The man who lost the race to become NUS law school’s dean has got the top job at the University of Hong Kong’s law school. Michael Hor Yew Meng will take up the post in July.He was named as one of the two possible successors in 2009 by the then NUS law dean, Tan Cheng Han. The other was John Phillips.
Two years ago, out of the blue, the university appointed an Australian, Simon Chesterman, to run the school. Chesterman is the son-in-law of President Tony Tan.
Hor told the South China Morning Post: “Essential to any faculty, indeed any university of any note, is the protection of the freedom of thought and conscience, of speech and expression, of assembly and association, and with it the freedom of academic endeavour.
Hor told the South China Morning Post: “Essential to any faculty, indeed any university of any note, is the protection of the freedom of thought and conscience, of speech and expression, of assembly and association, and with it the freedom of academic endeavour.
“In meeting the many challenges that will inevitably be faced, there will be different views and positions held in good faith.
“The key is to encourage all opinions to be aired and debated, and ultimately to reach a decision on the primary basis of what is in the best interests not of particular persons or groups or institutions, but of Hong Kong itself.”
HKU vice-chancellor Professor Tsui Lap-chee described Hor as an “inspiring and passionate teacher”.
Tsui said the university decided on him after two rounds of a worldwide search.
Hor read law at the National University of Singapore, followed by Bachelor of Civil Law studies at Oxford University. He also holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Chicago