Donald Liao Poon-huai,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, JP (; born 29 October 1929) is a Taiwanese-born Hong Kong government official and landscape architect. He took an instrumental role in the expansion of the

public housing in Hong Kong Public housing in Hong Kong is a set of mass housing programmes through which the Government of Hong Kong provides affordable housing for lower-income residents. It is a major component of housing in Hong Kong, with nearly half of the population ...

in the 1960s and 70s, designing new types of public estates and was

Secretary for Housing The Secretary for Housing () in Hong Kong is responsible for housing related issues. The position was first created in 1973 and re-created in 2022 after renamed to Secretary for Transport and Housing in 2007. List of office holders Political par ...

and chairman of the

Hong Kong Housing Authority The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong. It was established in April 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong. In the same year, the Resettlement Departm ...

from 1980 to 1985. He became the

Secretary for District Administration The Secretary for District Administration (), formerly known as Secretary for City and New Territories Administration, was a minister in the Government of Hong Kong in 1980s, which is responsible for local administrative issues. In 1974, "District ...

from 1985 to 1989.

Early life and education

Liao was born in

Yunlin County Yunlin County (Mandarin pinyin: ''Yúnlín Xiàn''; Taigi POJ: ''Hûn-lîm-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Yùn-lìm-yen'') is a county in western Taiwan. Yunlin County borders the Taiwan Strait to the west, Nantou County to the east, Changhua County t ...

(part of

Tainan Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Tainan City, Chiayi City, Chiayi County and Yunlin County. Population Administrative divisions ...

under Japanese rule), Taiwan on 29 October 1929. He moved to Hong Kong to learn English after finishing his basic education in Taiwan. He attended the St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong and subsequently the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

. He later furthered his study at the King's College of the

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

after winning a British Council scholarship, where he graduated with a degree in landscape design.

Government career

Liao became the first member of the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects. In 1960, he started working for Hong Kong government's Housing Division, designing and managing some of Hong Kong's biggest social housing projects during the 1960s and 70s at the time of the Ten-Year Housing Programme carried out by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Murray MacLehose Crawford Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, (; 16 October 1917 – 27 May 2000), was a British politician, diplomat and the 25th Governor of Hong Kong, from 1971 to 1982. He was the longest-serving governor of the colony, with four ...

. He took a leading role in revolutionising social housing in order the address the overcrowding housing condition. He applied his own design in

Wah Fu Estate Wah Fu Estate () is a public housing estate located next to Waterfall Bay, Pok Fu Lam in Hong Kong's Southern District. It was built on a new town concept in 1967 and was renovated in 2003. Divided into Wah Fu (I) Estate () and Wah Fu (II) E ...

, the "Twin Tower Block": like Scottish "Z-plan" castles, these each comprised two juxtaposed towers of a hollow, internally galleried plan. The second design innovation was an adaptation of the comprehensive land-use planning of the English New Towns. He later joined the Hong Kong government to become the Commissioner of Housing in 1968 and a member of the

Town Planning Board The Town Planning Board () is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Government tasked with developing urban planning, urban plans with an aim to ensuring the "health, safety, convenience and general welfare of the community through the process of ...

. He proposed the

Home Ownership Scheme The Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) is a subsidised-sale public housing programme managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority. It was instituted in the late 1970s as part of the government policy for public housing with two aims – to encourage b ...

, which allowed those who lived in rented public housing to buy their own flats. He became

and chairman of the

from 1980 to 1985. He kept on serving in several senior government posts including the

from 1985 until his eventual retirement in 1989. During his government service, he was also an official member of the

Hong Kong Legislative Council The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrange ...

in 1980 and of the Hong Kong Executive Council in 1985. He was also a member of the

Sino-British Joint Liaison Group Sino-British Joint Liaison Group () or simply Joint Liaison Group was a meeting group formed in 1985 between the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the People's Republic of China after signing of Sino–B ...

. He served on the Council of the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is repor ...

from 1991 to 1995. In 1992, he was appointed

Hong Kong Affairs Advisor Hong Kong Affairs Advisers () were appointed by the Chinese government after the last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten carried out his electoral reform in the British Hong Kong, in the eve of the handover of the sovereignty of the city-state f ...

by the Beijing government.

Honours and personal life

For his public service, he was awarded Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 2011, he was made Honorary Doctor of Science at the Durham University. He married ballet dancer Christine Yuen Ching Me and has three children. He is also a member of the

Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liao, Donald 1929 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Hong Kong architects Hong Kong Affairs Advisors Government officials of Hong Kong Hong Kong people of Taiwanese descent Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of King's College, Newcastle

Early life and education

Government career

Honours and personal life

See also

References