David Akers-Jones

The Honourable Sir David Akers-Jones KBE, CMG, GBM, JP
Acting Governor of Hong Kong
In office 4 December 1986 – 9 April 1987
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Edward Youde
Succeeded by	David Wilson
Chief Secretary
In office 10 June 1985 – 6 December 1986
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor	Edward Youde
Preceded by	Charles Philip Haddon-Cave
Succeeded by	David Robert Ford
Personal details
Born	14 April 1927 (1927-04-14) (age 84) Sussex, England
Alma mater	Brasenose College (MA)

Sir David Akers-Jones, KBE, CMG, GBM, JP (Chinese: 鍾逸傑爵士, born 14 April 1927) was the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1987, and was briefly Acting Governor of Hong Kong.

Biography

He first arrived in Hong Kong as a soldier in January 1945 and began his career in the Hong Kong Government in the summer of 1957.

During his long career, Akers-Jones served in many important posts in the Government of Hong Kong, including Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary, Secretary for the New Territories, which was later retitled as "The Secretary for City and New Territories Administration". He was instrumental in turning small villages into "new towns" in the New Territories teeming with factories, and apartment blocks to resettle slum-dwellers on the hillsides of Hong Kong Island.^[1]

He is credited with the 1972 introduction of the now much derided^{[citation needed]} Small House Policy (SHP) which has transformed villages in the New Territories. Originally conceived as a means of preventing the decay and death of rural communities, this policy allows the sons of indigenous villagers to apply to the Hong Kong Government for a plot of land upon which to build a "small house".^[2]

He was also Secretary for Home Affairs and Chief Secretary.

After the sudden death of Sir Edward Youde, Akers-Jones became Acting Governor of Hong Kong from December 1986 to April 1987. After retiring from the post of Chief Secretary in 1987, he became Special Assistant to the Governor Lord Wilson of Tillyorn for six months. He later became the Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority from 1987 to 1992.

In the years leading up to the transfer of sovereignty from the UK to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997, Akers-Jones was appointed as an Advisor on Hong Kong Issues (港事顧問) to the Government of the PRC from 1993 to 1997.

Sir David Akers-Jones is now retired and lives quietly in Hong Kong. After his retirement, Akers-Jones and his wife bought the dilapidated secluded villa, "Dragon View" in Sham Tseng for $1.5 million. The couple renovated it and worked extensively on the garden. They were served with a compulsory purchase order on 19 October 2000 when it was decided to go ahead with a road widening project.^[3] He is thought to have obtained at least $30 million in compensation.^[4]

Discovery Bay controversy

In 2005, Akers-Jones briefly emerged from retirement to defend, before Hong Kong's Legislative Council, his role in zoning the Discovery Bay resort project on Lantau in the 1970s. Developers were allowed to build there with the stipulation that it would become a resort, but most of the units were later converted into luxury housing. Akers-Jones was involved in the original zoning decision as the then Secretary for the New Territories^[5][6] and some believed that it constituted a sweetheart deal for the developer^{[citation needed]}. With the new Hong Kong Disneyland having opened nearby and property prices having skyrocketed as a result, suspicions about the fact that the original zoning plan was never enforced have again come to the fore. He criticised the decision to call on an elderly man to testify on the matter, which happened some 30 years earlier. However, he revealed that colonial officials had abruptly changed the zoning of the Discovery Bay project, and gave it to new developers because they feared it would fall into the hands of the former Soviet Union.^[5]

Political views

He has criticised Hong Kong's post-colonial government for continuing with the policy of maintaining high property prices, the lack of urban planning, and frequently ill-conceived plans to reclaim land in Victoria Harbour.^[1]

Akers-Jones has advocated converting the current Election Committee into a committee which would nominate suitable candidates for the post of chief executive for election by the public. He further believes in preserving functional constituencies as part of electoral reform, and believes that the constituencies should be turned into an upper house in a bicameral legislature^[7] instead of abolishing them.^[1]

Memoirs

Akers-Jones has recently published a volume of reminiscences, entitled Feeling the Stones and pens the occasional letter to the South China Morning Post. He is also an infrequent columnist there and at The Standard.

Benevolent work

Akers-Jones is involved with, whether in the capacity of chairman, president, vice-president or otherwise, Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation, the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association, the local chapter of Outward Bound, the Hong Kong Football Association, World Wildlife Fund Hong Kong, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation, Operation Smile China^[1] and English Speaking Union (Hong Kong)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Smith, Patrick L. (19 March 2007). "In Hong Kong, a man who stayed on for love". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/19/news/hong.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007. 
2. ^ Meeting of the Panel on Planning, Lands and Works on 28 February 2006
3. ^ Luk, Helen (6 November 2000). "Road to tears for ex-colonial chief". Hong Kong Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=27954&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20001106&sear_year=2000. Retrieved 28 March 2007. 
4. ^ Cheung, Jimmy (13 June 1997). "Sir David's home on road to ruin". Hong Kong Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=11010&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19970613&sear_year=1997. Retrieved 28 March 2007. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Murphy, Colum (13 January 2005). "Spy fear led to Disco Bay". Hong Kong Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=1369&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20050113&sear_year=2005. Retrieved 28 March 2007. 
6. ^ Ng, Michael (19 May 2005). "Disco Bay fiasco won't be repeated". Hong Kong Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=8170&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20050519&sear_year=2005. Retrieved 28 March 2007. 
7. ^ Wong, Albert (31 July 2006). "Election Committee key to suffrage plan". Hong Kong Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=23976&sid=9068227&con_type=1&d_str=20060731&sear_year=2006. Retrieved 28 March 2007. 

References

• Sir David Akers-Jones (2004). Feeling the Stones: Reminiscences by David Akers-Jones. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962-209-655-7. 
• AKERS-JONES, Sir David International Who's Who. accessed 3 September 2006.

Government offices
New office	Secretary for the New Territories 1974–1981	Succeeded by Himself as Secretary for Home Affairs
Preceded by Himself as Secretary for the New Territories	Secretary for Home Affairs 1981–1985	Succeeded by Donald Liao
Preceded by Sir Charles Philip Haddon-Cave	Chief Secretary of Hong Kong 1985–1987	Succeeded by Sir David Robert Ford
Preceded by Sir Edward Youde	President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Acting 1986–1987	Succeeded by Sir David Wilson
	Governor of Hong Kong Acting 1986–1987
Order of precedence
Preceded by Elsie Leung Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal	Hong Kong order of precedence Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal	Succeeded by Chang-Lin Tien Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal

Persondata
Name	Akers-Jones, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 April 1927
Place of birth	Sussex, England
Date of death
Place of death