David Akers-Jones was the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1987, and was briefly acting Governor of Hong Kong after the untimely death of Sir Edward Youde.
27 Facts About David Akers-Jones
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David Akers-Jones was educated at Worthing High School and Brasenose College, Oxford.
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David Akers-Jones arrived in Hong Kong in 1957, after serving three years in the Malayan Civil Service and joined the Hong Kong Government in the summer of 1957.
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David Akers-Jones was instrumental in turning small villages into "new towns" in the New Territories teeming with factories and apartment blocks to resettle slum-dwellers from the hillsides of Hong Kong Island.
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David Akers-Jones was instrumental in implementing the Small House Policy in 1972 in exchange for the New Territories indigenous groups' support for the new town development.
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David Akers-Jones was Secretary for District Administration, Secretary for Home Affairs and Chief Secretary.
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David Akers-Jones was later Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, from 1987 to 1992.
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Sir David Akers-Jones retired and lived quietly in Hong Kong.
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David Akers-Jones is thought to have obtained at least $30 million in compensation.
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In 2005, David Akers-Jones briefly emerged from retirement to defend, before Hong Kong's Legislative Council, his role in zoning the Discovery Bay resort project on Lantau in the 1970s.
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David Akers-Jones was involved in the original zoning decision enabling development, as the then Secretary for the New Territories.
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David Akers-Jones criticised the decision to call on an elderly man to testify about events 30 years earlier.
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David Akers-Jones revealed that colonial officials had abruptly changed the zoning of the Discovery Bay project, and gave it to new developers because they feared it would fall into the hands of the former Soviet Union.
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David Akers-Jones criticised Hong Kong's post-colonial government for continuing a policy of maintaining high property prices, its lack of urban planning, and frequently ill-conceived plans to reclaim land in Victoria Harbour.
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David Akers-Jones advocated converting the Election Committee into a committee which would nominate suitable candidates for the post of chief executive for election by the public.
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David Akers-Jones further believed in preserving functional constituencies but that they should be turned into an upper house in a bicameral legislature instead of abolishing them.
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David Akers-Jones was an advisor to the New People's Party.
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In later life, David Akers-Jones penned occasional letters to the South China Morning Post and wrote occasional columns there and at The Standard.
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David Akers-Jones was honorary chairman of the Bridge to China foundation, or Wu Zhi Qiao, which is a charitable, non-profit organisation based in Hong Kong dedicated to building footbridges in rural mainland China.
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David Akers-Jones was a founder and the honorary president of the local chapter of Outward Bound, the Outward Bound Hong Kong.
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David Akers-Jones was a vice-president of the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association.
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David Akers-Jones was vice-patron and honorary life president of the Hong Kong Football Association.
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David Akers-Jones was a trustee and vice-president of the Worldwide Fund for Nature Hong Kong and chairman of the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.
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David Akers-Jones was chairman of Operation Smile China Medical Mission and president of the English-Speaking Union.
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In 2014, David Akers-Jones founded Invotech, a do-tank to spread innovation and technology in Hong Kong.
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In 1951, David Akers-Jones married Jane Spickernell, daughter of Royal Navy Captain Sir Frank Todd Spickernell, KBE, CB, CVO, DSO, and maternal granddaughter of Sir Delves Louis Broughton, 10th Baronet.
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David Akers-Jones died from colorectal cancer at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 30 September 2019 at age 92.