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Mak Hoi Wah is one of Hong Kong's leading activists and grassroots community leaders. He was an appointed member of the first Wong Tai Sin District Board. As a member of dozens of government and non-governmental organizations ranging from anti-discrimination to labour issues to youth affairs, he is one of the community's most visible and respected young leaders. In 1993, the Hong Kong Government awarded Mr. Mak with one of its highest honors to recognise his long commitment to the community, the Badge of Honour. Education and Background: Mak Hoi Wah was born in China in 1951. He studied in Hong Kong and graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) from the Hong Kong University, majoring in Philosophy and Political Science. In 1978, he earned a Master in Social Work from the Hong Kong University, and in 1994, he acquired a Post-graduate Certificate in Hong Kong Law from the City University of Hong Kong. Mr. Mak has been active and social minded since his university years. He was elected as the President of Hong Kong University Students Union in 1975 and helped to form the Unemployment Action Group during that period of economic recession. Career: Mak Hoi Wah is a Registered Social Worker and a Senior Lecturer whose career has centred on education and the building of a civil society at the grassroots level in the community. From 1978-82, he acted as the Centre Supervisor for the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council and from 1982-88, he was the Coordinator for the same agency. From 1988 to the present, Mr. Mak has been a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Applied Social Studies of the City University of Hong Kong. Mr. Mak has just been elected as a Council Member of the City University of Hong Kong for a 3-year term expiring on December 31, 2000. Social Work Posts: Mr. Mak became actively involved in Hong Kong's pressing problems with the poor and disadvantaged when he worked as the Centre Supervisor of the Community Development Project serving the Diamond Hill squatters from 1978-82 and as a Coordinator for Community Development Projects from 1982-88. Mr. Mak also helped to found the Hong Kong Social Workersí General Union and served as its President from 1980-88. He has also been a member of the Hong Kong Social Workers Association since 1985. Mr. Mak was also the founding Chairman of the Joint Council on Salary and Fringe Benefits of Subvented Organizations from 1989-96. Recently he was elected to the newly constituted Social Worker Registration Board from 1998-2001. Mr. Mak is a member and a leader in a large number of statutory and professional bodies, including the AIDS Service Development Committee of the Hong Kong Advisory Council on AIDS. He is also a member of the Kowloon Regional Advisory Committee of the Hospital Authority as well as a member of the Hospital Governing Committee of Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital. He was also a member of the Hong Kong Government's Commission on Youth; the Subventions and Lotteries Fund Advisory Committee of the Social Welfare Department; the Committee on Employment Services of the Labour Advisory Board and the Vocational Training Council. Mak Hoi Wah has also promoted civic education and awareness as a member of the Government Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education from 1986-93 and a member of the Legal Awareness Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong from 1989-91. He has also served as an adjudicator on the Obscene Articles Tribunal. Pro-Democracy Work: Mak Hoi Wah was a founding member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movement in China and has been its Vice-Chairman since 1990. Mr. Mak was a founding member and Central Committee member of the Democratic Party and its predecessor body, the United Democrats of Hong Kong, Hong Kong's first political party. He is an active party member and is also the Chairman of the Party's Kowloon Central Branch since its formation in 1994. Mak Hoi Wah has also served on the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Basic Law Consultative Committee from 1986-90 actively promoting a democratic governmental system. Community Service: From 1975 through present, Mr. Mak has been an Executive Committee Member of the Society for Community Organization (SoCO), one of Hong Kong's earliest grassroots pressure groups. He was SoCOís Chairman from 1988-92. In 1993, Mak Hoi Wah helped to found a landmark equal opportunities advocacy body, the Movement Against Discrimination. He was also a founding member of the Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Suicide. From 1987-95, he was a member of the Management Committee for the Community Development Division of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. Personal: Mak Hoi Wah is married with two children. His spouse is a secondary school teacher. Mr. Mak likes hiking, swimming and Tai Chi.
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Mak Hoi-wah