Asked his overall impression of post-1997 Hong Kong, Brooke described it as "remarkable".

"There were lots of people who doubted or were not sure about the outcomes after 1997. They thought the experiment would not work. Now, I have to say they are wrong. It works very well. I think Beijing has been very clever in the way they respect the 'One Country, Two Systems' experiment, or as I call it, initiative. Because it is a unique initiative and therefore people are watching. I think Beijing's effort in recognizing and administrating the way forward has yielded tremendously positive outcome.

In the British colonial era, Hong Kong was like a transit camp, everybody was going somewhere else and people in Hong Kong were not sure about the future, they were looking to immigrate to Australia or New Zealand. The expatriates generally have intensions to settle down by arranging short-term contracts with HK-based companies. We had refugees from the mainland who saw Hong Kong as a stepping stone to elsewhere. 1997 is a critical turning point, people have since developed a sense of ownership, sense of belonging. They now believe in the future of Hong Kong, which they did not do before 1997. Over the years, we have seen a lot of people coming back, a lot of expatriates making HK their home. In my view, this trend is a vote of confidence, which is one of the best asset and investment for Hong Kong."

(HK Edition 08/10/2012 page4)