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The Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine) today announces the list for the CUHK Distinguished Medical Alumni Award 2020 which recognises professional achievements, humanitarian service, and accomplishment in cultural arts.

The CUHK Distinguished Medical Alumni Award was first launched in 2018. The award aims to give formal recognition to the CUHK medical alumni who excel in professional endeavours and contribution to the community. It also encourages the alumni to contribute to shaping a better future for society. This provides incentives to them to seek for advancement in different aspects, including cultural accomplishment and humanitarian services. Below are the details of this year’s awardees:

Global Achievement – Dr. Che Chung LUK (MBChB 1986), the Unsung Medical Hero in the SARS Crisis

As a hospital administrator for some 30 years, Dr. Che Chung LUK believes that to effectively run a hospital, even the smallest bit of input from the most frontline employee will make a significant difference to the enhancement of quality care for patients.

After working as a clinician for four years, he decided to venture into administration. His bold career move turned out exceptionally well – he is now the Cluster Chief Executive (CCE) of Hong Kong East Cluster, and Hospital Chief Executive (HCE) of Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Wong Chuk Hang Hospital and St. John Hospital. Prior to that, he was the CCE of Hong Kong West Cluster and before that, the CCE of Kowloon East Cluster.

Dr. Luk dives headlong into whatever job is at hand with the same fortitude and integrity as he has always done. His uncanny knack for managing crises, working for patients and with healthcare teams, and overseeing major hospital building projects has earned him kudos. He made possible the planning of a most difficult redevelopment project – the pulling down and erection of new buildings for the Queen Mary Hospital complex while maintaining usual services during the construction period.  

Currently, he is leading his hospitals to take care of COVID-19 patients and contain the spread of the virus. Being one of the “unsung medical heroes” during the SARS crisis of 2003, he has accumulated all rounded experience to confront pandemics. For example, he led the Kwong Wah Hospital to take care of more than 100 SARS patients and over 700 patients who required isolation care as in-patients at that time.

Dr. Luk is also involved in a variety of community work and has lent his voice to organisations like the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women. But it is his track record as a healthcare executive that stands him in good stead on the leadership platform.

Humanitarian Service – Dr. Sheung Wai LAW (MBChB 1993), a Modest Person with a Great Heart

Dr. Sheung Wai LAW, the consultant surgeon of Tai Po Hospital’s Department of Orthopaedics Rehabilitation, has often been described as a “modest person with a great heart”. His humanitarian work has gained him considerable admiration from both his peers and patients.

Inspired by Professor Kai Ming CHAN, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at CU Medicine, Dr. Law joined the StandTALL Project. It is a comprehensive orthopaedic programme that first provided emergency care for the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and subsequently continued to help amputees with rehabilitation, aided by advanced technologies. In addition to travelling to the mainland every week to offer clinical consultations and rehabilitative treatments after the earthquake, Dr. Law introduced smart prosthetics and other advanced rehabilitation technology to the mainland hospitals and provided training to over 2,000 rehab workers.

To teach his students about social responsibility, he organised visits to the mainland to see for themselves the rehab work that is being done. His philosophy is that no matter how good medical technology is, “if you don’t put in the human factor, it won’t work.”

The survivors whom Dr. Law has helped over the years, via the StandTALL Project, include a young female amputee who now holds two university degrees and another who became a famous Paralympic table tennis player. He has said numerous times that as long as there are resources, he will continue helping his quake patients.

His outstanding work with the quake survivors has been highly commended and he was presented with the Hong Kong Humanity Award in 2017.

Cultural Accomplishment – Dr. Lucci Lugee LIYEUNG (MBChB 2011), the Accomplished Cartoonist

Not only is Dr. Lucci Lugee LIYEUNG an orthopaedic surgeon at the Prince of Wales Hospital, she is also an accomplished cartoonist and illustrator. Her proudest creation, undoubtedly, is Dumo. Dumo is a cartoon cheetah inspired by a real life cheetah orphan, Duma, which she fell in love with while volunteering at a cheetah sanctuary in Namibia.

When COVID-19 first made an appearance, it took Dr. Liyeung just three nights to come up with a bilingual story book for kids, featuring Dumo and his friends, with brilliantly illustrated tips on how to properly wash hands and wear a mask and keep the home environment clean. The book, Dr Dumo et al, became an instant hit. It was widely distributed to children in schools and hospitals for free, translated into at least 12 languages and has appeared on several websites. Two medically related books targeting children are due out soon.

Despite a busy work schedule, she always makes time for charity work. She raised HK$60,000 for local animal charities by selling Dumo products at a Chinese new year market. The sales of reusable masks and mask folders bearing the Dumo trademark during this COVID-19 pandemic also benefit some other charities.

About the CUHK Distinguished Medical Alumni Award