Fung Wai-wah (; born 1960) is a Hong Kong educator, social worker and activist. He is the final president of the

Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union The Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) was a pro-democracy trade union, professional association and social concern group in Hong Kong. Until its disbandment in 2021, it was the largest teachers' organisation in Hong Kong with ...

(HKPTU), the largest teachers' union in the territory which disbanded in August 2021, and the former convenor of the

Alliance for Universal Suffrage The Alliance for Universal Suffrage was a coalition formed by 11 pro-democracy parties and groups in Hong Kong. The Convenor of the Alliance was Fung Wai-wah. It provided a single point of contact to interface with the governments of Hong ...

, a

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

coalition on the issue of the 2017 and 2020 universal suffrage.

Social work and teaching career

Fung served as a social worker in the youth and community development service of

Caritas Hong Kong Caritas Hong Kong is a charitable organisation, a member of Caritas Internationalis, founded by the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong in July 1953. It started with relief and rehabilitation services to the poor and the distressed after the Second ...

before he began to teach social workers. He taught at the

City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

(CityU) since 1989 and became Senior Lecturer at the School of Continuing and Professional Education. He has been member of the staff association of the CityU. In 2003, he formed a group called "Save the College Action Group of CityU" to protest against the university's decision to fire all the teaching staff and employees of the sub-degree programmes, as a result of the government's decision to cut funding to the sub-degree programmes. It lodged a complaint to the Panel on Education of the Legislative Council and successfully switched the operation mode of sub-degree programs from a subsidized basis to a self-financing basis. He has served as an elected member of the CityU Council since 2006. In 2008, Fung protested to CityU Council chairman

Leung Chun-ying Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since Ma ...

over the reduction of the salaries of the Community College staff with other staff association members. Despite Leung's promise to compensate the staff, Leung refused to compensate when the college recorded financial surplus in the following years.

PTU member and president

He joined the

(HKPTU), the largest teachers' union in the territory, in 1989 and was invited by president

Cheung Man-kwong Cheung Man-kwong (, born 15 September 1954) is a Hong Kong politician, who is a member of the Yuen Long District Council. Background Born in Hong Kong with family roots in Taishan, Cheung was a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council repr ...

to sit on the PTU executive committee after the success of the "Save the College Action Group of CityU" action group. In 2010, Fung succeeded Cheung to become the third president of the PTU. In 2010, Fung was elected as the convenor of the

, a coalition consisting of eleven

parties on the issue of the government's reform package on the 2012 elections of the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and the Legislative Council to be the balanced force in the midst of the increasing differences and conflicts on the approaches on striving for universal suffrage between the moderate faction led by the Democratic Party and the radical faction

League of Social Democrats The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp and stresses on "street actions" and "parliame ...

(LSD). The Alliance was considered as "moderate" and did not support the "

Five Constituencies Referendum The 2010 Hong Kong Legislative Council by-election was an election held on 16 May 2010 in Hong Kong for all five geographical constituencies of the Legislative Council (LegCo), triggered by the resignation of five pan-democrat Legislative Coun ...

" launched by

Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) is a pro-democracy liberal political party in Hong Kong. It is currently chaired by barrister Alan Leong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Basic Law Article 45 Concern Group, which was derived from the ...

and LSD. Fung later endorsed the Democrats' revised constitutional reform package and therefore was heavily criticised by the LSD chairman

Wong Yuk-man Raymond Wong Yuk-man (; born 1 October 1951) is a Hong Kong communist, pro-china, author, current affairs commentator and radio host. He is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), representing the geographical constitue ...

. In 2013, Fung announced the Alliance "will be indefinitely suspended" in order to form a new body with other pan-democrats on the matter of full universal suffrage. Fung initially intended to run in the 2012 Legislative Council election in the

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

functional constituency after incumbent Cheung Man-kwong announced his retirement from the seat and candidacy in Kowloon West

geographical constituency In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, return ...

, but later withdraw his candidacy citing his health problem. The seat was taken up by another PTU executive committee member Ip Kin-yuen as a result. Fung has been a member of the

Election Committee The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Ho ...

which elects the Chief Executive since 2006. In 2015, he was appointed member of the Education Commission. On 10 August 2021, as the PTU announced its decision to disband following calls by Chinese state media and accusations by a Hong Kong government spokesperson that the union was "dragging schools into politics," Fung said that the union had felt "enormous pressure" when making the decision.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fung, Wai-wah Living people 1960 births Hong Kong Christians Hong Kong democracy activists Hong Kong educators Hong Kong trade unionists Academic staff of the City University of Hong Kong Meeting Point politicians Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2007–2012 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021