Hui was sentenced with Kwok and two middlemen for accepting nearly HK$20 million in total for looking out for SHKP’s interests. Hui, granted early release for good behaviour, and Kwok have paid their debts to society. But the case should never be forgotten for having underlined a defining principle of Hong Kong’s legal system – that everyone is treated equally before the law, including the rich and powerful.

A clear message that Hong Kong will not tolerate corruption

The rejection of their appeals was seen to uphold the principle. At the heart of the appeal was a payment of HK$8.5 million by Kwok to Hui, via two middlemen who have since served lesser jail terms, before Hui became chief secretary in 2005. Prosecutors failed to identify any act by Hui in return for the money. But the court said he took the cash in return for his “favourable disposition” towards Sun Hung Kai while in office and that such a bargain was corrupt.

His downfall serves as a warning that the highest ethical standards are expected of all in public office. Benefits small or large which might, in the past, have been regarded as a perk of the job are now rightly viewed as unacceptable. As Donald Tsang said in reflection on his ordeal, officials need to be “whiter than white”. In Tsang’s case the top court ruled that jurors were not properly directed on what constitutes wilful non-disclosure of a conflict of interest. But however the court ruled, it should have made public officers more mindful of the risk of running into a conflict of interests.