20 Facts About Michael Rowse

Michael John Treloar "Mike" Rowse is a Hong Kong public figure.

Michael Rowse was one of the few foreign-born civil servants in the post-handover Hong Kong Government.

Michael Rowse is best known for having negotiated the Hong Kong Disneyland deal on behalf of the government in November 1999 in which the government became the park's largest shareholder; he thus received the nickname "Mickey Rowse", an allusion to the Disney character.

Michael Rowse then set up InvestHK, and was appointed its director general on 1 July 2000.

At the age of 23, and living in Isleworth at the time, Michael Rowse set off over land in August 1971,.

Michael Rowse got first stuck in Bangkok, where he worked for several months officially as a "secretary" in a certain "Atlanta Club", which was in fact a low-budged guesthouse in Soi 2, Sukhumvit Road, and had originally been registered as a Hotel until 1968.

Michael Rowse wrote his first articles and letters during this time for English language Thai newspapers and was a proof-reader for Max Henn, a well-known German entrepreneur with a fake PhD, who was the founder of this guesthouse and himself an author of numerous political comments for the then newly founded English-language daily The Nation.

Michael Rowse eventually arrived in Hong Kong at the end of 1972, according to the official biography on his homepage.

Michael Rowse worked as a reporter for The Star for 16 months, covering corruption and crime, and in 1974, joined the Hong Kong ICAC, where he worked in both the Operations and Corruption Prevention Departments.

Michael Rowse was made the first director of the Financial Secretary's Office, a post he occupied from 1997 to 2000 under then Financial Secretary, Donald Tsang.

In November 1999, Michael Rowse negotiated the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort deal on behalf of the government in which the government became the park's largest shareholder; he then set up InvestHK, and was appointed its director general on 1 July 2000.

Columnist Jake van der Kamp felt that Michael Rowse had been let down by Donald Tsang, whose responsibility as Chief Secretary it ultimately was to oversee the Harbour Fest expenditure.

In July 2008, Michael Rowse won his judicial review against the government's decision to fine him HK$156,000 for his role in organising Harbour Fest.

Michael Rowse further ruled that Donald Tsang had acted outside his powers in deciding to delegate his decision under the administration order to the Chief Secretary.

In December 2008, Michael Rowse declared that he would in due course publish his own account of the events surrounding the debacle.

In November 2009, Michael Rowse released the book, entitled "No Minister and No, Minister: The True Story of HarbourFest ", in which he was highly critical of Henry Tang's silence over the "inappropriate assignment" of an entertainment event to the investment promotion agency and for shirking his political responsibility.

Michael Rowse divorced from his first wife, with whom he had two sons, now adult.

Michael Rowse is married to Fanny Wong, a former journalist now a communications consultant.

Michael Rowse received the PRWeek 'Communicator of the Year Award' in November 2001.

In May 2010, Michael Rowse became a search director at recruitment specialist, Stanton Chase International, after receiving CSB clearance.