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The 'father' of HK accountancy dies

Sir Gordon Macwhinnie, the 'father' and founding president of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants, has died at his home in southern England. He was 84.

Sir Gordon, who was knighted in 1992, was considered the institutional memory of accountancy in Hong Kong, where he lived for more than 50 years. He saw the city's reconstruction in the 1950s, the riots in 1967, the stock market booms and busts in the 1970s and 1980s, and the 1997 handover.

Many leading accountants, academics and members of the financial sector paid tribute to him yesterday. All called him a gracious gentleman who made many contributions to the city.

The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, as the society is now called, will hold memorial services in Hong Kong.

Sir Gordon's wife and two sons have not decided on funeral details.

Sir Gordon arrived in Hong Kong with his wife in the 1950s to establish Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co, now KPMG, to serve a major client - HSBC.

He served in a variety of capacities after retiring from the accounting firm in the 1970s.

He helped establish the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 1991, and was, at various times, chairman of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club and of Ocean Park, director of the Mass Transit Railway Corp and deputy chairman of Polytechnic University.

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