Dr. Yeoh Eng Kiong OBE, GBS, JP (; born 16 April 1946) was the Secretary for Health and Welfare between 1999 and 2002,

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

and a member of the Executive Council between 2002 and 2004 in the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

. Yeoh's father was the late Yeoh Chin Hin, a Malaysian businessman who was a founder and director of

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) () is a Malaysian multi-national company. The core business of the group is plantation (oil palm and rubber). The company has plantations that cover more than 250,000 hectares in Malaysia (both Peninsular and Sa ...

Career

Yeoh studied medicine at

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

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 fir ...

where he was elected President of the Student Union in 1969 and graduated in 1971. He specialised in

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

. In 1979, he became a consultant physician at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. After a 19-year career at Hong Kong government hospitals, with recognised work in

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

research, Yeoh became the first Chief Executive of the newly formed

Hospital Authority The Hospital Authority is a statutory body managing all the government hospitals and institutes in Hong Kong. It is under the governance of its board and is under the monitor of the Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong Government. ...

in 1990. In January 1999, he was appointed to the post of Secretary for Health and Welfare (a civil servant position). In 2002, he was appointed as the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food under the new political appointee system. Yeoh is currently a professor at The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care 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 ...

SARS

Yeoh was heavily criticised by the media subsequently for his handling of the

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...

outbreak in 2003. On 14 March 2003, despite the rising number of SARS cases in Hong Kong, Yeoh insisted there were no signs of a widespread

outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

- this was seen as misleading the public into not taking enough health care precautions. At a hearing at a LegCo select committee, he later explained that he had intended to distinguish the then unnamed disease from other forms of

community-acquired pneumonia Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) refers to pneumonia (any of several lung diseases) contracted by a person outside of the healthcare system. In contrast, hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is seen in patients who have recently visited a hospital o ...

and to correct the Chinese-language media who had equated "

atypical pneumonia Atypical pneumonia, also known as walking pneumonia, is any type of pneumonia not caused by one of the pathogens most commonly associated with the disease. Its clinical presentation contrasts to that of "typical" pneumonia. A variety of microorgan ...

" with SARS synonymously before the

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

officially named it. He apologised for the misunderstanding in his communications. He later admitted that he and the government had underestimated the severity of the pandemic and acted passively. He was forced to resign on 8 July 2004 to take political responsibility over the SARS outbreak. Yeoh was succeeded by Dr.

York Chow York Chow Yat-ngok (; born 1947, Hong Kong), GBS, SBS, MBE, was the Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong and a member of the Executive Council. He was appointed as Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food in 2004. The position has sinc ...

Awards

In 2005, Yeoh was awarded a

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 ...

and an Honorary Fellowship by 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 ...

References

The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong - Professor Eng-kiong YEOH
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeoh, Eng Kiong 1946 births Living people Government officials of Hong Kong Hong Kong medical doctors Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Malaysian emigrants to Hong Kong Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Malaysian people of Hokkien descent Malaysian people of Chinese descent People with acquired permanent residency of Hong Kong People from Ipoh People from Perak