Page 71 - HKU Surgery 110 Anniversary E-Book

Chapter III. Putting Hong Kong Surgery on the World Map

GB Ong’s Life and Legacy

Professor Tan Sri Guan Bee Ong, OBE, PSm DSc, came to HKU from Sarawak,
Malaysia at the age of 19 after being rejected by Singapore Medical College. It was
1940, the eve of war, and it would take seven years for him to complete his studies
– he fled to Chongqing to continue his studies there, where he met his wife Dr
Christina Chow, then returned to Hong Kong to sit the MBBS exam in 1947. He
and his wife were among nine of the 22 candidates to pass.

Before joining HKU in 1964, Ong had been House Officer at Queen Mary Hospital
under Professors Gray and Stock, became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of
London and Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, published papers in the Hong
Kong Chinese Medical Association bulletin on appendicitis and the surgical treatment
of oesophageal cancer 11,12 , and received a Harkness Commonwealth University
fellowship, which allowed him to study at Massachusetts General Hospital. From
1957-63, he was Surgeon-in-Charge at Kowloon Hospital, where he also worked with
Professors Stock, Hodgson and Fang on the anterior approach to spinal tuberculosis.

Throughout his career, Ong published more than 250 papers and 10 books and
monographs . Apart from his work on spinal tuberculosis, he made a name
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for himself in several areas – surgical treatment of oesophageal carcinoma that
involved forming a new oesophagus from the greater curvature of the stomach ;
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the transsphenoidal approach to the pituitary gland; the transhiatal dissection of
the oesophagus and oesophagogastric anastomoses in the neck; and the Roux-en-Y
choledochojejunostomy.

In 1970, Ong became the first HKU graduate to deliver a Hunterian Lecture at the
Royal College of Surgeons of England, on “Colocystoplasty for Bladder Carcinoma
after Radical Total Cystectomy”. He also received many awards and other honours
locally and internationally for his contributions and became Professor Emeritus
on his retirement in 1982. He was honoured with a Festschrift in 2002 and passed
away in 2004.

To commemorate Professor Tan Sri GB Ong’s retirement from the Chair of Surgery,
the GB Ong Fund was established to support educational and training activities.
It supports the GB Ong Travelling Fellowship, the GB Ong Visiting Professorship,
and the GB Ong Visiting Fellowship in Surgery.

The young John Wong (top) observing Professor GB Ong in action.
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