Hector Rex Hatch (6 February 1936 – 14 April 2016) was a Fijian

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, politician, and civil servant. He represented Fiji as a boxer at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

. There, he competed in the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

category, losing 5–0 on points in the first round to

Nicolae Linca Nicolae Linca (1 January 1929 – 27 June 2008) was a Romanian amateur welterweight boxer. After winning bronze medals at the 1953 and 1955 European championships, he became Romania's first Olympic champion in boxing at the 1956 Summer Olympics. ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

who subsequently won the gold medal. Hatch served as Minister for Public Enterprises and

Public Sector Reform Civil service reform is a deliberate action to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, professionalism, representativity and democratic character of a civil service, with a view to promoting better delivery of public goods and services, with increa ...

in the interim

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

formed by

Laisenia Qarase Laisenia Qarase (pronounced ; 4 February 1941 – 21 April 2020) was a Fijian politician. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase ...

in the wake of the

2000 Fijian coup d'état The Fiji coup d'état of 2000 was a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei (ethnic Fijian) nationalists against the elected government of an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry on 19 May 2000. This was followed by an attempt on ...

. He held office till an elected government took power in September 2001. While visiting

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 4 January 2007, the Interim Military Government (which had seized power in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

on 5 December 2006) named Hatch to head the Public Service Commission, replacing

Stuart Huggett Stuart Huggett (died 10 September 2021) was a British-born Fijian architect, businessman, and civil servant, who served as Chairman of the Public Service Commission from 2004 to 2006, when he was removed from office on 6 December 2006 by the Mili ...

, who was dismissed for non-cooperation with the military regime. Hatch was charged with the responsibility of downsizing the civil service, which the Military claimed was bloated. His tenure in this position was brief, however: he resigned in the second week of January upon his return to Fiji, citing poor health, and was replaced on 15 January by

Rishi Ram Rishi Ram (born 17 August 1947) is a Fijian civil servant and former diplomat of Indian descent. From 2007 to 2009 he was Chairman of the Public Service Commission. He was the first ethnic Indian to head the PSC. Ram served as Deputy Secretar ...

. He died on 14 April 2016.

References

External links

* 2016 deaths 1936 births Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fijian civil servants Olympic boxers for Fiji Welterweight boxers Fijian male boxers Fijian people of British descent Government ministers of Fiji Fijian sportsperson-politicians {{Fiji-boxing-bio-stub