John Charles Creasey Walden (

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

: 華樂庭; 17 April 1925–2013) was a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-born member of the colonial administration in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

from 1951 until his retirement 1980. He graduated in 1950 from

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, with a second class degree in Geography. He also studied

at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

and at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

Political career

Walden joined the Colonial Administrative Service in 1950 and became a member of the Hong Kong government in 1951. He served in the

Secretariat for Chinese Affairs The Home Affairs Department is an executive agency in the government of Hong Kong responsible for internal affairs of the territory. It reports to the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Home Affairs. Purpose The d ...

, in the New Territories Administration as District Officer and Deputy District Commissioner for nine years, in the Urban Services Department, the Commerce and Industry Department, Housing Department, and in the Colonial Secretariat. During that time he was a member of the

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, 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 ...

, the

Housing Authority A housing authority or ministry of housing is generally a governmental body that governs aspects of housing or (called in general " shelter" or "living spaces"), often providing subsidies and low rent or free public housing to qualified people. ...

among many other committees. Between 1976 and 1980, Walden was Director of Home Affairs with the goal of monitoring public opinion. He retired in 1980 to dedicate his life to studying public accountability in Hong Kong as a free-lance researcher. He was an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre of Asian Studies of the University of Hong Kong. He returned to England in 2010, and died in 2013, aged 88, in

Sturminster Newton Sturminster Newton is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish situated on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour in the north of Dorset, England. The town is at the centre of the Blackmore Vale, a large dairy agriculture region around w ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Publications

* ''Excellency, Your Gap is Showing: Six Critiques on British Colonial Government in Hong Kong'' (1983) * ''Excellency, Your Gap is Growing: Six Talks on a Chinese Takeaway'' (1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walden, John 1925 births 2013 deaths British Hong Kong Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong Alumni of Merton College, Oxford

Political career

Publications

See also

References