Ex-justice chief Wong Yan-lung recalls 7 years of 'walking on water'

Wong Yan-lung recalled a calling from God to be a "walker on water" before he took the legal helm in 2005 as secretary for justice, a post he quit last summer.

In reality, Wong's government colleagues preferred to call him "Siu Ming" - "a boy who is hardworking but a little naive, who would finish his homework and raise his hands to ask teachers questions".

Widely acclaimed in the legal sector, Wong said the seven years in government had widened his exposure to the dark side of politics. "Not everything I saw in government, and in Hong Kong, was a lovely sight," he told a group of more than 100 fellow Christians last night. "There are hypocrisies and vested interests in politics."

In the sharing session, Wong devoted much time to constitutional reform. In 2007, when a green paper on constitutional development was released, he wrote in his journal that he prayed for God's "protection against upheaval", he said.

There was what he described as a "critical prayer meeting" in his then official residence in the midst of heated debate in the city.

"What I can say is many have prayed fervently." There were at least five Christians in the cabinet and they held regular prayer sessions, he said.