 An engineer by profession, he is able to speak Cantonese and Mandarin fluently and was a board member of the Shaughnessy Heights Property Owners' Association for five years between 2001 and 2006.He was the chair of the Vancouver board of variance.In September 2009 he was accused by Ray Tomlin, a member of the Vancouver Board of Variance who subsequently fired after the making the allegation, of violating the Vancouver Charter by holding meetings in private.