The CEO of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority since 2020, Betty Fung has enjoyed an incredibly varied career in government that has led her over the years to become a more or less overnight expert in everything from public relations to arts administration to international trade law. Taking over the WKCDA at a challenging time, she has since shepherded it through the launch of two mega projects: M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

She became interested in the idea of public service as a career very early in life, she says.

“Early on in secondary school, I guess about Form Two [aged 13-14], I started to think about what I should do, and I wanted to do something for the community instead of going for jobs that would pay a lot of money, even though I grew up in public housing. At that time, adminstrative officer was my dream job.”

She joined the Hong Kong government’s Administrative Service in 1986. Since then, “I’ve never thought of leaving.”

Her roles have included press secretary to the chief secretary and financial secretary; assistant director of trade; deputy chief information officer; deputy secretary for education and manpower; director of the Information Services Department from 2007 to 2009; director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department from 2009 to 2014; permanent secretary of Home Affairs from 2014 to 2018; and head of the Policy Innovation and Coordination Office between 2018 and 2020. She took on the WKCDA job in an acting role in 2020, and permanently in 2021.

“The good thing about my job is I’ve been posted to so many different roles—the longest I was in one role was five years at the LCSD,” she says. “I was really exposed to different types of work.”

Refreshing though that was, she adds, it could also be challenging at times, such as when she took the press secretary role in 1994. “I was handling the media, I had no training in PR—and the job was previously done by two people. But it showed confidence in me,” she says.

Similarly, for her job in the trade department, she had to deal with a large number of highly technical trade agreements. “I think in other countries, they find lawyers to do the job,” she says wryly.

The biggest challenge in her current position, she adds, is financial. “Cash flow is a major problem for West Kowloon. We need to rely on property development but there’s a big mismatch: we’ve completed the arts facilities but don’t have a stable income source yet.”

The most rewarding aspect, she adds, has been the opening of the Palace Museum, a project she was involved in initiating back in 2015. But she says she’s proudest of all of her time at the LCSD. “They were amazing years. As head of that department, you can have an impact on the life of ordinary people in Hong Kong. The way you run parks, libraries and cultural and sports facilities really makes a difference.”