Visitor Count :4550520
40th Anniversary Celebration
About HKCFP > President’s Message

July 2017

Dearest All, The official birthday of our beloved College was 22nd July 1977. I am exceptional proud of the College’s achievements over the past 40 years. Happy Birthday everyone!

With the new Hong Kong SAR Administration, the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2017 will go through the Legislative Council again in July. According to the Government’s latest proposal, it was suggested that the Academy’s representatives would be elected by the Academy in accordance with its regulations or procedures. As promised, I will update you on the latest developments.

The Academy of Medicine had done a survey in early 2017. 63% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that the 2 representatives from the Academy should be appointed by the Chief Executive. Most respondents also agreed that the equality of representation across Colleges was essential for nomination (72% of respondents) and election (69% of respondents) of representatives, who should have been Academy Fellows for at least 5-10 years to gain sufficient expertise in the profession.


A special meeting was conveyed on 8th June 2017, Prof. CS Lau, the Academy President opined that the current nomination and election mechanism being adopted for years might need to be changed with time and not to be seen as running like a union or association. I totally agreed the current mechanism had to be changed. Finally the followings were agreed at the meeting:
  • Changes to the Academy’s current nomination and electoral systems were inevitable.
  • Equality amongst Colleges was to be maintained.
  • Fellows would be involved in the nomination and / or election stage(s).
  • Each College was to make one nomination.
  • The process of nomination of representative would be decided by individual Colleges, provided that the principle of having College Fellows involved was met.
  • Proportional representation system (or similar) could be adopted in the nomination / election.

    Engagement of Fellows in the consultation on the Council’s proposed changes to the current mechanism was crucial. College Presidents were urged to communicate with their Fellows by respective means where appropriate.

    Then the second special meeting was called on 7th July. This time there was a heated debate on the nomination process, number of fellows from each College to be nominated and the election process. We all agreed the nominee must have the credential, ability, understand the functionality and core value of the Academy and be willing to serve the Hong Kong community at large. We could not agree on the nomination process at all. The good news is the Academy will host a forum very soon to gather views from all fellows before setting up the options for general voting on the process of nomination and election. I am very pleased the Academy has adopted an open and democratic system. Do come and express your view at the forum.

    Dr. Angus M W CHAN
    President

    Back