Dr Cheung Wai-lun shares his secrets of success

Dr Cheung advises the younger generation of HA colleagues to handle clinical work well and to have a good understanding of the healthcare system, such as the mission and challenges, so that they can make progress and bring bigger benefits to patients.

‘Good timing. Know your rivals…’— these are not kung fu hints but Dr Cheung Wai-lun’s secrets of success. The Director (Cluster Services) started holding sharing sessions on ‘The Path to Success’ two and a half years ago to cover the topics on self-empowerment, comprehension, analysis, decision-making, success, and his ten tips to success.

Dr Cheung likes challenges and manages stress with ease, so his pet phrase is “It is just a piece of cake.”

The key to triumph, Dr Cheung reckons, is to understand your own strengths and weaknesses, know what you can contribute to society, and be capable of creating and seizing opportunities. Dr Cheung was determined to succeed since primary four, “I was an obedient student, not the most active kind but often tried to take the opportunity to participate in student activities, like being the house captain.”

In retrospect, Dr Cheung’s path to success can be divided into three stages. (1) Acquisition of expertise: Dr Cheung started his career at the Accident and Emergency Department of Queen Mary Hospital, where he worked for nine years and gained knowledge and experiences in treating patients. (2) Knowledge broadening: Then he became a Chief of Service in Prince of Wales Hospital and took part in hospital management, in which he engaged in the work about different aspects, such as law and media. (3) Consolidation of experience and skills: After that, he combines his expertise and management experience and took up a full-time management role as the Cluster Chief Executive of New Territories West Cluster and Director (Cluster Services) in Head Office.

Dr Cheung has composed a booklet based on his own experiences to share with young people his insights and secrets to success.

Foreseeing his retirement in April this year, Dr Cheung shows his confidence in the younger generation on shaping the future of HA. “Don’t ask young people to repeat what we’ve done. Otherwise, there will be no progress. We should give them more guidance and opportunities and help equip them for contributing to the healthcare system in Hong Kong.” Dr Cheung will continue to serve society in another capacity after retirement.