The decision by the Chief Executive John Lee to establish an independent committee to investigate the Tai Po fire is the correct move to expedite closure for the bereaved families who lost loved ones in the deadly fire which took 160 lives.
He had a choice. The normally hostile western media were clamouring for an investigative commission of inquiry which would have taken years to complete its work due to legal wrangling, thus prolonging closure. The bereaved rightly want to know how and by whom the fires started. And they want to know as soon as possible.
It is likely Lee consulted the justice and legal departments before reaching his conclusion that an independent committee was the correct path to follow. His heart went out to the bereaved while wishing a quick inquiry into the causes of the fire.
Immediately after the fire, the government arrested a number of company directors and contractors and seized their books to investigate any culpability in the awarding of contracts and procedures of the renovation works.
Despite western criticism, the government and the public were quick to respond to the disaster. The government set up a $300 million relief fund, and this was quickly boosted to $3.3 billion by corporate and public donations. More than 1 451residents have been accommodated, through the co-ordination of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 3,059 residents are currently living in transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Hong Kong Housing Society. Hong Kong cares.
Not wasting time, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu quicky appointed Justice David Lok Kai-hong to chair an independent commission to be flanked by committee members Chan Kin-por and Rex Auyeung Pak-kuen. The committee’s mandate covers critical areas—the origin of the fire and why it spread so rapidly and whether fire-safety equipment, maintenance standards and regulatory oversight were properly adhered to. The panel was given sweeping powers by the Chief Executive and nine months to uncover the causes, expose any corruption in renovation works, and recommend sweeping reforms.
The special committee will have maximum autonomy and flexibility but does not have the authority to summon witness as in an inquiry. Should such a case arise, and should it require formal statutory powers to compel evidence on specific issues, it can ask the Chief Executive to convert it into a full Commission of Inquiry in the same way past major probes have been conducted.
Addressing concerns about not immediately establishing a statutory inquiry, Lee explained the current structure allows faster start-up while retaining the option to escalate if needed, covering both immediate fire-safety failures and long-standing concerns over maintenance contract irregularities.
A commission of inquiry can be lengthy and prolonged by legal arguments. The Commission of Inquiry into mishaps in the opening of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok in 1998 is said to have a hundred lawyers arguing for their clients and with the disastrous Grenfell Tower fire (which was similar to the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po) in the UK in 2017, an independent investigation committee led by retired justices published its report in stages, with the first report taking two years after the disaster, and the second report taking seven years after the disaster. The unfortunate bereaved waited.
Lee said the goal of this independent committee in Hong Kong is to complete the review within nine months, mainly due to adopting a hybrid model. It takes both the flexibility and efficiency of the independent review committee and the statutory power of the independent investigation committee as a cover. It is a pioneering approach of "the integration of power and effectiveness", and we hope to make it clear to the public as soon as possible.
Lee stressed that the final report and all recommendations will be made public, except for material related to ongoing court cases, and interim reports may be issued to keep the public informed.
The Wang Fu Court fire was a disaster that should never have happened. The independent committee will have its work cut out determining the cause of the fire without any legal framework. But its recommendations will go to the government to act accordingly and swiftly to bring those responsible to be accountable for the 160 lives lost. It is also a subject for the new legislators to debate when the Legislative Council opens on January 7.
Mark Pinkstone
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
Hong Kong will be raising the bar to be the world leader in traditional Chinese medicine with the recent opening of the Chinese Medicine Hospital in Tseung Kwan O, according to the aspirations of China’s National Health Commission head Lei Haichao.
And that is also the aim of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu when he said he planned to turn Hong Kong into a “bridgehead for traditional Chinese medicine to go global.”
Both were speaking at the launching ceremony of the hospital and the adjacent testing institute as well as the signing ceremony of two agreements between the Hong Kong health authorities and the national agencies to deepen collaborations on both Chinese medicine and cancer research.
Lee said Hong Kong should serve the globe for the benefit of humanity and accelerate the internationalism of Chinese medicine, adding that the hospital should collaborate with the Hong Kong Science Park and the Hetao Shenzhen–Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone on clinical research and technology transfer.
Lee followed up with “Chinese medicine is an integral part of Hong Kong’s healthcare system, and our medical system, regulatory framework, standard-setting and clinical research are all aligned with international standards.”
So, the stage is set, but it will take a few years before Hong Kong can claim to be a global leader in the field. A Chinese medicine practitioner who sits on the hospital’s board, agreed that the testing institute was essential in helping promote Chinese medicine globally, as Hong Kong had a robust commerce and finance infrastructure with world-class research centres and universities.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has reached 196 countries and regions worldwide, with increasing institutional presence and recognition. China alone hosts more than 4,600 hospitals specializing in TCM.
The global market for Chinese medicine was estimated to be worth US$33.3 billion last year, rising to US$47.8 billion by the end of 2032, according to online marketing research data, and published in local media.
Internationally, TCM is integrated into mainstream healthcare systems in several countries. For example, in Malta, a TCM department was established at Mater Dei Hospital in 2008, marking the first time TCM was granted an independent department in a state hospital in the European Union. The Mediterranean Regional Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine (MRCTCM) in Malta has also become a well-known center for TCM treatment and training.
In Germany, the first European TCM hospital opened in Koetzting in 1991 as a joint venture with a Beijing hospital.
And the well-known Tong Ren Tang, Beijing’s oldest pharmacy with branches throughout Hong Kong, opened a branch in central London in 1995.
In 1870 the Tung Wah Hospital was the first to use Chinese medicine for the treatment in Chinese hospitals providing free medical services. As the promotion of Western medicine by the British government started from 1940, Western medicine started being popular among the Hong Kong population. But, in 1959, Hong Kong institutes had researched that the use of traditional Chinese medicine could replace Western medicine.
During the British rule, Chinese medicine practitioners in Hong Kong were not recognized as "medical doctors" per se, which meant they could not issue prescription drugs, give injections, etc. However, TCM practitioners could register and operate TCM as "herbalists".
The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong regulates compounds and professional standards for TCM practitioners. All TCM practitioners in Hong Kong are required to register with the council, which was established in 1999. The eligibility for registration includes a recognised 5-year university degree of TCM, a 30-week minimum supervised clinical internship, and passing the licensing exam.
Locally, the approved Chinese medicine institutions are Hong Kong University, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University, which operates the new hospital in Tseung Kwan O.
There were a few TCM pharmacies in Macau during the colonial period. In 1994, the Portuguese Macau government published a Decree-Law that officially regulated the TCM market. After the sovereign handover, the Macau S.A.R. government also published regulations on the practice of TCM. In 2000, Macau University of Science and Technology and Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine established the Macau College of Traditional Chinese Medicine to offer a degree course in Chinese medicine.
In Taiwan, TCM practitioners are physicians and are regulated by the Physicians Act. They possess the authority to independently diagnose medical conditions, issue prescriptions, dispense Traditional Chinese Medicine, and prescribe a variety of diagnostic tests including X-rays, ECG, and blood and urine test. Under current law, those who wish to qualify for the Chinese medicine exam must have to obtained a 7-year university degree in TCM. The National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, established in 1963, is the largest Chinese herbal medicine research center in Taiwan
To be the global leader it aspires to be, Hong Kong has a long way to go. Currently it has only 25 beds and day-care services and only six specialized TCM services. But this will grow rapidly and within four years the hospital will provide full inpatient services with its 400 beds and treating outpatient services of 400,000 annual attendances.
