He may have a reputation for stubbornness and dour principle, but Szeto Wah can still come up with a witty answer to even the most ordinary question.
Asked why his party colleagues treated him to a chestnut cake during his farewell press conference yesterday, Mr Szeto quipped: 'Because it [chestnut] has a hard husk.'
Those lawmakers who find their way back to Legco after September's election will have every reason to feel they are missing something - Mr Szeto's earnest annual speeches in support of his motion calling for the vindication of the Tiananmen Square protesters. The veteran Democrat's name will always be associated with the Tiananmen crackdown of 1989.
The only time the motion escaped being defeated by pro-government legislators was shortly before the handover, on May 21, 1997. Moving the motion then, Mr Szeto had said: 'We have to set the record straight and let Hong Kong people know what their legislators stand for.'
The tradition is expected to be carried on, though nobody is more suited than Mr Szeto to call on people to remember history.
Over the years the 'baggage of June 4' has won him the praise of many, but also foes.
