Residents visited three community halls across Hong Kong to pay tribute to the city’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, bringing flowers and writing heartfelt messages in public condolence books on Friday.
The arrangements came ahead of a vigil on Saturday and a state funeral on Sunday honouring Tung, who died aged 89 on September 8.
“Tung’s contribution to Hong Kong is conspicuous and his death made everyone sad,” said Peggy Lam Pei Yu-dja, a former member of the nation’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who paid tribute at the Moreton Terrace Activities Centre in Causeway Bay in the morning.
“He was not only our first chief executive, but also a leader in the business sector, the political sector and for all Hong Kong people.”
Tung was appointed a vice-chairman of the CPPCC after stepping down as city leader in 2005, midway through his second term.
Lam, a former chairwoman of Wan Chai district council, recalled her experience working with Tung at the CPPCC, as well as the unwavering support of Tung’s wife, Betty Tung Chiu Hung-ping, when Lam founded the Hong Kong Federation of Women. She said she would attend the vigil on Saturday.
Wan Chai Police District Commander Liauw Ka-kei also signed the condolence book at Moreton Terrace Activities Centre.
A resident surnamed So came to the Causeway Bay community hall to pay tribute, saying Tung had left a lasting legacy for Hong Kong people.
“Chief Executive Tung, you devoted yourself selflessly so that Hong Kong could make a smooth transition. Hong Kong people will remember you forever,” he wrote.
So said Tung had devoted his life to the city, but noted that some of his policies were not rolled out at the right time, which affected his political career.
A retiree surnamed Tang, who lives in Sha Tin, also went to Causeway Bay with flowers and recounted the time she met Tung at her younger daughter’s wedding. She had invited him to the wedding through friends and remembered him as a “kind and amiable gentleman”.
Tang wrote “thank you” in the book and hoped Tung would become “an immortal”.
She added: “I think of how much he loved his country and how much he loved our Hong Kong.”
A 70-year-old Eastern district resident, surnamed Chan, said he appreciated Tung’s pledge in 1997 to build 85,000 flats every year, which would have made it easier for lower-income families to buy homes.
However, the ambitious target was quietly dropped following the onset of the Asian financial crisis.
“Tung did many things for Hong Kong residents,” Chan, who lives in public housing, said.
“He was the first chief executive after the handover, and many things were still in the exploration stage, but he managed to do it.”
Chan also thanked Tung in the book, saying he felt deeply sad about the former leader’s death.
Another retiree, surnamed Cou, said Tung’s policies were very forward-looking, but the financial crisis prevented him from implementing some of them.
“Tung, as a businessman running a large enterprise, wouldn’t necessarily need to engage with politics. But he had the central government’s trust at the time, and he also had an international outlook,” she said, referring to the former leader’s time at the helm of his father’s Orient Overseas Container Line.
“Combined with his leadership experience in the business world – knowing how to expand a business – these were all factors, I believe, that contributed to him being chosen as the first chief executive.”
Hong Kong authorities have also set up condolence points at the Kai Tak Community Hall and the Sai Lau Kok Garden Multipurpose Room for members of the public to sign condolence books between Friday and Sunday.
Tung will be accorded a state funeral for his service as a deputy national-level leader and his contributions to the “one country, two systems” governing framework.
A vigil will be held from 3pm to 10pm on Saturday at the funeral home in North Point and a memorial service will start at 9am on Sunday.
The memorial service, originally planned as a public event, will instead be by invitation-only due to venue constraints, the Office of Former Chief Executives announced on Thursday. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
