SHE HAS BEEN DUBBED the 'Emily Lau of the Hospital Authority'. In recent years, it has been an open secret that government high-flier Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has had some sharp exchanges with Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, who headed the authority until last September.
As deputy secretary for the treasury, she saw it as her job to promote value for money. This meant trying to ensure that taxpayers' money pumped into the authority - of which she was a board member by virtue of her Finance Bureau post - was spent as efficiently as possible.
And it was her diligence in scrutinising the statutory body's spending, as well as her insistence on attending most, if not all, of its meetings, that led some in the Chinese-language media to compare her with Ms Lau, one of Hong Kong's most-outspoken legislators.
Her trouble-shooter image was further fostered by her sharp criticism of the authority's slow progress in improving its information technology system, even after the funds to do this had been approved by the Government. The authority eventually set up a special taskforce, headed by former Hongkong Bank chairman John Strickland, to investigate the issue last year.
But now Ms Lam, who next month will take over as Director of Social Welfare, appears keen to play down her past differences with Dr Yeoh - scarcely surprising as Dr Yeoh, who is now the Secretary for Health and Welfare, will be her immediate boss.
Asked about speculation that their past differences might make it difficult for her to forge a partnership with Dr Yeoh, Ms Lam insisted she was confident they could co-operate well. 'I think that has been exaggerated. In different positions, we have different roles and responsibilities. Eventually the ultimate goal is still to serve the community. E K [Yeoh] and I share the same mission and vision in improving welfare services,' she said, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
