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A Special General Meeting was held at the Room S421, L4, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong at 6:30pm on Wednesday, 24 August 2022.
The President, Ir Edwin CHUNG Kwok Fai, having ascertained that a quorum of 60 Members was present, called the Special General Meeting to order.
Before the President proceeded to the items on the agenda, he reminded Corporate Members that voting for the re-election of incumbent Vice Presidents and the election of a new Vice President shall close promptly at 7:30pm. The President also requested members not to enter or leave this room when the voting for the motions of the Special General Meeting was in progress.
The President then asked the Chief Executive and Secretary to read out the Notice of the Meeting. The Chief Executive and Secretary confirmed that the Notice to members had been distributed in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution. The Chief Executive and Secretary stated that the Special General Meeting was convened to consider proposals recommended by the Council to amend the Constitution to take effect after the close of the 47th Annual General Meeting.
Motion 1
On the invitation of the President, the Chief Executive and Secretary highlighted the main points of Motion 1, which was on the adoption of virtual meeting and electronic voting for Council meetings, General Meetings and election voting as and when situation demands. These changes included amendments to Definition of the Constitution and Article 18, and adding a new Article 25A. These amendments were to add new definitions to four terms, viz “Electronic Facility”, “Electronic Voting Facility”, “place” and “virtual meeting”; and to add provisions to empower the Council to change Council meetings to virtual ones to deal with eventualities and decide for holding virtual General Meetings (AGM or SGM) and hence e-voting for the election that takes place on the same date of AGM, under exceptional circumstances and with three-fourths of the valid votes in favour of the decision.
The President then invited questions from members on the proposed Constitutional amendments. Mr Raymond CHAN, Honorary Legal Adviser of the Institution, and members of the Task Force on the Feasibility of Adopting e-Voting and Holding Virtual and Hybrid Meetings, were invited to answer any questions which might arise.
Noting that there were no questions from the floor, the President proposed and seconded by Ir Kelvin TANG Sher Kin that Motion 1 be adopted. The Motion was then put to vote by show of hands and the President declared that the Motion was carried unanimously.
Motion 2
The Chief Executive and Secretary then highlighted the main points of Motion 2, which was on the means of attendance at, participation in and voting at regular meetings of Divisions and Committees. These changes involved amending Article 19 to add provisions to allow Divisions and Committees flexibility to conduct their regular meetings via electronic means.
The President then invited questions from members on the proposed Constitutional amendments.
Ir LAM Yik Chong enquired about upon passing of the Motion, whether voting at the virtual meetings could be made outside Hong Kong.
The Chief Executive and Secretary responded that voting at virtual meeting was prescribed to be conducted through the Electronic Voting Facility and that only votes cast by persons present within the geographical boundaries of Hong Kong shall be considered as validly cast. The restriction was to ensure that the meeting and voting protocols would not deviate from that of the Constitution as a matter of principle. Any suggestion for amending such principle could be taken up as part of the review on governance which would be undertaken later.
The President then proposed and seconded by Ir Prof LAM Cheuk Fung that Motion 2 be adopted. The Motion was then put to vote by show of hands and the President declared that the Motion was carried unanimously.
The President declared that Motions 1 and 2 were approved in accordance with the Constitution and the amendments were to take effect after the close of the 47th Annual General Meeting.
There being no other business, the President declared the Special General Meeting closed at 6:41pm.
Members attending the Special General Meeting
Members voting for the motion at the Special General Meeting
The 47th Annual General Meeting was held at Room S421, L4, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong at 7:00pm on Wednesday, 24 August 2022.
47.0 Official opening of the 47th Annual General Meeting
The President, Ir Edwin CHUNG Kwok Fai, having ascertained that a quorum of 60 Corporate Members was present, called the 47th Annual General Meeting to order.
The President then asked the Chief Executive and Secretary to read out the Notice of the Meeting. The Chief Executive and Secretary confirmed that the Notice to members had been distributed in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, which should be taken as read.
47.1 Confirmation of the Minutes of the 46th Annual General Meeting
Ir Edwin CHUNG Kwok Fai, the President, proposed that the Minutes of the 46th Annual General Meeting held on Monday, 28 June 2021, printed in the August 2021 issue of the Hong Kong Engineer be adopted as a true record. This was seconded by Ir Edmund LEUNG Kwong Ho. The motion was carried.
