Professor The Hon. Felice Lieh–Mak, CBE, JP, FRCP, FRANZCP, Emeritus Professor at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hon ...

(born ), is a

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

-educated and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-trained

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

physician, psychiatrist, academician, editor, and retired civil servant.

Background

She graduated from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...

in the Philippines and undertook specialty training in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, joining the

(HKU) in 1978. She was a member of Hong Kong's Legislative and Executive Councils; served as Chairwoman of the Medical Council and of the English Schools Foundation (until her resignation from the latter in March 2011 for personal reasons, including the arrival of her first grandchild); as President of the World Psychiatric Association; and as an Advisor to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

Education

, MD (cum laude), 1964, Medicine, Philippines * Licentiate of Apothecaries LAH, 1967 Medicine Hall, Dublin, Ireland

Notable appointments

*1966–67: Senior House Officer (Psychiatry), Littlemore Hospital,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, Oxford, UK *1968–69: Medical Officer in Psychiatry, Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong *1970–70: Senior House Officer, Littlemore Hospital, Oxford University *1971–78: Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry,

(HKU) *1974–74: Honorary Registrar, Park Hospital for Children, Oxford University *1974–74: Honorary Registrar, Warneford Hospital, Oxford University *1978–81: Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong (HKU) *1981–83: Reader, Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong (HKU) *1990–94: President, Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists *1992–97: Member, Executive Council, Governor's Cabinet, Hong Kong *1993–98: Chairman,

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...

Regional Advisory Committee of the Hospital Authority *1993–96: President, World Psychiatric Association *1994–96: Chief Examiner, Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists *1994–97: Chairman, Kwai Chung Hospital Governing Committee *1996–99: Chairman, Education Foundation, World Psychiatric Association

Notable affiliations

* 1979–present: Consultant, University Health Service,

(HKU) * 1980–present: Consultant (Psychiatry), Hong Kong Government * 1983–present: Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry,

(HKU) * 1983–present: Honorary Advisor, Hong Kong Mental Health Association * 1987–present: Member, Editorial Board, ''Journal of the Hong Kong Medical Association'' * 1991–present: Member, International Editorial Board, ''Journal of Stress and Depression'' * 1994–present: Corresponding Editor, ''British Journal of Psychiatry'' * 1994–present: Consultant,

(WHO) * 1994–present: Member, Editorial Board of the Hong Kong Medical Association * 1996–present: Member, Editorial Board, ''Current Opinion in Psychiatry'' * 1997–1999: Chairman, Hong Kong Medical Council * 1997–present: Member, Editorial Advisory Board, '' Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics'' * 1998–present: Chairman, Task Force on Review of Psychiatric Services * 1998–present: Member, Steering Committee on Healthcare Financing of the Hong Kong Government * 1998–2001: President, Asian Union Against Depression and Related Disorders * 1999–present: Chairman of Queen Mary Hospital's Planning Committee * 1999–present: Member, Working Group on Quality Assurance, Medical Council of Hong Kong * 1999–present: Member, Global Forum for Health Research of the WHO/World Bank Mental Health Reform Initiative

Notable honours/fellowships

* August 1981: Fellow of the World Association for Social Psychiatry * October 1983: Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists * December 1985: Fellow of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental healt ...

(United Kingdom) * August 1989: Outstanding Woman Physician (Philippines) * April 1990: Corresponding Fellow of the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are invo ...

* March 1991: Corresponding Fellow of the German Association for Psychiatry & Neurology * October 1991: Honorary Member of the Italian Society of Psychiatry * January 1992: Honorary Member of the Egyptian Psychiatric Association * June 1994: Honorary Fellowship of the

(UK) * May 1995: Asian-American Award of The American Psychiatric Association * October 1995: Fellow of the New York Academy of Science * August 1996: Honorary Fellow of the World Psychiatry Association * June 1997:

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE)

Notable patients

Leslie Cheung

Felice Lieh-Mak was the

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

Leslie Cheung Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actor. Throughout a 26-year career from 1977 until his death, Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films. He was one of the most prominent ...

, one of the most famous pop music icons in Asia. Leslie Cheung suffered from severe depression and sought treatment from Professor Lieh-Mak for almost a year. Despite her treatment effort Leslie Cheung finally killed himself by leaping off from the 24th floor of the

Mandarin Oriental Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group International Limited (MOHG) is a Hong Kong hotel investment and management group focusing on luxury hotels, resorts, and residences, with a total of 33 properties worldwide, 20 of which are fully or partially ...

hotel, located in the Central district of

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km2, . The island had a population of a ...

, citing depression as the cause. As one of the most popular performers in Asia, Cheung's death broke the hearts of millions of his fans across Asia and shocked the Asian entertainment industry and Chinese community worldwide. Cheung's suicide note (translation):

"Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak (麥列菲菲). This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong. Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Sister Fei (沈殿霞). In my life I have done nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

Despite the high profile of the patient, no comment has been given by Prof. Lieh-Mak on this incident.

Controversies

Felice Lieh-Mak was involved in a case of failure to take proper steps to ensure complete removal of medical equipment which allegedly resulted in suicide of one of her patients after suffering from years of unbearable pain. The incident involved leaving behind a 2 mm long broken needle in the facial region of the patient. When confronted by the patient, Prof. Lieh-Mak maintained that the needle used in the

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...

, a common procedure practised in psychiatry, was put in and removed by a technician and that she had no responsibility for the mishap. This is in contradiction to one of her most controversial verdicts as Chairperson of the Medical Council Inquiry. On 9 May 2018 a doctor was found guilty of medical misconduct for failing to supervise his fellow nursing staff to perform standard

tracheostomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The r ...

care even though the doctor was not involved in the procedure, nor was he aware of that particular procedure which allegedly led to the patient's death.

References

External links

* http://www4.hku.hk/honfellows/fellow_detail.php?section=fellow&id=19 * http://www.cchi.com.hk/ourteam/FeliceLiehMak/index.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Lieh-Mak, Felice Hong Kong people of Filipino descent 1941 births Hong Kong medical doctors Hong Kong civil servants University of Hong Kong faculty Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Government officials of Hong Kong University of Santo Tomas alumni Living people HK LegCo Members 1991–1995