Dr Law Chi-kwong, GBS, JP (; born 1 November 1953) is a

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 city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

politician who served as

Secretary for Labour and Welfare The Secretary for Labour and Welfare () of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for labour and social welfare policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolio of Secretary for Economic Develo ...

between 2017 and 2022. He is an associate professor in social work 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. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

.Bio at Martin Lee's site
/ref> He was a founding member of the

Democratic Party of Hong Kong The Democratic Party (DP) is a centre-left liberal political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Lo Kin-hei, it is the flagship party in the pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy camp and currently has 7 elected representatives in the Distr ...

and its honorary secretary and spokesperson for women's issues, until he left the party to serve in the government. He served in the Legislative Council, in the

Social Welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet Basic needs, basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refe ...

functional constituency A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China: * Functional constituency (Hong Kong) * Functional cons ...

, between 1995 and 2004 except during the

Provisional Legislative Council The Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) was the interim legislature of Hong Kong that operated from 1997 to 1998. The legislature was founded in Guangzhou and sat in Shenzhen from 1996 (with offices in Hong Kong) until the handover in 1997 an ...

, serving on the Social Welfare Advisory Committee as well as many governmental and non-governmental bodies. In 2014, he was awarded the

Gold Bauhinia Star The Gold Bauhinia Star (, GBS) is the highest Bauhinia Star rank in the honours system of Hong Kong, created in 1997 to replace the British honours system of the Order of the British Empire after the transfer of sovereignty to People's Republic of ...

by the government.

Education and academic career

Law studied for his bachelor's degree in economics and statistics and a master's degree in social work at the University of Hong Kong. He went on to earn an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

and a doctorate in social welfare from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In 1981, he took up a teaching role in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong, and has remained on the staff since. From 1993 to 1997, he was head of department. His current position is associate professor. Law has been chairman of the

Senior Citizen Home Safety Association Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

and an executive member of the

Hong Kong Council of Social Service The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS; or 社聯) is a council coordinating NGOs in the social service field in Hong Kong, established in 1947. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service represent more than 480 Agency Members that prov ...

. He has also been a board member of the

Hong Kong Social Workers Association Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...

Political career

Law was elected to the Legislative Council in the Social Welfare constituency, in 1995, 1998 and 2000, thus serving from 1995 to 2004, except for one year of the

. He has served on the

Commission on Strategic Development Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anothe ...

since 2005, and the Steering Committee on Child Development Fund since 2008. He has been a member of the Land and Development Advisory Committee since 2009, and a member of the Commission on Poverty since 2012. In 2017, he was nominated by

Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...

to serve as

. He withdrew from the Democratic Party prior to his appointment, because the party bars its members from serving in a government chosen by the pro-Beijing camp. In the 1990s, Law was one the "best-known advocates for democracy and the rule of law," but later switched his position to be pro-Beijing, avoiding inquiries about his change of opinion. In February 2022, Law claimed that fundraising to help domestic helpers who had been fined by the government for social gathering could be illegal.

Personal life

Law is divorced and has a daughter and a son.

References

Dr Law Chi-kwong, GBS, JP, Secretary for Labour and WelfareDr. LAW Chi Kwong, The Department of Social Work and Social Administration – HKU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Chi-kwong 1953 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians United Democrats of Hong Kong politicians Alumni of King's College, Hong Kong HK LegCo Members 1995–1997 HK LegCo Members 1998–2000 HK LegCo Members 2000–2004 Hong Kong educators Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2007–2012 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 University of Hong Kong faculty Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star Recipients of the Silver Bauhinia Star