York Chow Explained

York Chow Yat-ngok
Native Name Lang:zh-hk
Birth Place:British Hong Kong
Office1:Chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission
Term Start1:1 April 2013
Term End1:31 March 2016
Predecessor1:Lam Woon-kwong
Successor1:Alfred Chan
Office2:Secretary for Food and Health
Term Start2:1 July 2007
Term End2:30 June 2012
1Blankname2:Chief Executive
1Namedata2:Sir Donald Tsang
2Blankname2:Chief Secretary
2Namedata2:Henry Tang
3Blankname2:Undersecretary
3Namedata2:Gabriel Leung
4Blankname2:Permanent Secretary
4Namedata2:Marion Lai & Sandra Lee
5Blankname2:Political Assistant
5Namedata2:Paul Chan
Predecessor2:Himself (as Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)
Successor2:Ko Wing-man
Office3:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
Term Start3:October 2004
Term End3:30 June 2007
Predecessor3:Yeoh Eng-kiong
Successor3:Himself (as Secretary for Food and Health)
Alma Mater:University of Hong Kong (MBBS)

York Chow Yat-ngok (; born 1947, Hong Kong), GBS, SBS, MBE, was the Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong and a member of the Executive Council. He was appointed as Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food in 2004.[1] The position has since been renamed to Secretary for Food and Health from reshuffling in 2007.

History

Chow is an orthopaedic surgeon by profession. He was appointed Hospital Chief Executive of Queen Mary Hospital in 2001. Chow was appointed a Vice-President of the International Paralympic Committee in 1997.

During his studies in the University of Hong Kong since 1967, he stayed in St. John's College and has served as the male sports captain in the academic years 1968–1969.

Controversies

2011 June protest

On 25 June 2011, a small protest was held by about ten mothers begging on the street for the attention of Chow regarding the mainland Chinese mothers birth tourism issues with hospital capacities.[2] These are families that have a mainland mother and a Hong Kong father. Chow did sympathise with these couples, but nothing was done after the protest.[3] The issue later expanded to the Early 2012 Hong Kong protests which was also triggered by Kong Qingdong's comment.

Notes and References

  1. News: Dr York Chow embraces new role with relish. news.gov.hk. 26 November 2004. 18 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20050507235157/http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/041125/features/html/041125en05007.htm. 7 May 2005.
  2. Web site: 孕婦跪地向周一嶽示威 . News.now.com . 15 February 2012.
  3. Web site: aTV 亞視新聞- 周一嶽認為中港家庭團聚非單靠來港分娩 . Hkatvnews.com . 15 February 2012.