John Martin Rowlands, CBE (; 20 July 1925 – 19 August 2004) was a British civil servant working in the

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

from 1952 to 1985. He was the Secretary for the Civil Service from 1978 to 1985 and official member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1978 to 1984. Rowlands was born in London on 20 July 1925 and graduated from the

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and the Selwyn College, Cambridge. From 1943 to 1947, he was a Captain of the Royal Indian Artillery Field Regiment of the HQ XV Indian Corps, HQ

Allied Land Forces South East Asia The 11th Army Group was the main British Army force in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. Although a nominally British formation, it also included large numbers of troops and formations from the British Indian Army and from British African ...

. Rowlands joined the Hong Kong government as a cadet in 1952. He served on various positions, including the Resettlement Department, New Territories Administration, Civil Aid Service and Urban Services Department. In 1966, he became the Deputy Director of Urban Services, Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary in 1968 and Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs in 1971. In 1974, he became the Director of Immigration in 1974 and dealt with the

Touch Base Policy The Touch Base Policy ( zh, t=抵壘政策; also known as the Reached Base Policy) was an immigration policy in British Hong Kong from 1974 to 1980 towards the Refugee wave from the People's Republic of China to British Hong Kong. Under the po ...

imposed in 1974, as well as the Vietnamese boat people crisis. He was appointed Secretary for the Civil Service in 1978 and became an official member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. He dealt with the civil servants' strikes and localisation of the

Hong Kong civil service The Hong Kong Civil Service is managed by 13 policy bureaux in the Government Secretariat, and 67 departments and agencies, mostly staffed by civil servants. The Secretary for the Civil Service (SCS) is one of the Principal Officials appointed un ...

during the transition period to the handover of Hong Kong. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1980. He retired in 1985 and returned to Britain. He fought against cancer in his later life and died in London on 19 August 2004, aged 79. He married Christiane Germaine Maeleine Lacheny and had children Diane and Noelle. He was a bird watching lover, which influenced his subordinate Donald Tsang, the later Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlands, John Martin 1925 births 2004 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Government officials of Hong Kong Hong Kong civil servants Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Indian Army personnel of World War II