1st February 2026 – (Hong Kong) Rafael Hui Si-yan, the former Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong, died this afternoon aged 77 following an illness. Political sources said Hui passed away at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital and had spent a period in intensive care prior to his death. Friends who had seen him in recent months noted that he had regained significant weight since his release from prison, remarking that the “Fat Dragon” physique by which he was once known had returned as early as last summer.
Hui, a long‑serving civil servant and veteran political figure, rose through the administrative ranks to become chief secretary in 2005, later serving as an unofficial member of the Executive Council from 2007 to 2009. His career ended in disgrace after he was convicted in 2014 in connection with the Sun Hung Kai Properties corruption case. He received a seven‑and‑a‑half‑year sentence and was stripped of his honours, including the Gold Bauhinia Star and the status of Justice of the Peace; he was released in December 2019 for good behaviour.
Renowned for a taste for fine food and wine — he once spent over HK$210,000 on a single French meal — Hui also struggled with heavy debts following his fall from grace. By 2013, the High Court had declared him bankrupt amid claims from several financial institutions totalling more than HK$74 million. His death brings to a close a tumultuous public life that spanned decades of government service, high office and, ultimately, scandal.