Daniel Lam Chun: the Hong Kong boss who took crisis management to a new level
Daniel Lam Chun took part in a plot to force his KCRC boss out, then met him in Legco shortly after taking up the reins at the Urban Renewal Authority
On the ninth day of his tenure as Urban Renewal Authority managing director, Daniel Lam Chun stepped into the Legislative Council to report on his organisation's work, ready to respond to criticism it had put profit before its social mission.
He had just taken over from Iris Tam Siu-ying, who had abruptly resigned citing conflicts with the statutory body's chairman, Victor So Hing-woh, over its direction. She had cautioned her colleagues against "acting as a developer". With Tam's departure hitting the headlines, Lam vowed to rebuild trust among different parties in the organisation when he assumed office last month.
It was déjà vu for Lam, 69, a veteran building surveyor with extensive experience in public affairs. The last time he was involved in a high-profile dispute among the top management of a public body was nine years ago, when he was property director at the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, a government-owned entity which was later merged with the MTR Corporation. He was one of the company's five senior managers who signed a petition forcing its chairman, Michael Tien Puk-sun, to quit.
The two men met again in Legco, sitting on opposite sides in the meeting venue.
"Mr Daniel Lam, you also sat on the board of directors [of the KCRC] back then. I guess you still remember that, right? It's a small world and we meet again," Tien, now a lawmaker, told Lam.
Lam responded with a laugh when asked about this repeat encounter with his former boss in an interview with the .
