Lily Kwan was born in Hong Kong in 1947, the fourth of six children. She attended
Sacred Heart Canossian College until 1964, and later graduated from the
University of Hong Kong in 1969 with a BA in English Language and Literature. After her marriage, she was known as
Lily Yam. She joined the Hong Kong Government as an Administrative Officer upon her graduation in the same year. She has served in various departments and bureaux in her civil service career, including the
ICAC, the
Education and Manpower Branch of the Government Secretariat, the
Civil Service Branch of the Government Secretariat, the
Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority, the
Central Policy Unit and the Secretariat for the Standing Commission on
Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service. Before taking up her appointment as the Commissioner for the
Independent Commission Against Corruption in April 1997, she was
Commissioner for Transport between 1995 and 1997. She headed the
Environment and Food Bureau (which was later merged with the Health and Welfare Bureau to form the
Health, Welfare and Food Bureau in 2002) between January 2000 and June 2002, when she retired. She was awarded the
Gold Bauhinia Star (G.B.S.) in 2002 and appointed as Non-official
Justices of the Peace in 2003. ==Education==