It has been my great honour to have served as the Founding Chairman of the Estate Agents Authority during the past six years. In these years I witnessed the professionalisation of the estate agency trade, and participated in the formulation of all major policies and measures that facilitated this process. With the industry now securely anchored to a sounder professional foundation and making progress at an assured pace, I believe it is time for me to hand over the reins.

The estate agency industry was in a state of primeval chaos before the establishment of the Estate Agents Authority (EAA). It was a time when everyone who had a mind to it could style himself as an estate agent, whether he had any knowledge of property transactions or a sense of responsibility towards his clients being quite beside the point. In the eyes of many, including the majority of those in the trade, an estate agent was not above a mere intermediary in a property transaction and his sole duty was to bring the vendor and the purchaser to an agreement. Since there were neither entrance requirements nor a legislatively prescribed regulatory mechanism, the presence of some undesirable practitioners and practices had become inevitable, while the interests of consumers were often at stake. In response to this situation the Government passed the Estate Agents Ordinance in 1997 after a long legislative process with extensive consultation and caused the EAA to be formed.

A new, professional image has gradually emerged among practitioners since the Estate Agents Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation came into force. The licence is now granted only upon successfully passing of qualifying examinations, the conduct of business is subject to a systematic set of compliance rules, and consumers who find themselves shortchanged by their estate agents may lodge their complaints through an equitable redress system. For the enhancement of practitioner standards, efforts are now being made for a Continuing Professional Development programme to be introduced. The EAA has certainly won credibility in the community at large, and the social status of the trade is also on the rise as practitioners are gradually being recognised as professionals by their fellow-citizens. I am much gratified by these developments.

Estate agency is no doubt a professional calling, in which its practitioners serve their clients with professional skills and judgement. An inadequately equipped practitioner will perform miserably, especially in an age when advanced information technology reigns supreme and no one may rely on antiquated concepts and outmoded techniques for business success.

In closing, I would like to share with our readers a well-known quotation from the I Ching (易經）. "Heaven, in its motion, gives the idea of strength. The superior man, in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity."* Nature has ordained an Order for all things and events, and for this Order to function effectively human efforts are all-important. We must work energetically to cultivate the will and the means with which we may achieve our goals and renew our lives in a constant manner.

Estate agency in Hong Kong has entered a new era, and it is very much to be hoped that all concerned will develop new concepts and ideas to meet the changes of the times.

*From the James Legge translation of the I Ching, 1899.