1944 – 22 October 2024) 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.

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.

Controversy

2007 protest at home For years as a housing chief, Suen denied to meet with housing rights activists until 2007, when some 30 activists, including Longhair Leung Kwok-hung finally camped out at Suen's house in Happy Valley to protest. Public housing citizens were suffering from excessive rent increase, and the activists tried to voice the concern. The protest turned violent outside his home, with five policemen and one protester injured. Leung was also arrested.

Illegal extension case In 1994, Suen purchased a new home, the low-rise Shuk Yuen building in Green Lane Happy Valley. He then illegally extended the size of his home to make it bigger. As the former Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, his staff reportedly warned him against the illegal extension, sending him a letter in April 2006 to remove the extension, which he reportedly ignored. In 2011, he agreed to reduce the size of the structure. Both the democratic and pro-Beijing camps criticised him.