Barma bows to change

Haider Barma, as courteous as ever, stressed that Chinese officials had not said he would not be allowed to straddle 1997. Nor has the Government put pressure on him to quit.

But as an ethnic Indian, he knows he will not be able to continue being a policy secretary in the post-1997 government because the Basic Law provides that principal officials must be Chinese nationals.

So, at the age of 52, he decided to give up being Secretary for Transport and leave the civil service prematurely to take up the non-civil service post of chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC). 'Whether one sees it as fair or not fair, it's not for me to say. One has got to be realistic. It's a fact that sovereignty will change,' he said.

The moderate tone in which Mr Barma stated his case cannot cover the fact that his career has been abruptly affected by the historic change sweeping through Hong Kong.

Suddenly, he is not considered a Hong Kong person because he is not Chinese, even though he was born in Hong Kong, went to school here and speaks fluent Cantonese.

The irony is because he was born in Hong Kong, he is not entitled to a full British passport or an Indian passport.

The Chinese have said that he could apply for Chinese nationality. Would he do so if the chief executive of the special administrative region invites him to rejoin the government? It's a hypothetical question, pointed out Mr Barma, although he managed to give 'no' as an answer while leaving room for a turnaround.