1
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1988
HONG
BUT THESE WERE DIFFICULT TIMES FOR SEEMED TO BRING ITS SPECIAL SHARE OF PROBLEMS : TYPHOONS, CHOLERA, BANK COLLAPSES AND EVEN RIOTS.
KONG AND EACH YEAR DROUGHTS,
EVENTUALLY, HIS GOVERNORSHIP SPANNED ONE OF THE MOST TURBULENT PERIODS OF HONG KONG'S HISTORY, WHEN SOME OF THE FRENZY THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION SPILLED OVER INTO THE TERRITORY.
UNLEASHED
BY
THIS PERIOD SAW DAVID TRENCH'S GREAT QUALITIES REVEALED IN FULL MEASURE.
A
HIS STEADFASTNESS, COOLNESS AND MASTERLY HANDLING OF SITUATION THAT WOULD HAVE BOWED, IF NOT BROKEN LESSER MAN, EARNED HIM THE RESPECT AND ADMIRATION OF ALL THOSE WHO CAME INTO CONTACT WITH HIM.
HIS SKILL AND RESILIENCE WAS ALL THE MORE REMARKABLE BECAUSE FEW COULD HAVE KNOWN AT THE TIME THE PERSONAL TORMENT THAT HE ENDURED: NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE CORROSIVE EFFECTS OF THE RIOTING AND THE MATERIAL DAMAGE TO A HONG KONG HE HOPED TO MAKE A BETTER PLACE, BUT ALSO BECAUSE HE WAS FAR FROM WELL AND HAD ONLY RECENTLY UNDERGONE SURGERY.
DAVID TRENCH WAS, BY ALL ACCOUNTS, A MOST ABLE ADMINISTRATOR.
HE CARED DEEPLY FOR PROFOUNDLY CONSCIOUS OF THE
THE PEOPLE THAT HE GOVERNED, AND WAS PROBLEMS THAT AFFLICTED HONG KONG SOCIETY.
AS
HE BELIEVED IN SOUND ADMINISTRATION AND REFUSED "TO GOVERN" HE SAID "BY GIMMICKS".
HE BELIEVED PASSIONATELY IN BETTER HOUSING, BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS AND IMPROVED EDUCATION.
HIS FEW PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS OF ANGER OVER THE RESOURCES THIS HAD ABSORBED, WERE DIRECTED AT PROGRESS IN INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS.
RIOTING AND THE THE SET-BACK то
IT WAS INDEED FITTING THAT HIS LAST YEAR IN OFFICE SAW THE INTRODUCTION OF FREE, COMPULSORY PRIMARY EDUCATION IN HONG KONG.
THOSE OF US WHO WERE PRIVILEGED TO COUNT DAVID TRENCH AS A FRIEND, THOSE OF US WHO SERVED HIM AND THOSE OF US WHO SIMPLY LIVED IN HONG KONG DURING HIS TENURE OF OFFICE COULD NOT FAIL TO HAVE TOUCHED IN SOME WAY BY HIS GREAT QUALITIES.
HE WAS A QUIET MAN BUT A MAN OF MANY FRIENDS; A MAN WHO 1113 GOLF AND HIS HORSE RACING WHICH BROUGHT HIM IN TOUCH WITH SO PEOPLE.
BEEN
LOVED MANY
BUT PERHAPS THE ONE QUALITY TUAT TRANSCENDED ALL OTHERS, CERTAINLY IN THE VIEW OF THOSE WHO KNEW HIM WELL, WAS HIS SEEMINGLY UNLIMITED CAPACITY TO SHOW GREAT KINDNESS TO OTHERS.
/NOWHERE WAS