 Nominated by the FTU, then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal, the highest honour in Hong Kong, to Yeung for his "outstanding contribution to the labour movement and labour welfare in Hong Kong and for his dedicated community service" in 2001.The award ceremony was held on 13 October 2001, and controversy immediately rose after the announcement, with many people believing that Tung, who was seeking re-election at the time, was pandering to the FTU, which is an important bloc of vote in the unique Chief Executive election system in Hong Kong.Yeung had in 1996 and 2002 sat on the Election Committee that elected Tung as Chief Executive.