Bulletin Autumn 1988

W ith consummate skill and characteristic de tachment, this master adm inistrator went about building up the district adm inistration scheme in to a blue-print fo r representative government. A t firs t the members o f the D istrict Boards were drafted. They were then persuaded to stand. Perhaps in 1991 some o f these w ill get up and run. As the Chinese translation o f Sir David's English name suggests in the Cantonese dialect — 鍾逸傑 —he was in the th ick o f things every day, in itia ting , persuading and orchestrating —all in the interests o f Hong Kong. And at the end o f the day, like a painter whose work is accomplished, he brings to m ind this passage in James Joyce's A Portrait o f the Artist as a Young Man: 'The artist, like the God o f creation, remains w ithin or behind or beyond or above his handi work, invisible, refined out o f existence, in different, paring his fingernails.' We at The Chinese University remember Sir David Akers-Jones particularly fondly fo r his five- month tenure as Chancellor during which time his single most important contribution was that he le ft us alone. As the Hon. Lydia Dunn said on another occasion in praise o f the wisdom o f letting things be, 'Government should be given credit not only fo r what it does, but also fo r what it does not do'. Receiving the honorary degree o f Doctor o f C ivil Laws from the University o f Kent in 1987, Sir David himself had this to say about the magic formula which has made Hong Kong successful, ‘It is that the creative energy o f its people is given fu ll opportunity to flourish by pragmatic administrative policies which discourage un necessary intrusion and interference in the management o f human affairs.' A t this our 25th anniversary, w ith the educational ideals and course structure o f our university facing perhaps their most formidable challenge, I speak fo r many members o f the University when I laud the wisdom o f Lao Tzu and sing the praise o f Sir David Akers-Jones fo r their profound knowledge o f the art o f government. W ith these words, Mr. Chancellor, I present Sir David Akers-Jones, 鍾逸傑， the reclusive sage, a Knight o f the realm, former Chief Secretary, Acting Governor, Adviser to the Governor, artist and archi tect o f d istrict adm inistration and representative government, the man most responsible fo r the phe nomenal development o f the New Territories, now Chairman o f the Housing A u tho rity, painter and Hong Kong belonger fo r the award o f the degree o f Doctor o f Laws, honoris causa. The Honourable Peter Poon Wing-cheung, MBE, LLB, LLM ， FHKSA, FASA, CPA, CPA (Aust), FCIS ， ATII, RAS, JP A t the 34th Congregation o f the University which took place on Thursday, 15th October last year, the Treasurer o f the University and the Public Orator were seen in deep and animated conversation. So in volved were they that they almost missed their re spective places on the ceremony platform . The con versation was about the Hong Kong stock market and the Treasurer was proffering the view that it had reached unsustainable heights. Four days later ， in fact after only one trading day, the market crashed. The Treasurer was o f course none other than the Hon. Peter Poon Wing-cheung who followed the distinguished footsteps o f Sir Quo-wei Lee and the Hon. Lydia Dunn to this honorary but highly impor tant office o f the University. In this role, he advises, oversees and assumes ultimate public responsibility fo r the finances o f the University, including the management o f the sta ff superannuation funds. The choice o f Mr. Poon as University Treasurer has been an excellent one. Foresight, an incisive m ind, and forthrightness are the hallmarks o f the man whose knowledge, experience and integ rity as an accountant and financial adviser is second to none in Hong Kong. Financial matters come easily to Mr. Poon. He had the advantage o f an early start. Although he is descended from one o f the best families in Hong Kong, fortunes had changed by the time the young Poon Wing-cheung was growing up, so much so that in spite o f graduating from Wah Yan College at the top o f his class and w ith London University matricu­ lation in the firs t division in 1950-51, Peter Poon had to forego the opportunity o f going to university and took up work instead. His firs t job was at the Bank o f East Asia where his head fo r figures and his invigorating style caught the early attention o f the late Kan Tung-po, one o f the founders o f the bank and the father o f Sir Yuet- keung Kan, Pro-Chancellor o f the University. What caught Mr. Kan's eyes was something really quite innovative in the early 1950's. A t a time when in te r ests in savings accounts had to be added up manually which took a lo t o f time, young Peter Poon was doing it at ten times normal speed w ith the help o f logarithm. In 1954, while working at the Bank o f East Asia, Mr. Poon sat and passed an examination which qualified him as a member o f the Australian Society o f Accountants under the auspices o f the Colombo Plan. Although he had obtained the qualification, he could not be adm itted to the Society u n til a year later because he was s till not yet twenty-one. But 5