Rafael Hui Si-yan (born 8 February 1948) is a former

Chief Secretary for Administration The Chief Secretary for Administration, commonly known as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, is the most senior principal official of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Chief Secretary is head of the Governmen ...

of Hong Kong and career

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. Hui has been dubbed "Old Master Hui" () and "Fat Dragon" (). Hui was appointed as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

on 1986 and received the honour of

Gold Bauhinia Star The Gold Bauhinia Star (, GBS) is the highest Bauhinia Star rank in the honours system of Hong Kong, created in 1997 to replace the British honours system of the Order of the British Empire after the transfer of sovereignty to People's Republic of ...

in 1998. On 19 December 2014, he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for

misconduct in public office Malfeasance in office is often grounds for a just cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Malfeasance in office contrasts with "misfeasance in office", which is the commission of a ''lawful'' act, done in an officia ...

and

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

, and then stripped of the honour in March 2018. He was released in December 2019.

Early life

Hui was born on 8 February 1948 in Hong Kong. His father is an indigenous inhabitant from

Tai O Tai O is a fishing town, partly located on an island of the same name, on the western side of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The village name means ''large inlet'', referring to outlet for the waterways (Tai O Creek and Tai O River) merges as it ...

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

Education

Hui attended Queen's College and 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 ...

(BA, 1970).

Career

Government service

Hui joined the civil service of Hong Kong in 1970 and became an administrative officer (AO). During the early years of his career, he held appointments in numerous branches and departments. He was seconded to the Independent Commission Against Corruption from 1977 to 1979. From 1982 to 1983, he attended an overseas training programme at Harvard University's

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

for his

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * Mound ...

. Afterwards, he became Deputy Secretary-General in the former The Office of the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils (UMELCO) from 1985 to 1986, Deputy Secretary for Economic Services from 1986 to 1990 (under

Anson Chan Anson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang, (; ''née'' Fang; born 17 January 1940) is a retired Hong Kong politician and civil servant who was the first ethnic Chinese and woman to serve as Chief Secretary, the second-highest position in both ...

), Deputy Secretary for Works from 1990 to 1991, when he was appointed Director, New Airport Projects Co-ordination Office. He took up the post of Commissioner for Transport from 1992 to 1995. In 1995, he was appointed to the post of Secretary for Financial Services. In June 2000, he resigned from the civil service and he assumed the post of managing director of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority. In 2002, Hui was elected a steward 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 ...

. Hui also served as the Vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society and Chairman of its Programme Committee from 2001. In 2004, he became the Honorary Secretary of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Ltd. and a member of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society Ltd. He resigned all these posts when he assumed office as the

. In 2005, Hui was appointed by the

Central People's Government The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

of the People's Republic of China, on the nomination of Hong Kong Chief Executive

Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...

, to the Chief Secretary for Administration. After retiring from the Chief Secretary for Administration, he served on the

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the Chief Executive. It is ...

as an unofficial member from 2007 to 2009.

Arrest and conviction

On 29 March 2012, Hui was arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on suspicion of corruption involving property magnates

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and Raymond Kwok of Hong Kong's third richest family, as well as their company

Sun Hung Kai Properties Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHKP; ) is a listed corporation and the largest property developer in Hong Kong as of 2019. The company is controlled by the Kwok family trust, largely the Kwok brothers. The Kwok family trust was set up by Kw ...

. On 19 December 2014, Hui was convicted of five counts of misconduct in public office after a 128-day jury trial in Hong Kong. He was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison and ordered to return bribes of 11.182 million Hong Kong dollars. Hui was held at Stanley Prison and his appeals to the Court of Appeal and

Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA or CFA) is the final appellate court of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, upon the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, replacing the Judicial Committee of t ...

were dismissed.Decision of the Court of Final Appeal in June 2017
/ref> As a result, his

Grand Bauhinia Medal The Grand Bauhinia Medal () is the highest award under the Hong Kong honours and awards system; it is to recognise the selected person's lifelong and highly significant contribution to the well-being of Hong Kong. The awardee is entitled to the ...

and

honours were removed, and his Justice of the Peace appointment was revoked by the government in March 2018. Hui was released early in December 2019, after serving five years of his term, due to good behavior as an inmate.

References