Prof. Samuel Sun, professor of biology, and Ms. Yu Chui-yee, freshman in the Department of Geography and Resource Management of Chung Chi College, have been named 2005 Leaders of the Year by the Singtao Group. Attending the awards ceremony on 28th March at the Grand Hyatt were Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Rafael Hui, Chief Secretary for Administration, Henry Tang, Financial Secretary, and Michael Suen, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands.
2005 Leader of the Year, the 12th since the award's inception, was held by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited. The aim is to recognize and encourage the achievements of individuals in Hong Kong who have made outstanding contributions to Hong Kong's success and prosperity, thereby linking the territory to China and the rest of the world. The five categories of the award are finance, business, community/public affairs, education/research, and sports/culture/performing arts. Prof. Samuel Sun and Ms. Yu Chui-yee were respectively awardees of the latter two categories.
Prof. Sun obtained his B.Sc. from CUHK in 1966, his M.Sc. from HKU in 1971, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974. In 1980, he joined ARCO Plant Cell Research Institute as principal scientist, later becoming director. He taught for eight years at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and joined CUHK in 1995.
In 1980, Prof. Sun became the first scientist in the world to clone a plant gene, which he did with phaseolin. Later he succeeded in raising the level of amino acid in seed protein using genetic transfer. In 1988, he and his team cloned a pest-resistant gene Arcelin.
In 1999, Prof. Sun was allocated HK$38 million by the University Grants Committee to conduct an Area of Excellence research project on 'Plant and Fungal Biotechnology'. The project spanned 20 laboratories and lasted five years. In 2001, Prof. Sun was elected academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Ms. Yu Chui-yee, Paralympics Wheelchair Fencing gold medallist, underwent left shin amputation at 13 after she was diagnosed as suffering from bone cancer. She began learning wheelchair fencing in 2000 and in 2001, represented Hong Kong for the first time in the Lonato Wheelchair Fencing World Cup from which she came away with two silver medals. Later in the year, she won one gold and one silver in the Fifth Budapest International Wheelchair Fencing Competition. She was Scholarship Athlete of Hong Kong Sports Institute in 2002. Ms. Yu went on to win some 20 more gold or silver medals in her career, including four gold in the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, and two gold and one silver in the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in 2006. She is currently ranked No. 1 for Women's Individual Epee and No. 2 for Women's Individual Foil.