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Anson Chan Fang on Sang The Honourable Anson Chan Fang On Sang Anson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On Sang GBM GCMG (hon.) CBE, JP (traditional Chinese: 陳方安生) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Hong Kong Island, succeeding the late legislator Ma Lik. Before running for Legislative Council, she served as the head of Hong Kong's civil service before and after the territory's handover to the People's Republic of China from British colonial rule. Noted for her poise and smile, she was the first woman and the first Chinese to hold the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong. Chan joined the Civil Service in 1962 as an administrative service cadet, one of only two women to join the civil service at that time. Her salary was reportedly one-quarter that paid to men of equivalent grade. She progressed to the Economics Section of the Finance Branch in 1962, followed by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, then the Department of Commerce and Industry, and later back to Finance. In 1970, she became assistant financial secretary in the finance branch of the Colonial Secretary, the first woman to attain that post. Chan became the first female civil service director when appointed Director of Social Welfare in 1984. From 1987 to 1993, she was Secretary for Economic Services, becoming the 30th and last Chief Secretary in 1993. Chan was the first woman and the first ethnic Chinese to hold the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong. The highest governmental position, the Governor, was always held by Britons before Hong Kong's handover to People's Republic of China. Chan was often described during this era as an "Iron Lady", with "an iron fist in a velvet glove". Chan was lauded as the most powerful woman in Asia for her role as the deputy of British Governor Chris Patten, and later Tung Chee-hwa. In the run-up to the Handover, she was often the 'face of Hong Kong'. After Hong Kong's handover to China on 1 July 1997, Chan stayed on as head of the civil service under then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. She was always highly regarded: one British-born civil servant said that "Nothing would work without her", also noting that "Tung needs her more than she needs him." In contrast to the more conservative Tung, Chan showed the greater support for democracy and freedom, and advocated a faster pace of democratisation. Chan agreed in 1999 to delay her retirement until June 2002. However, Chan announced her resignation in January 2001, and officially stepped down in April of the same year. Since November 2005 she has identified herself with the pro-democracy camp, and won the December 2007 by-election for the Hong Kong Island seat in the Legislative Council, as an independent. In 2008, she announced she would not seek re-election. Honours In recognition of her 34 years of public service to the British Crown, Chan was awarded the Hong Kong Grand Bauhinia Medal in 1999. She was then appointed by Queen Elizabeth II an honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George in 2002 in recognition of her service with the Hong Kong Government before the handover. Such award was usually given only to Governors of Hong Kong before the return of sovereignty. .
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