Bernard Charnwut Chan

Bernard Charnwut Chan GBS JP is a Hong Kong politician and businessman, born in 1965 in Hong Kong with family roots in Chaoyang, Guangdong (Chinese: 陳智思, also known by his Thai name Charnwut Sophonpanich^[1]),^[2] He is the grandson of Chin Sophonpanich, the late Thai Chinese founder of Bangkok Bank.^[3] He graduated from The Hill School in 1983 and Pomona College in 1988 with a BA in Studio Art. He is an investor in Thailand's Bumrungrad International Hospital.^[4] He is married and has two children.

He is a member of the Executive Council. He was a member of the Legislative Council (Legco) from 1998 to 2008. He became a Hong Kong Deputy to National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China in 2008.^[5] He chairs several government advisory bodies: the Advisory Committee on Revitalizing Historical Buildings, the Standing Committee on Judicial Salaries and Condition of Services and the Hong Kong Council for Sustainable Development. He chaired the Antiquities Advisory Board from 2009–2013 and the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Condition of Services from 2001–2006.^[6]

Outside politics, he is President of Asia Financial Holdings and its main subsidiary, Asia Insurance.^[7] Among his business successes are the formation in 1999 of Bank Consortium Trust, a joint venture of nine Hong Kong institutions that provides Mandatory Provident Fund services and of which he was founding chairman. He is also Chairman of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Chair of the Hong Kong-Thailand Business Council, Chairman of the Council of Lingnan University and Vice-Chairman of Oxfam Hong Kong; he is also chairman of the annual HK Oxfam Trailwalker event – a fund-raising 100-kilometre race that attracts teams from around the world.^[8] He played a part in the creation of Caring Company, a framework that creates partnerships between the business and welfare sectors. Chan has been awarded Commander (third class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand,^[9] the Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) and Justice of the Peace (JP).

He is a citizen of China and has previously also held American and Thai citizenship.^[10][11]

Family

In 2011, Chan's wife Yeo Peck Leng founded an "alternative" private primary school, the Almitas Academy, with the couple's two sons as the only pupils. A year later the strongly Christian school, which operates in a commercial building in North Point, had 12 pupils aged from six to 12, about a third of whom have special needs. The academy works closely with parents to nurture their children to their fullest potential. Effective 1 January 2013, the academy changed its status to a not for profit organisation and also took the opportunity to change the English name of the school to Grace Christian Academy.

References

External links

• Official website