As Hong Kong is hosting the 5th East Asian Games, Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing said it should set sights on the future and bid for the 2019 Asian Games. If, by contrast, we look into the past, TV archives show Lam Woon-kwong in his younger years, in his capacity of home affairs secretary, bidding the 2006 Asian Games.

Now a free agent, Lam is older, wiser and grayer. He is more serene and has greater peace of mind. He enjoys casual dress, his present retirement life and doing things he likes to do.

Lam was appointed the first director of the chief executive's office in July 2002. In a shock move, he, a married man, resigned in January 2005 after being photographed with his girl friend in Tokyo, while chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and other officials were raising funds for the South East Asian tsunami.

After over a year in the wilderness, he became CEO of the equestrian company to prepare for the 2008 Olympic equestrian event.

From time to time, there was news that Lam would return to government service after the equestrian event.

First came the news that he would replace Secretary for Education Michael Suen to allow him to retire. Then there was the news that he would become the CEO of the new West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (still unfilled) or resume his old post at the Chief Executive's Office (it is filled by Raymond Tam).

Sipping a cup of tea in a bright afternoon, Lam said he no longer holds any paid job and is living on his pension. "I am basically leading a retirement life. At 58, I am not too old to work again, but I am not very eager," he said gently. "I will just let it be if this happens by chance."

He knew many people, including the media, were very interested in his future employment after the equestrian event was over and given endless speculation about his future plans.

"I can't really say too much about this," he said. "But until today, I am still living a retirement life, but I may come across a new job by chance."

But he stressed that as an ex-government official, he would definitely avoid doing things that would trigger any conflict of interest. "I have not ruled out any possibility. I will mull it over, if someone offers a suitable job that does not involve a conflict of interest," he said.

The phrase "by chance" was uttered several times during the interview by Lam, who is a man with deep Buddhist convictions.

"I am rediscovering my way of life," he smiled. "During my retirement, I study (he recently completed a Buddhism program at the University of Hong Kong), travel, attend concerts and talk to university students. Earlier I studied French and now I am studying Japanese for travel purposes. Universities have invited me to share my views on life and values to promote liberal studies education."

Talking about the equestrian job, he said he applied in response to the ad, but was not anointed for the job. "I have said this many times before, but nobody seems to have believed me," he said, laughing.

"It was a job that I jumped at because preparing the Olympic equestrian event was the chance of a lifetime, and my acquisition of the job was a combination of chances," he recalled.

If he had not left the government at that time, he would not have been able to get that job, he explained. Since he had worked as home affairs secretary, he had a sports background as well as experience in bidding the 2006 Asian Games.

He explained that the Hong Kong equestrian company was operationally under The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), as Hong Kong was just a co-host city of the 2008 Beijing Olympic.

As the host city of the Olympic equestrian event, Hong Kong was obliged to deliver what BOCOG had undertaken to the International Olympic Committee and ensure that the equestrian event was up to the Olympic standard.

As he became CEO of the equestrian company only in March 2006, the company had no more than three years to prepare for the equestrian event. "None of our colleagues had ever handled such a big event, and time was very pressing," he recalled. "Right after the company was formed, we had to go to Beijing to attend meetings and we normally went there two or three times per month."

He realized he had to do well once he had accepted the task. "We felt very great pressure at that time. As this was the first time our country hosted the Olympic Games, our emotions and sense of responsibility told us we must not fail," he said.

The equestrian event turned out to be a huge success. Both the foreign riders and equestrian journalists were very impressed with the entire competition and Hong Kong as a whole, as they found the city a very convenient, efficient and friendly place.

"When I made a report to the annual meeting of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports held in Buenos Aires in November 2008, its president, Princess Haya, praised Hong Kong as setting a very high standard for the equestrian event," said Lam. "She further praised Hong Kong as setting a very good example by bringing equestrian events into other regions from Europe as the traditional equestrian hub," he recalled.

He said enthusiastically: "People said only Europe, or the US at best, knew how to run equestrian events, and said that it was impossible for a hot and humid place like Hong Kong to run the equestrian competition well. Foreigners were very impressed that none of the horses had died or contracted infectious diseases during the competition.

"They also found Hong Kong a warm, enthusiastic city. They were amazed at the zeal of the local audience when they shouted during the races, although they knew little about the equestrian event. They were impressed, because there were hardly any spectators during the previous equestrian event held in Athens."

Lam also likened the preparation work of the equestrian event to that of the East Asian Games that kick off in Hong Kong tomorrow, saying they involve different types of difficulties.

The EAG is, in his opinion, rather complicated because it involves many events and several thousands of athletes, while the reception and security of athletes set no small task.

The equestrian event involved some 220 riders only. However, the logistics of an equestrian event is the most complicated of the Olympic events because horses are also involved.

"The care of horses requires utmost professional attention, as do the security standards for the horses," he said.

(HK Edition 12/04/2009 page6)