Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

Alistair Peter Asprey (, born 11 June 1944) is a former Hong Kong government official who served as

Secretary for Security The Secretary for Security is the member of the Government of Hong Kong in charge of the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau, which is responsible for public safety, security, and immigration matters. The post was created in 1973 a ...

from 1990 to 1995.

Early life

Asprey was born and grew up in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

where his father, Scottish professor of botany Geoffrey Asprey, worked at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

. He attended

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

in Somerset, England, and subsequently read economics and politics at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

Government career

In 1965, Asprey was recruited to the Hong Kong Government as an administrative officer attached to the then-Colonial Secretariat. Asprey was the Clerk of Councils and Assistant Colonial Secretary until January 1970. He served as Administrative Assistant, New Territories Administration until June 1972, when he became the District Officer for

Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang Wa ...

. He subsequently served as Senior Administration Officer of the

Urban Services Department Urban Services Department () was a government department in Hong Kong. It carried out the policies and managed the facilities of the former Urban Council. After being abolished with the Urban Council in 1999, its functions were inherited by the ...

, the executive arm of the

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

. In the early 1980s, he was Deputy Director of Housing (Operations) for the

Hong Kong Housing Authority The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong. It was established in April 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an government agency, agency of the Government of Hong Kong. In the same year, the R ...

, overseeing resettlement work under the sweeping housing policy of governor

Murray MacLehose Crawford Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, ( zh, t=麥理浩; 16 October 1917 – 27 May 2000), was a British politician, diplomat and colonial official who served as the 25th Governor of Hong Kong, from 1971 to 1982. He was the lo ...

. He then served as private secretary to governor

Edward Youde Sir Edward Youde (; Cantonese: ''Yau Tak''; 19 June 1924 – 5 December 1986) was a British administrator, diplomat, and Sinologist. He served as Governor of Hong Kong from 20 May 1982 until his death on 5 December 1986. Early years Youde wa ...

. In 1986, Asprey joined the Lands and Works Branch as Deputy Secretary for Lands and Works. In 1988, Asprey was sent to the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

to complete a year-long course on defence studies. In February 1989, he succeeded Robert Upton as Deputy Secretary for Security. At that time, the Security Branch was facing a huge influx of

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people () were refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its highest in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but continued well into the earl ...

to Hong Kong, with over 32,000 arriving in 1989 alone. Secretary for Security Geoffrey Barnes retired in February 1990, and Asprey succeeded him. As Secretary for Security, Asprey oversaw the detention of tens of thousands of Vietnamese, as well as their screening and repatriation. He faced unresolved issues in the run-up to the 1997

Handover In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transf ...

, such as

right of abode The right of abode is an individual's freedom from immigration control in a particular country. A person who has the right of abode in a country does not need permission from the government to enter the country and can live and work there witho ...

arrangements and future treatment of fugitive offenders. He oversaw the 1992 transition of border defence from the British Army to the Hong Kong Police Force. Asprey retired on 4 February 1995 and was succeeded as Secretary for Security by Peter Lai.

Military career

Asprey joined the

Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF) was a Hong Kong Government department based in Hong Kong. It was formed as an air force in 1949 as part of the Hong Kong Defence Force. In preparation for the transfer of sovereignty from the Uni ...

(RHKAAF) in 1967 as a volunteer cadet pilot, piloting helicopters. He was promoted to Wing Commander and Commanding Officer of the force in 1983. He was succeeded by Royston Brooks in 1988. Asprey was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1988 for his role in the development of the RHKAAF. On 1 January 1994 he was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asprey, Alistair 1944 births Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Government officials of Hong Kong Helicopter pilots HK LegCo Members 1985–1988 HK LegCo Members 1988–1991 Living people People educated at Downside School