47.2 Audited Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2022
The President stated that copies of the accounts had been sent to members in compliance with the Constitution and invited the Chief Executive and Secretary to highlight the main points on the Statement of Accounts. The Chief Executive and Secretary reported that the Institution continued to sustain a healthy financial and cash position with a surplus of HKD2.9 million for the financial year ending 31 March 2022. The income for the year was about 91% of the budgeted income (or HKD6 million less than that budgeted). The expenses had been closely monitored, which were around 78.2% of the budgeted expenditure for the year (or HKD16.1 million less than that budgeted). The reduction in income and expenditure was mainly due to cancellation and deferral of various planned events under the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The net assets had shown a steady and healthy growth and a 2.3% growth was recorded for the year under review. Regarding the Benevolent Fund of the Institution, the surplus for the year was HKD76,300 and the accumulation was HKD4.36 million.
Ir Dr LO Wai Kwok then proposed and Ir Jenny YEUNG Fei seconded the motion that the audited Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2022 be adopted. The motion was carried.
47.3 Appointment of the Auditor for 2022/2023
On the recommendation of the Council, Ir Kelvin TANG Sher Kin proposed and Ir LEE Ping Kuen seconded the motion that Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu be re-appointed as the Auditor of the Institution for 2022/2023. The motion was carried.
47.4 Annual Report for Session 2021/2022
The President said that the Annual Report for Session 2021/2022 had been sent to members and he highlighted the Institution’s achievements in the following main areas: development of the HKIE Time-to-Change Roadmap, pursuing digitalisation, fostering social media communities and enhancing the profession’s image, engaging with the Mainland partners as well as contributing views and suggestions on topical issues to the Administration.
On the invitation of the President, Vice President Ir Aaron BOK Kwok Ming briefed members on the work of the Administration Board and Ir Dr Barry LEE Chi Hong briefed members on the work of the Qualification & Membership Board and also the Learned Society Board on behalf of Ir Eric MA Siu Cheung in this Session.
Ir Prof LAM Cheuk Fung then proposed and Ir Michelle TANG Ming Sum seconded the motion that the Annual Report for Session 2021/2022 be adopted. The motion was carried.
47.5 Re-election of the incumbent Vice Presidents as Vice Presidents
and
47.6 Election of a new Vice President nominated by the Council
The President stated that in accordance with the Constitution, the incumbent Vice Presidents shall normally be re-elected for up to two further consecutive years provided that the total period of service as Vice President shall not exceed three consecutive years. The two incumbent Vice Presidents were Ir Dr Barry LEE Chi Hong and Ir Eric MA Siu Cheung.
The President then announced that the Council had nominated in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Constitution, Ir Alice CHOW Kin Tak as candidate for election as a new Vice President.
(Post-meeting note: The voting results, having been checked and scrutinised by the Scrutineers, Ir Edward CHAN Sai Cheong, Ir Prof Joseph CHI Wuh Jian, Ir LEUNG Chun Sing, Ir LIU Sing Pang, Ir Ken WONG Hei Long, and Mr Daniel YIP Toa Sun were as follows:
For the re-election of the incumbent Vice Presidents
Incumbent Vice President
Ir Dr Barry LEE Chi Hong
Voting result:
Total no. of valid votes : 521
Total no. of invalid votes : 13
Total no. of ballot papers : 534
| Support | Against |
| 472 | 49 |
Incumbent Vice President
Ir Eric MA Siu Cheung
Voting result:
Total no. of valid votes : 522
Total no. of invalid votes : 12
Total no. of ballot papers : 534
| Support | Against |
| 468 | 54 |
The two incumbent Vice Presidents, Ir Dr Barry LEE Chi Hong and Ir Eric MA Siu Cheung, were duly re-elected.
For the election of a new Vice President
Candidate
Ir Alice CHOW Kin Tak
Voting results:
Total no. of valid votes : 522
Total no. of invalid votes : 12
Total no. of ballot papers : 534
| Support | Against |
| 494 | 28 |
Ir Alice CHOW Kin Tak was declared duly elected as the new Vice President.)
47.7 Election of Elected Ordinary Members of the Council
The President announced that there were five candidates for the five vacancies of Elected Ordinary Members of the Council. The Meeting was informed that as the number of candidates for election as Elected Ordinary Members for Session 2022/2023 was the same as the number of vacancies, in accordance with Article 16(j)(iv) of the Constitution, a ballot was not required to be held for their election and the five candidates were deemed elected at the Annual General Meeting. The President then announced the names of the five candidates in order of their poll numbers as follows:
Ir Prof Christopher CHAO Yu Hang
Ir TSE Lok Him
Ir William LUK Wai Lam
Ir Prof Ken HO
Ir KWOK Wai Shun
47.8 Election of the President for Session 2022/2023 by the Council
The President announced that in accordance with the Constitution, the Council had elected Ir Aaron BOK Kwok Ming as the President for Session 2022/2023.
47.9 Installation of incoming President
The President was pleased to install the incoming President Ir Aaron BOK Kwok Ming and passed onto him the Medal of Office.
