FROM the moment that the newly-announced Governor looked the camera directly in the electronic eye, and declared to the world that ''Sweet are the uses of adversity'', Hongkong as it was previously ruled was about to come undone.
In a single appearance, Chris Patten had shown the old order, epitomised by the starched white ceremonial dress and plumed helmet of previous governors, the door, with a political grace so practised it looked easy.
There was no fanfare about the change but everyone knew it had begun. The Governor was from a hard school - party politics - and was versed in the ways of raw power.
He could not speak in the tongues of the mandarins from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who had dominated Government House for decades. He was an outsider. A rising Tory star, temporarily disabled by defeat in the April, 1992 British election, with close allies in the highest political places.
It was possible major changes were on the way, pundits thought as they attempted to determine the hidden agenda in a swearing-in speech which was notable for its light touch, but they weren't sure. Yet.
In the meantime, Hongkong had acquired its first glamorous official first family in decades. Traditions were to go all over the place. The youngest daughter Alice, 13, was to be sent to a local school on a local bus which had been asked to stop outside Government House.
The family said they liked to eat out in local restaurants and they did, regularly. They walked around the streets of the city without thinking they might be accosted, used the offer of local knowledge to buy Chinese antiques and appeared to like the oddglass of good red.