Mak Chai-kwong GBS, JP (, born 16 June 1950) is a Hong Kong

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. He served as Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) from 2006 to 2010. In 2012, he was appointed as

Secretary for Development The Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for planning, land development and public works related development policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolios ...

in the inaugural cabinet of C.Y. Leung, but resigned 12 days later in response of allegations of corruption in the 1980s, making him the shortest-serving cabinet minister in the history of Hong Kong. He was eventually acquitted in 2016.

Background

Mak studied in St. Joan of Arc Secondary School in Hong Kong. In 1973, Mak graduated from

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 ...

with a degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

. He is current a fellow and senior member of many organizations including the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

Hong Kong Institution of Engineers The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE, ) is a professional body of engineers in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1947 as the ''Engineering Society of Hong Kong'' and was incorporated by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong as ''The Hong Kong ...

, the Hong Kong Institution of Highways and Transportation,

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) is a professional body representing the transport and logistics industries worldwide. It is a membership-based organisation with over 30,000 members in over 30 countries. This i ...

, and the China Hong Kong Railway Institution. He began his government career in 1973.Ex-development secretary Mak Chai-kwong charged with fraud
SCMP, 17 Oct 2012 In 1976 he was an assistant engineer involved in many KCR projects. In 1994, he was promoted to Chief Engineer, and by 1997, he began serving as Government Engineer. In 2000, he became Principal Government Engineer, which put him in charge of development projects in eastern

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

Tseung Kwan O Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese/Cantonese language) in southeastern New Territories, after which it is named. ...

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...

and

Ma On Shan Ma On Shan may refer to: * Ma On Shan (peak) ( zh, t=馬鞍山, s=马鞍山, l=saddle peak, links=no), a mountain in the New Territories of Hong Kong * Ma On Shan (town), a New Town in the New Territories on the foot of Ma On Shan mountain * Ma On ...

. By 2002, Mak was Director of Highways in Hong Kong. In 2006, he became the Permanent

Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works The Secretary for Environment and Ecology () of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for environment protection policy in Hong Kong. The position was created most recently in 2007 as the Secretary for the Environment to replace portions of the ...

(Works), which post became Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) in 2007. In 2010, Mak retired from the civil service, but he continued to serve in Sichuan Reconstruction Team as team leader for the

Development Bureau The Development Bureau (DEVB; ) is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for urban planning and renewal, land administration, infrastructure development, building safety, landscape, greening & tree development, water supplies, ...

Secretary for Development, and ICAC charge

Mak returned from retirement in July 2012 when he was appointed

in the inaugural government line-up of

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 ...

CY Leung 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 ...

. Revelations immediately surfaced about a cross-leasing scam in which Mak allegedly fraudulently claimed housing allowance for five years from 1985, while a civil servant. The incident led to his arrest by the ICAC and his resignation on 12 July 2012, twelve days into his appointment. On 17 October, Mak was formally charged, jointly with assistant highways director Tsang King-man, with conspiring to defraud the government, to the personal benefit of HK$445,000. He was acquitted by the Court of Final Appeal in 2016. Mak was replaced as Secretary for Development by Paul Chan, a former lawmaker in the Accountancy

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 ...

Honours

In 2010, Mak 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mak, Chai-kwong Government officials of Hong Kong Hong Kong civil servants 1950 births Living people Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017