p e o p l e p e o p l e GLADYS CHEUNG GLADYS CHEUNG GLADYS CHEUNG

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Back To Education GLADYS CHEUNG GLADYS CHEUNG by Gladys Cheung

1 ince resigning in June, the contro- versial former top education of- Sficial Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun has yet to take a pause. She spends most 3 5 of her time working in education and Fanny Law’s Album charity in the mainland. 1. A collapsed roof. 2. A child of a rural family wears a shirt with holes. 3. A bed is placed in open space as the roof of the house has collapsed due to heavy rain. In an exclusive interview after her 4. Minority students are celebrating the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a sudden departure from the govern- new primary school in Qinghai donated by . ment, Mrs Law told Varsity, “I like my 5. An old lady is scraping corn from a cob. job now because I am at the frontier, and I feel satisfaction from my work. I can do what I want to.” Heifer International Hong Kong To familiarise herself with the main- She is what she used to be. The supports Heifer’s program in China. “A land, she visited many places right af- Hong Kong Institute of Education lot of people always think that China is ter her resignation, such as Sichuan, (HKIEd) probe in which she was ac- now a prosperous country, but people Xian, Xining, Chongqing, Kunming, cused of interfering in academic don’t understand the seriousness of Shanhai, Beijing and Ningbo. “I did not freedom has not exhausted her. peasants’ problems there. They do not just visit the scenic spots; I took the Former Permanent Secretary for see the actual China,” Mrs Law said. opportunity to understand the situa- Education and Manpower, Mrs Law Working with Heifer and the school, tion of the poor in China,” she said. is an honorary principal in Huizhen she traveled extensively in China. She When speaking of the experience Academy, a secondary school in found education and alleviating pov- she had in these visits, Mrs Law recalled Ningbo. Huizhen Academy was es- erty were inter-related. Mrs Law said: a trip to Sichuan this summer. She saw tablished in 1996 and was jointly a family whose roof had collapsed, funded by the municipal govern- and when it rained they needed to ask ment and the Fan Family Charitable “I believe educa- to share the beds of their neighbours. Trust, a foundation set up by Mrs tion is one of the This made her realize that compara- Law’s parents. The foundation ap- key ways to extri- tively, youngsters in Hong Kong were pointed Mrs Law as honorary prin- very lucky. cipal in September. cate people from She contacted various organisa- Recently she has also joined poverty. Shaking tions to help address poverty in China the Heifer International, a in a number of ways. For instance, she non-profit organization off poverty does not found charity organizations could “I can do what I want to.” based in the US dedicated only mean a full solve the economic problems while to alleviating poverty people from the educational circle problems. She is one stomach. Knowl- could work out education reform for of its directors. edge changes fate.” students.

26 27 p e o p l e p e o p l e Fanny Law’s Profile GLADYS CHEUNG GLADYS CHEUNG Mrs Law also works at improving Mrs Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun,GBS, JP education for students in China. As the honourary principal of Huizhen Acad- 1975 graduated from the with an Honours Degree of Bachelor of Science emy, she makes visits to the secondary 1990 received a Master Degree in Public Administration at the Harvard University school in Ningbo once a month. Every 1975 worked as an Executive Officer time she brings some new English-lan- 1977 appointed to the Administrative Service of Hong Kong Government guage books for the school. They have 1986-1988 appointed as the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Secretary accumulated to a few thousands until 1998 appointed as the Director of Education of the HKSAR October. Once she even bought a new 6 7 2000 appointed as the Secretary for Education of Manpower colour printer to the school. 2002 appointed as the Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower GLADYS CHEUNG “They are quite heavy indeed. I al- GLADYS CHEUNG ways negotiate with the airlines to see cheung also left the government in “I studied science at that time, and if I can raise the baggage weight limit July this year when the Chief Executive there were too many career paths for for my outboard trip in return for a Mr Yam-kuen started his me to select. I took a test about atti- lower weight limit when I go back to GLADYS CHEUNG new term of office. The government tude. It showed that I was suitable for Hong Kong.” later applied for judicial review of the jobs like public administration and Even though it is hard work, she still investigation into HKIEd case, and the public welfare management, and so I insists on doing it. She said the lan- High Court accepted the application moved on to the civil service.” guage environment in the mainland in October. was not good enough to cultivate stu- 8 9 Mrs Law has remained silent since dents’ language proficiency and that Fanny Law’s Album her departure. “I declined all inter- “When I was in was why she wanted to do more to 6. Mrs Law is receiving a certificate of appointment from the Director of the Education Bureau of views from the media after my resig- help the students there. Ningbo City as the Honorary Principal of Huizhen Academy nation, but I appreciate that university the dark chapters She said resources were insufficient 7. She is visiting a kindergarten in Ningbo where students are doing a science experiment students make an effort to interview in the mainland, and therefore Hong 8. Volunteers from Hong Kong at Qinghai Normal University of life, family was Fanny Law advises teenagers to follow their inter- 9. A picture with early childhood workers at a kindergarten in Xian which practises bilingual education. me,” Mrs Law said. ests to work and study. Kong students should cherish what The top education civil servant they possess. She works hard for the always my back- loves to talk to young people. She said school because she wants to realise Once a high-flier among adminis- ance between family and work was young people should find out both up.” the wish of her mother, who died in trative officers, Mrs Law started out not good,” she said. It took her nearly their strength and weakness. 1996; she wished to build a school in as an executive officer in 1975. She a month to tidy up and clear all the “No one is perfect. But in the course China. Meanwhile, Mrs Law also finds then applied for administrative officer things she took back from office when of development, we should move to- Mrs Law had worked for the happiness in the job. “I am a person in Hong Kong government two years she left the job. wards perfection. Understanding our Hong Kong government for who makes all-out effort all the time. later. “Fortunately, my family is very sup- weaknesses is an important part of it,” 32 years. She said she never But it can also be my weakness. People thought of retiring be- When Mrs Law was appointed as portive and tolerant,” Mrs Law said, Mrs Law said. said that I cared too much.” cause she was too in- Director of Education in 1998. A man “When I was in the dark chapters of She said following one’s interest to volved in work. V whom she highly respected warned life, family was always my backup.” work and study was vital to succeed, her about the difficulty of the job. Family photographs of hers are dis- GLADYS CHEUNG and blindly following the trend of the There is a Chinese saying, “Men of let- played all around her house. Another society would frustrate you once the ters tend to despise one another.” She picture shows her with the former Chi- trend was over. If one’s interest was said the job in the Education Depart- nese President Jiang Zemin. not in that field, she said, forcing your- ment was difficult, but someone had Embroiled in a number of turbulent self to work there could be painful. to undertake the post. matters when she was a civil servant, When asked why she chose to be Mrs Law said she had her own princi- an administrative officer, she said: ples. Although people say the art of “I have no politics is to reach consensus, there is regrets in my no way one can fulfill all the wishes of the others, so people should live with career.” no qualms and no conscience. In the course of the interview, she She said, “Throughout the years, I did not want to answer any ques- always remember what the man said, tion regarding the HKIEd probe. She and he encouraged me to do my best resigned after the investigation. Her Mrs Law said she had no regrets in in the job.” She admitted she used to former boss, Secretary for Education the job as Director of Education put in a lot of time at work. “My bal- and Manpower Mr Kwok- 28 29