Leaders of Hong Kong society on Saturday paid tribute to the city’s first chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, who died on Sept 8 at the age of 89, with condolence flower boards and wreaths filling the area outside the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point and the basketball court on the Java Road playground nearby.
The wreaths were sent by political heavyweights, including vice-chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – Leung Chun-ying and Edmund Ho Hau-wah – and officials of current-term Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu paid his tribute at around 3 pm when a vigil for Tung began at Fuk Hoi Hall on the first floor of the funeral home.
Prominent figures from the political and business sectors also turned up to pay their respects, including Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, former secretary for education and manpower of the HKSAR; David Kwok-po, executive chairman of the Bank of East Asia; Dennis Lok Yuk-ming, vice-chancellor and president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Raymond Kwok Ping-luen and Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong of Sun Hung Kai Properties.
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At the center of the mourning hall was a portrait of Tung, who was also a former vice-chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Before the vigil began, uniformed police officers were seen near the funeral home to maintain order.
A public memorial and funeral service will be held at 9 am on Sunday, to be followed by a farewell ceremony and funeral procession at 11 am. Three condolence points, located in Moreton Terrace Activities Centre in Causeway Bay, Kai Tak Community Hall and Sai Lau Kok Garden Multi-purpose Room in Tsuen Wan, are open for residents to sign condolence books from Friday to Sunday.
Many residents turned out in droves to sign the condolence books on Friday, praising Tung as a “humble person who gave his all to the city and the country.”
