Kan was born on 26 July 1913 in Hong Kong to a wealthy family which is descended from Shunde, Canton.

His youngest brother, Professor Yuet-Wai Kan (簡悅威), is a notable American physician who was awarded the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine in 2004.

During his tenure, the Council expanded rapidly and had set up new offices in Frankfurt, Vienna, Tokyo, Amsterdam, etc.

On the other hand, the Council tied up closer relationship with Japan by setting up a new office in Osaka in 1979 and establishing an Economic Cooperation Committee with the Japanese government.

[citation needed] As early as 1957, Kan was appointed as a councillor of the Urban Council and served as a member of the government's Public Service Commission from July 1959 to June 1961.

However, when the fare increase was announced by the government, it resulted in a general dissidence from the grass roots community as the Star Ferry was the only major cross-harbour public transportation at that time.

[7][8] As the Cultural Revolution had just commenced, the political situations of both Hong Kong and mainland China became increasingly unstable.

He made a keynote speech in the Legislative Council, insisting those bombers be brought to justice and even death sentence for serious offences.

Kan was knighted in the 1972 New Year Honours,[12] and travelled to Buckingham Palace to receive the accolade in July.

To solve the problem, the government appointed Sir Yuet Keung as the first ever chairman of the Consumer Council in the history of Hong Kong.

In March 1979, he accompanied then-governor Sir Murray MacLehose to pay a secret visit to Beijing, where both of them had a meeting with Deng Xiaoping.

After the visit, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE),[17] and retired from the Executive Council in 1980, choosing to fade out from the politics of Hong Kong.