Bertrand de Speville
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Apr 3, 2020
- 4 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. MINI- STUDY - DAY
After checking an email message, PETER is saddened.
PETER (V.O.) : Oh, Bertie has passed away on March 29, 2020 in UK at the age of 78. He played a pivotal role in my professional career development.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Life is full of ups and downs. Bertie did particularly well between his 40s and 50s.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the autumn of my life, I still have time to remember him well and to reflect on his influence on me.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Bertie is referred by the Bar as the late Master of the Bench of Middle Temple and former Commissioner of ICAC.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I had come to know Bertie before he had those roles. If I don't document them, few would know.
Act 2
INT. MINI-STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Upon returning from UK with two LLMs in International Law in 1987, I resumed working as Crown Counsel in the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC). I was doing well in the Civil Division and assisted in judicial review appeals.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One day, I saw a circular inviting applications to transfer to work as Assistant Secretary to the Law Reform Commission (LRC), acting up in the rank of Senior Crown Counsel. I applied.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Soon, I got a call from Bertie, inviting me for an interview.
FLASHBACK
INT. BERTIE'S OFFICE - DAY (1988)
A white-haired BERTIE (47) is interviewing Peter (34).
BERTIE (In a measured fashion): What type of work do you like to do most?
PETER (Promptly) : Doing justice between parties is fine. But time is limited. I like to do work with wider impact.
BERTIE: Okay, you like policy work.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He was a Principal Crown Counsel in the post of LRC Secretary. Before that, he worked in the Law Drafting Division and was tasked to draft the intellectual property (IP) laws of Hong Kong.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But there wasn't any dedicated institution dealing with IP legal policy and Hong Kong has to comply with the international IP standards.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Bertie was instrumental in establishing a Patent's Steering Committee in 1986.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): After my joining LRC in 1988 and completing one reference, I was tasked as Joint Secretary to LRC's Copyright Sub-committee.
Remembering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Apart from IP principles, rules and processes, there was the plan to establish the Intellectual Property Department (IPD).
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My colleagues and I thought that Bertie was going to become the first Director of Intellectual Property.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He did encourage us to apply for IPD vacancies.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It transpired that Alice Tai got the job in 1990...We felt bad for Bertie as he was let down, having done years of preparatory work.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 1991, Alice kindly asked me to apply for the job of Assistant Director of Intellectual Property (Policy & Legislation).
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And for Bertie, all wasn't lost, as he would, in 1991, be promoted as Solicitor General.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a result of Bertie's elevation, the Deputy Secretary of LRC became the acting Secretary, and I became the acting Deputy Secretary, in the rank of Deputy Principal Crown Counsel.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Meanwhile, Alice offered me the job and urged me to report duty. So, I had to decide whether to stay in AGC or join IPD.
INT. OFFICE CORRIDOR - DAY (Winter 1991)
Seeing Bertie leaving his old office, Peter seizes the opportunity to talk to him.
PETER: Hi Bertie, I've got a firm offer from IPD as Assistant Director, should I leave AGC?
BERTIE (Affirmatively): Yes, you should!
PETER (V.O.): I heed his supportive remarks as I had a feel of AGC's office politics.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Among the senior expatiate colleagues, Bertie was very kind to me.
FLASHBACK
INT. PETER'S OFFICE - DAY (1988)
Peter sees and hears an angry PETER ALLAN (40s) speaking to him at the door.
ALLAN: Why do you want to be transferred out of the blue? I can assure you that you won't get a promotion there!
As Peter doesn't respond, the Law Officer leaves.
PETER (V.O.): It's beyond my imagination that a Law Officer would act like that.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What I had experienced could be the tip of an iceberg. So, I joined IPD in December 1991.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When Peter Allan abruptly dies in the office of Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Bertie became the ICAC Commissioner in early 1993 - another elevation.
Remembering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The last time I talked to Bertie was in 1995, inviting him to join my wedding banquet. I was rather upset that he couldn't make it.
Act 3
INT. MINI-STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The last time I saw Bertie on TV was in 1996, when he embraced Lee Lai-shan upon her winning an Olympic gold medal. Bertie was the Yachting Manager of Hong Kong's Olympic team.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I believe Bertie enjoyed yachting more than anything. When I worked under him, he would occasionally ask me to interpret Chinese letters about yachting competitions and write Chinese replies.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He was then quite a smoker. When he began to quit smoking by drinking Chinese tea, his negative feelings turned into bad temper on one occasion.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One thing I learned from Bertie about fatherhood is this - never say no to your lovely daughter.
Peter searches his Photos App and finds a toy yacht image.
PETER (V.O.): Bertie, I'm not a sailor like you. But I've learned for you to use any wind to go in any adventurous direction.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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