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The lack of the faintest scruples and the utter contempt with which Rafael Hui took millions of dollars in bribes from one of Hong Kong's biggest property development companies sets a breathtaking new benchmark for Hong Kong in the depths to which a corrupt official can sink. Worse still, Hui was the No 2 man in the government.

His disgrace became complete in the Court of First Instance on Tuesday when Mr Justice Andrew Macrae sentenced him to 7.5 years' imprisonment and ordered him to pay the government HK$11.182 million, equivalent to the bribes he took.

Not all of us will agree with Hui's penalty. Inevitably some will argue that it should have been more severe, and others that it was too harsh. Mr Justice Macrae touched on this when he said while handing down judgment, "sentencing is not an art or science. If it were a science, it would no doubt be an easier exercise to conduct. It requires a judge to exercise a public duty in dealing effectively and consistently with serious crime, but also requires him to mitigate the harsh effect by acknowledging in an appropriate way personal circumstances of the individual defendants."

One of the most important points about the learned judge's decision is that it stands as testament to the fact that Hong Kong still practises the rule of law, and everybody is equal in the eyes of the law regardless of their station in life.

Elsie Tu (Elliott), who dedicated most of her life in Hong Kong from the 1950s to fighting corruption, said after being told the verdicts: "Corruption has damaged many of the people of Hong Kong. I cannot feel any pity for the defendants."

To the finish, and in the face of damning evidence, Hui tried to brazen it out, but a different Rafael Hui appeared on Monday when it seemed that he was anticipating being convicted - he was unshaven, somewhat gaunt and weary of step. Perhaps his long-subsumed conscience had finally exerted itself, and feelings of guilt were at last emerging.

The pathetic self-deception that he tried to hide behind - that he was merely acting as the "eyes and ears" for Sun Hung Kai Properties - is as absurd as it is childish. There is no greater problem in Hong Kong today than the acute shortage of housing, and the plight of young couples unable to find affordable housing. And to a considerable extent today's desperate housing problem had its roots in the housing policies of the years when Hui was chief secretary of Hong Kong.

Through his machinations, Hui would have been able to keep Sun Hung Kai aware of every step being planned by the government on housing, plus all initiatives and alternatives under study. On the one hand the property company had a "flying start" over its rivals; on the other - and equally significant - it arguably might have been in a position to ensure that sterner restrictions were applied in regard to its "opposition".

An extraordinary footnote to the case emerged just days ago when former chief executive Donald Tsang, who chose Hui as his right-hand man, submitted a lengthy petition to the court claiming that he was "one of the most outstanding officials" involved in the 1997 transition.

The former CE then lifts the veil on developments in 2005, when Hui became chief secretary, saying, "The local community was in a parlous state, diffident about its own future, having been ravaged by the controversy over the implementation of Article 45 of the Basic Law and the onslaught of the SARS epidemic" In response Hui took action on several fronts to restore confidence and tranquillity across Hong Kong.

Tsang then moves on to a still more critical time for Hong Kong in the financial crisis of 1998 when Hui "masterminded a comprehensive plan to mount a series of intervention activities in our securities and currency marketswhen our celebrated free market had ceased to function against the ruthless manipulation in our key financial sectors by foreign hedge funds".

The intervention began on August 14 of that year, and "support from the central government and from the local population promptly followed after we explained the rationale of our extraordinary action. Not only was Hui one of the chief architects of the intervention strategy, he followed the market reactions minute by minute throughout the campaignwe fine-tuned our tactics, at the behest of Hui and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in response to intransigent speculative assaultsthese adjustments, including defensive actions in the futures market, worked and much credit goes to his perspicacity, ingenuity and courage."

Finally, in the aftermath of this crisis, Hui "spearheaded major reforms of our security markets, stock clearance and settlement arrangements."

For the son of a police sergeant and the brother of a police commissioner, Tsang seems to have been a very trusting friend indeed, apparently not concerned about his colleague's extravagant lifestyle, which is clearly at odds with the example he should set as a top civil servant.

The author is a seasoned observer of Asian affairs.

(HK Edition 12/25/2014 page1)