The existing Hong Kong honours system was created after the transfer of government of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China as a special administrative region in 1997. Before that, Hong Kong was a British dependent territory and followed the British honours system.
Sir David Clive Crosbie Trench was a British Army officer and colonial governor who served as the Governor of Hong Kong from April 15, 1964 to October 19, 1971 and was High Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
British Forces Overseas Hong Kong comprised the elements of the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force stationed in British Hong Kong. The Governor of Hong Kong also assumed the position of the commander-in-chief of the forces and the Commander British Forces in Hong Kong took charge of the daily deployment of the troops. Much of the British military left prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. The present article focuses mainly on the British garrison in Hong Kong in the post Second World War era. For more information concerning the British garrison during the Second World War and earlier, see the Battle of Hong Kong.
The Secretary for Education is a principal official in the Hong Kong Government, who heads the Education Bureau (EDB). The current office holder is Christine Choi.
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 Government Secretariat which oversees the administration of the Region to which all other ministers belong, and is accountable for his or her policies and actions to the Chief Executive and to the Legislative Council. Under Article 53 of the Basic Law, the position is known as "Administrative Secretary". As the second highest ranking public official in Hong Kong, the Chief Secretary acts as Acting Chief Executive when the Chief Executive is absent.
The Financial Secretary is the title held by the Hong Kong government minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. The position is among the three most senior Principal Officials of the Government, second only to the Chief Secretary in the order of precedence. Together with other secretaries, the Financial Secretary is accountable to the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive for his actions in supervising the formulation and implementation of financial and economic policies.
The Secretary for Justice is the head of the Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Kong. Before the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the position was known as the Attorney-General of Hong Kong.
Sir Hugh Selby Norman-Walker was a British colonial official. He served in India from 1938 to 1948. Joining the Colonial Office in 1949, he successively served as an Administrative Officer and an Assistant Secretary in Nyasaland, and was seconded to the Cabinet Office of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953. He returned to Nyasaland to become Development Secretary in 1954, Deputy Financial Secretary in 1960 and Secretary to the Treasury in 1961. He remained in the government until 1965 when Nyasaland gained independence as Malawi in 1964. In 1965, Sir Hugh was posted to the Bechuanaland Protectorate as Her Majesty's Commissioner. Knighted in 1966, in September of the same year he witnessed the independence of the Protectorate as Botswana. In the next year, Norman-Walker was posted to the Seychelles as the Governor and Commander-in-Chief but his short tenure came to an end when he was assigned to succeed Sir Michael Gass, who was in turn appointed High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, as Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong in 1969. He was once rumoured to be the designated candidate to succeed Sir David Trench as the Governor of Hong Kong, but the rumour soon died out when the post was taken up by Sir Murray MacLehose, a career diplomat, in 1971.
Sir Michael David Irving Gass was the penultimate High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1965 until 1969, and the acting Governor of Hong Kong during the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist riots.
The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs is the head of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for local issues, and the provision of community and youth services.
The Secretary for the Civil Service is the head of the Civil Service Bureau in Hong Kong. Unlike other secretaries for bureaux, the Secretary for the Civil Service is filled by an administrative officer from the civil service, who may choose to return to the civil service when his term expires. Before Principal Officials Accountability System was introduced in 2002, it was a civil service position.
The Security Bureau is a body of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for policies of the maintenance of law and order, exercising immigration and customs control, rehabilitating offenders and drug abusers, and providing emergency fire and rescue services.
Sir Yuet-keung Kan was a Hong Kong banker, politician and lawyer who was successively appointed Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council in the 1960s and 1970s. He also served as chairman of the Bank of East Asia for 20 years.
Sir Donald Collin Cumyn Luddington, was a British colonial government official and civil servant who served firstly in the Hong Kong Government and became District Commissioner, New Territories and the Secretary for Home Affairs successively, during which he had also served as an official member of the Legislative Council. He was later promoted to Oceania and was High Commissioner for the Western Pacific and Governor of the Solomon Islands during the period from 1973 to 1976. He returned to Hong Kong in 1977 to replace Sir Ronald Holmes as chairman of the Public Service Commission. He was the second person, after Sir Jack Cater, to hold the post of Commissioner of ICAC from 1978 until his retirement in 1980.
Sir David Ronald Holmes was a British colonial government official who served in Hong Kong from 1938.
The Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for planning, land development and public works related development policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolios of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works and Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands.
Deputy Financial Secretary is a ministerial position in the Government of Hong Kong, deputising the Financial Secretary. The position was created in 2022 after John Lee took office as Chief Executive.
John Francis Yaxley is a former civil servant in the UK Colonial Office.
Michael Victor Lunn, GBS, KC, SC is a senior judge. He is Chairman of the Market Misconduct Tribunal and the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal in Hong Kong.
Paul Lam Ting-kwok is a Hong Kong Senior Counsel who is the current Secretary for Justice.
