Guan Bee Ong
Authors: Jane Parry
Journal: BMJ (2004)

Professor Guan Bee Ong pioneered many surgical procedures that are now standard practice. He was a general surgeon whose innovations spanned several areas, but most notably head and neck surgery. In 1966 he performed Hong Kong's first open heart surgery. He was also distinguished in the fields of liver and biliary tract diseases, oesophageal surgery, and urinary diversion, and he made major advances in the treatment of bladder cancer, such as using a patient's stomach tissue to replace all or part of the bladder. He published more than 250 papers and 10 books and monographs and is credited with putting Hong Kong surgery firmly on the world map.

Former students recall him as a talented but formidable teacher who was not averse to bawling at anyone who did not meet his standards of speed and precision. He saw himself as the guru and his students as disciples. “Although forewarned about his temper, it was still 'fright at first sight'. Surgical training was never a relaxed event when he was by your side,” said Dr Philip Hsieh, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in private practice. Many of the hundreds of doctors he trained went on to become eminent in their chosen fields.

Guan Bee Ong was born into a traditional Chinese family in Sarawak, Malaysia, in 1921. When his father asked him about his career plans he announced that he intended to become an electrical engineer. “No good working for somebody else. You better do medicine,” his father responded. Guan Bee Ong was turned away by Singapore Medical College in April 1940 for logistical reasons, a twist of fate that turned out to be Singapore's loss and Hong Kong's gain. With the second world war raging in Europe he could not go there for training and instead joined the faculty of medicine at the University of Hong Kong in 1940.​1940.




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His studies were thrown into chaos when the Japanese invaded Hong Kong the following year. Together with other Hong Kong students, he sneaked into China and made his way to Shanghai, where he resumed his education in 1942 at the Shanghai Medical College. With the war over in 1947, he returned to Hong Kong and began his internship at Queen Mary Hospital. Over the next 17 years he honed his general surgery skills, obtained fellowships of the royal colleges, and became surgeon-in-charge at Kowloon Hospital from 1957 to 1963. “What impressed me was that at this time he was a great academic surgeon without being labelled as such. It's a lesson to all surgeons that you don't have to be attached to an academic unit to be a good researcher, innovator, and educator,” said Dr Nivritti G Patil, director of the centre for education and training at the department of surgery, University of Hong Kong.

In 1964 Professor Ong was appointed professor of surgery and head of the department at Hong Kong University, the first ethnic Chinese to hold the post. In his 18 years there he gained a reputation as a perfectionist and disciplinarian who “cultivated a spirit of original research endeavours and encouraged innovations in surgery,” said his successor, Professor John Wong. He became emeritus professor of surgery after his retirement in 1982.

He was a member of nearly 30 medical societies and was awarded the honorific title “Tan Sri” by the king of Malaysia. “It was very nice for him to have this recognition but he was very low key about it,” said former student Professor William Wei. “The title he liked the best was always his DSc.”

He leaves a wife, Paula, and his children.

Guan Bee Ong, professor of surgery and head of the department of surgery, faculty of medicine, University of Hong Kong, 1964-82 (b Sarawak, Malaysia (Malaya), 1921; q University of Hong Kong 1947; FRCS, FRCS Ed, OBE), died from cancer on 10 January 2004.