ABOUT THIS BOOK

A memoir from a medical hero and political advisor who faced immense public and personal challenges during SARS and the COVID-19 pandemic.

From humble beginnings in Hong Kong, Yuen Kwok-Yung rose to international prominence as a doctor, surgeon, academic, and microbiologist. As an advisor to governments, he and colleagues made discoveries that helped the world cope with unprecedented threats to public health, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In this compelling memoir, Dr. Yuen weaves personal stories with those from his extraordinary medical career to take readers on an inspiring journey about perseverance, courage, faith, and the ongoing peril of infectious diseases.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Yuen Kwok-Yung(袁國勇), Henry Fok Professor and Chair in Infectious Diseases of the Department of Microbiology at The University of Hong Kong, is a physician, virologist, microbiologist, and medical and scientific researcher. He has published extensively on microbes and emerging infectious diseases. His team attended to the first SARS patients and isolated the virus from their clinical specimens in 2003, and in 2020, Yuen Kwok-Yung led the team to discover the person-to-person transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2005, he was appointed by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China to serve as the founding co-director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at HKU, China’s first State Key Laboratory outside the mainland.

REVIEWS

“This autobiography and lesson on medical ethics reveals how Professor Yuen has strived and overcome many adversities to complete his university education and work as a doctor in a public hospital, how fate has made him turn to an academic career and paved the way for him to become a clinician scientist to pursue research. With his curiosity, talents, perseverance, devotion, and excellent leadership he has made his team the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ for emerging infectious diseases. I must say he was the right person at the right time and the right place.

Despite his lifelong outstanding achievements, he is a modest person, well aware of his own shortcomings and attributes most of the credit to his teammates.”

—Professor Rosie Young Tse-Tse, former pro-vice-chancellor and senior pro-vice-chancellor, The University of Hong Kong

“Professor Yuen’s excellence as physician, surgeon, clinical scientist, and public health advisor has culminated in his crowning achievement—the body of research on H5N1 influenza which helped so much to contain the SARS virus outbreak and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

K.Y. has given us his life story—a fascinating and instructive journey in overcoming hardships, challenges, and vicissitudes. This autobiography will educate readers in humanity, dedication, and unwavering devotion to hard but important work, both within the medical profession and Hong Kong’s wider community.”

—Professor Richard Yu Yue-Hong, former president and senior advisor, The Hong Kong College of Physicians

“For the many admirers of Professor Yuen Kwok-Yung, this book helps us understand what made him the brilliant scientist, the popular communicator, the motivating leader, the inspiring teacher, the devoted doctor, the devout Christian, and most importantly the loving person. His life story is that of a most representative son of Hong Kong, whose decades of hard work have earned him the respect and trust of the worldwide medical fraternity. His thirst to learn every step along the way has turned what to others might have been negative impediments to positive energy, achievement, and influence. How can we not be touched by his description of his childhood, his relationship with his family, his recollection of his patients, and his recognition for the value of constructive dissent? And we will aways remember his invaluable advice, ‘We must live wisely and fully before our deaths to make life meaningful’.”

—Mrs. Selina Chow Liang Shuk-Yee, media expert and former Legislative and Executive Councillor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Professor David D. Ho ix
Preface xi
Life’s twists and turns take you to unimagined places
A Note on Romanization xiv
Chapter 1: Tiger Mom 1
Growing up poor, happy, and loved in cramped Hong Kong
Chapter 2: Mulberry Silkworm 10
A primary education of curiosity, reward, adventure, and growth
Chapter 3: Queen’s College 14
Exploring the galaxy and a magical world of ideas
Chapter 4: Searching for Bearings 23
Entering medical school and confronting challenges
Chapter 5: Distinction Viva 31
Learning the science and art of healing while making lifelong friends
Chapter 6: Living and Dying 39
Internship joy and heartache: Saving the ill, losing those you cannot
Chapter 7: United Christians 45
Internal medicine and Christianity: Duty calls and needy cases
Chapter 8: Operating Room 52
Scalpels and sutures: Putting lives back together again
Chapter 9: Patient Stories 60
Diagnosing, healing, and comforting: Days in the life of a clinician
Chapter 10: Ultimate Reality 66
Searching for a heart of wisdom
Chapter 11: Louisa 73
Nightmares, love, music, and back to Queen Mary
Chapter 12: Global Studies 86
Learning in the lab and around the world
Chapter 13: Detective Stories 95
Five cases: Finding clues, identifying suspects, solving mysteries
Chapter 14: Our Legacies 109
Looking back to see the way forward and focus on a mission
Chapter 15: SARS-CoV-1 121
Finding a new virus in the battle against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Chapter 16: Time Bomb 133
The perils for people from the animal kingdom
Chapter 17: Novel Microbes 145
Probing into the world of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites
Chapter 18: Rest in Peace 163
Remembering lives and deaths in the family
Chapter 19: COVID-19 167
A new virus, a new disease, and a response focused on containment
Chapter 20: The Fifth Wave 179
From zero-COVID to living-with-the-virus
Chapter 21: Moving On 191
Coping with adversities and building a global research network
Epilogue 206
Sapientia et Virtus
Acknowledgments 211
Appendix: Response to the Medical Council Complaint 215
References 236
About the Author 250