People who worked closely with Tung praise him as ‘kind-hearted’, ‘exceptionally hard-working’ and never inclined to publicly put others down
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenConnor MycroftPublished: 8:33pm, 9 Sep 2026Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first leader following its return to Chinese sovereignty, has been remembered as a “kind-hearted man” who mentored others and even inspired some to take up public office.
As tributes poured in for Tung, who died on Tuesday at age 89, people who worked closely with him shared touching anecdotes about the man they said cared deeply about Hong Kong’s issues even in the years after he stepped down as chief executive in 2005.
Bernard Charnwut Chan, chairman of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority board, described Tung as an approachable leader who often reached out to find solutions to Hong Kong’s deep-rooted problems even after his retirement.
“I still remember there was a year during the ‘two sessions’, he asked to meet me over lunch,” Chan said, referring to the annual plenary meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
“When I got into his hotel room, there was only a sandwich and we jumped right into the issues he was concerned about.”
Chan said Tung had asked for his views about the city’s development and young people’s future.
