Matthew Cheung facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Matthew Cheung Kin-chung
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張建宗
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Cheung in 2020
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| 7th Chief Secretary for Administration | |
| In office 16 January 2017 – 25 June 2021 Acting: 13 January 2017 – 16 January 2017 |
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| Chief Executive | Leung Chun-ying Carrie Lam |
| Preceded by | Carrie Lam |
| Succeeded by | John Lee |
| Secretary for Labour and Welfare | |
| In office 1 July 2007 – 16 January 2017 |
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| Preceded by | York Chow (Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food) Stephen Ip (Secretary for Economic Development and Labour) |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Sui |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 20, 1950 British Hong Kong |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Alma mater | University of Hong Kong |
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Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (born on November 20, 1950) is a former politician from Hong Kong. He held the important role of Chief Secretary for Administration from 2017 to 2021. This position is the second-highest in the Hong Kong government.
Before that, he was the Secretary for Labour and Welfare for ten years. In 2017, he received the Grand Bauhinia Medal, which is one of Hong Kong's highest honors.
Contents
Early Life and Government Career
Matthew Cheung was born in Hong Kong in 1950. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong in 1972, he started working for the government. One of his first jobs was helping foreign reporters visit camps for Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s. In 1979, he joined the Administrative Service, which is a group of top government workers.
Over the years, Cheung worked in many different government departments. He held positions in finance, home affairs, and trade. He was known for being a very hard worker. In the five years before he first planned to retire in 2007, he took less than three weeks of vacation.
Work as a Government Secretary
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
In 2007, Cheung was appointed Secretary for Labour and Welfare. In this role, he was in charge of issues related to jobs and social support for citizens.
During his time as secretary, he helped create Hong Kong's first minimum wage law. This law set the lowest amount of money a worker could be paid per hour. He also worked on programs to help people with low incomes. However, he also faced challenges. He had to deal with difficult debates about topics like setting standard work hours and giving fathers time off after a baby is born.
Chief Secretary for Administration
In January 2017, Cheung was promoted to Chief Secretary for Administration. This made him the second-in-command of the Hong Kong government, working directly under the Chief Executive.
During his time in this role, there were large protests in Hong Kong. Cheung often spoke about the government's position on different issues.
- On schools: In 2019 and 2020, he stated that schools should be for learning only, not for political activities. He said the government wanted to protect students from what he called "illegal" ideas and teach them to be good citizens.
- On lawmakers: In November 2020, after four pro-democracy lawmakers were removed from the legislature, Cheung said the decision was legal and reasonable.
- On government workers: In 2021, he supported a new rule that required government workers to promise their loyalty to the government. He said this would show their commitment.
- On government changes: In March 2021, he spoke about changes to Hong Kong's election system. He said that allowing only "patriots" to run for office would improve democracy in the city.
Cheung retired from his long career in government service in June 2021.