47.10 Presentation of Past President’s Medallion
Ir Aaron BOK Kwok Ming, the newly installed President, handed the Past President Medallion to the Immediate Past President, Ir Edwin CHUNG Kwok Fai. Ir Aaron BOK Kwok Ming then delivered a speech to members.
Ir BOK stated that it was truly his honour to have been elected as the President for Session 2022/2023. In the year ahead, Ir BOK had chosen “Commitment to Change – Boosting Professionalism We are Proud to be Engineers” (香港工程師學會—專業維新 以工程師為傲) as the theme of his Presidency. To enhance the image of the engineering profession, he had commissioned a golden pin featuring the theme of the Session – Proud to be Engineers for members to wear. Ir BOK highlighted some of his work plan for the year ahead, which included urging the government to review its procurement policy to ensure more reasonable bids get accepted; inviting Divisions and Committees to contribute newspaper articles or produce YouTube videos to showcase contributions and asking spokespersons to give media interviews to provide professional views; hosting “Hong Kong Engineers Week 2023”; enhancing School Ambassador Programme and introducing initiatives to promote STEM to primary and secondary schools.
He appealed to members to find the right gear to overcome any challenges and make a successful journey with our combined passion, creativity and determination and make everyone feel proud to be Engineers.
There being no other business, Ir Edwin CHUNG Kwok Fai declared the 47th Annual General Meeting closed at 7:40pm.
Members casting their votes to show support to the Institution on this important annual event
Ir Aaron K M Bok at the Annual General Meeting
Members attending the Annual General Meeting
Ir Hon Chi-keung, Chief Executive and Secretary of the HKIE (2nd right) reporting to members on the Statement of Accounts at the Meeting
Members voting for the motion
Ir Aaron K M Bok (R), the newly-installed President and Ir Edwin K F Chung (L), the Immediate Past President
Members congratulating Ir Aaron K M Bok on his presidency of the HKIE
Photo with the newly-installed President after the Annual General Meeting
A group photo of the Council Members for Session 2022/2023 was taken at their first meeting on Thursday, 15 September 2022.
Note: Ir Prof Thomas Chan, Ir Donny Chan, Ir Alice Chow, Mr Thomas Lam, Ir Alexis Lee, Ir Horace Lee, Ir Rupert Leung, Ir Leung Yiu-hong, Ir Eric Ma, Ir David Wong and Ir Prof P L Yuen were not available for the photo session. Ir Antonio Chan and Ir The Hon Gary Zhang were appointed after the photo session.
The Construction Dispute Resolution Committee (CDRC) has organised a one-day international conference “Adopting Dispute Resolution Mechanism for the Construction Industry in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area” on 16 August 2022, which attracted a total registrations of over 150 physically and 500 online. This is one of the successful flagship events in difficult circumstance of almost two and a half years of COVID-19 pandemic, and a first of its kind by the CDRC since its relatively recent establishment in mid-2018.
Despite the industry is moving towards collaborative contracting through adoption of New Engineering Contracts (NEC), the conference came timely to respond to the escalating demand for dispute resolution amidst the current fast-paced transformation into modular construction and digitalisation especially given that many contracts still adopt the General Condition of Contract (GCC) formats written over 20 years ago for building works and civil engineering works.
To highlight the importance of the topic, the conference was graced by the presence of Ir Ricky Lau, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), as the Guest of Honour together with Ir Edwin Chung, President of HKIE for Session 2021/2022, and keynote speeches delivered by Mr Rimsky Yuen, former Secretary for Justice and Ir Dr The Hon W K Lo, the Legislative Councillor for the Engineering Functional Constituency.
The conference gathered seven profound international speakers from China, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States and Hong Kong. These legal and engineering professionals with experience as practising arbitrator and adjudicator delivered a wide spectrum of topics from lessons learnt in dealing with unforeseen and unprecedented contractual impacts, to comparison of dispute resolution mechanisms across different contract formats, and to the international trend in relevant laws.
One of the biggest steps for Hong Kong to catch the trend is the introduction of the Security of Payment (SOP) Legislation to safeguard the rights for timely receipt of payment by contracting parties. In fact, a SOP framework has been effected in early 2022, through which an adjudication system has been established. The Institution is delighted to have become one of the four professional organisations admitted to the Register of Adjudicator Nominating Bodies to support the implementation of SOP provisions in works contracts. Besides raising our members’ awareness, the CDRC is also training up members to be adjudicators.
The CDRC will continue to develop programmes to promote knowledge sharing of the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the construction sector. In particular, two halfday seminars will be held in November 2022 and March 2023 respectively. The international conference in August, and the two upcoming seminars are all initiatives supported by funding from the Professional Services Advancement Support Scheme (PASS) of the HKSAR Government.