Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Chief Alfred Chan Cheung-ming has found himself amid controversy over allegedly supervising a student for her PhD thesis for Philippines' Tarlac State University, while he was a professor at Lingnan University, Apple Daily reported.

Lingnan University told Apple Daily that when a professor supervises a PhD at another university, it is commonly seen as something that needs to be reported. However, it had no record that Chan reported the case to Lingnan.

A statement released by the EOC at 10pm on Monday said: "With regards to not immediately reporting to Lingnan University about the matter, Professor Albert Chan Cheung-ming sincerely apologises."

Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong told Apple Daily: "He couldn't even say clearly whether he reported the matter or not. It's his first day at work and he's already lost public confidence. He should think about resigning. What he is doing is very serious, even if it is a school, you will receive punishment for doing external work."

This controversy came after Chan's predecessor, York Chow Yat-ngok, re-iterated his belief that Hong Kong's current laws do not protect LGBT and said that Chan was mistaken in thinking that they did.

Chan had said that the current laws were enough to protect the rights of sexual minorities. "If a sexual minority is being publicly insulted, this kind of behaviour could constitute an offence," he said in an interview with Ming Pao.

Chow retorted later that week by saying, "I've already made it clear that the current laws are insufficient to protect sexual minorities against discrimination."