The Hong Kong government has appointed a former top police officer to head the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. File photo: GovHK. The government said in a Monday statement that Albert Yuen, who served as Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) from 2021 to 2023, was “identified as the most suitable candidate.” His appointment took effect on Tuesday.
Yuen was previously appointed as an advisor to the FEHD for a year in November 2023.
Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung was quoted as saying that Yuen has “extensive experience in public administration and law enforcement, and possesses outstanding leadership and management capabilities.”
“I am confident that under his leadership, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will continue with its reforms to provide public services, perform regulatory functions and meet future challenges with innovation and excellence,” Yeung added.
‘Political acumen’
The government said during its February recruitment exercise that the head of the FEHD should have “ strong political acumen to manage political sensitivities adeptly,” with knowledge and experience in law enforcement work preferred. Albert Yuen, Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene. Photo: GovHK. Yuen’s appointment comes about a year after the FEHD began including national security-related clauses under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance.
Restaurant licences can now be revoked if licence holders and “related persons” engage in “offending conduct” against national security or the public interest.
Three other senior appointments were also announced on Monday. Maisie Chan, formerly Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, will take up the post of Director-General of Communications on July 2.
Ann Chan, Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, will take up the post of Commissioner for Tourism on June 25.
Deputy Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene Arsene Yiu will take up the directorship of the Hong Kong government’s Beijing Office on June 29.
Top cops
Yuen is the latest in a line of former police officers to take up office in government departments. In May, John Tse, who served as chief superintendent of the police force’s public relations branch, took up office as head of the Information Services Department (ISD).
The position, also advertised in February, called for “strong intellectual ability, political acumen, interpersonal and communication skills, strategic thinking and leadership skills, [and] the acumen to embrace changes and challenges.”
The most prominent example is city leader John Lee, an ex-police officer who served as security minister during the 2019 protests and unrest. He became chief secretary in 2021, and was later elected unopposed as chief executive in a single-candidate poll the following year. Hong Kong officials including Chief Executive John Lee and Secretary for Security Chris Tang leave the Legislative Council after the passage of Article 23 legislation on March 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Secretary for Security Chris Tang entered government directly after serving as head of the police force. He remains in the position after replacing Lee in 2021.
Meanwhile, Michael Cheuk was in the police force for 38 years before retiring in 2020 – but he was brought back from retirement to serve as under secretary for security a year later. And Warner Cheuk, the deputy chief secretary for administration, also had a brief career in the police force in the 1980s.