Hector Rex Hatch (6 February 1936 – 14 April 2016) was a Fijian

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, politician, and civil servant. He represented Fiji as a boxer at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

. There, he competed in the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

category, losing 5–0 on points in the first round to Nicolae Linca of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

who subsequently won the gold medal. Hatch served as Minister for Public Enterprises and Public Sector Reform in the interim

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

formed by

Laisenia Qarase Laisenia Qarase (pronounced ; 4 February 1941 – 21 April 2020) was a Fijian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Fiji, sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After Republic of Fiji Military Forces, the military quashed the 2 ...

in the wake of the

2000 Fijian coup d'état The 2000 Fijian coup d'état was a civilian coup d'état by an armed group of indigenous Fijian nationalists supported by the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, against the elected government of Indo-Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chau ...

. He held office till an elected government took power in September 2001. While visiting

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

on 4 January 2007, the Interim Military Government (which had seized power in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

on 5 December 2006) named Hatch to head the

Public Service Commission Public Service Commission may refer to: * Public utilities commission ** Alabama Public Service Commission ** Public Service Commission (Indiana) ** Public Service Commission of Utah ** Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ** Public Utilities Com ...

, replacing Stuart Huggett, who was dismissed for non-cooperation with the military regime. Hatch was charged with the responsibility of downsizing the civil service, which the Military claimed was bloated. His tenure in this position was brief, however: he resigned in the second week of January upon his return to Fiji, citing poor health, and was replaced on 15 January by

Rishi Ram Rishi Ram (born 17 August 1947) is a Fijian civil servant and former diplomat of Indian descent. From 2007 to 2009 he was Chairman of the Public Service Commission. He was the first ethnic Indian to head the PSC. Ram served as Deputy Secretar ...

. He died on 14 April 2016.

References

External links

* 2016 deaths 1936 births Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fijian civil servants Olympic boxers for Fiji Welterweight boxers Fijian male boxers Fijian people of British descent Government ministers of Fiji Fijian sportsperson-politicians {{Fiji-boxing-bio-stub