Jack Cater

Sir Jack Cater (; 21 February 1922 – 14 April 2006) was the chief secretary of Hong Kong from 1978 to 1981. Cater was the third chief secretary under the Governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose, later Lord MacLehose of Beoch. He was the founding commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong.

Biography

Career Cater served in Royal Air Force fighter squadrons during the World War II. Cater arrived in Hong Kong to work with the British military jurisdiction after the Japanese surrender. Cater began his career of civil service in 1946 as a cadet officer in the Fisheries Department, and was made Director of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1964. In 1966 Cater attended the Imperial Defence College in London. His widow later revealed that Cater considered at one point leaving the government. She said:

Cater was respected in Hong Kong for his role in developing the ICAC into a body capable of resisting opposition from vested interests and its critics within and outside the government. His early leadership was instrumental in the commission's growth into an institution that addressed corruption in the public and private sectors in Hong Kong.

He was knighted in 1979.

Personal

Sir Jack was born on 21 February 1922, son of a London policeman. He studied in Sir George Monoux Grammar School, Walthamstow.

Sir Jack was married to Peggy in 1950. The couple lived most of their life together in Hong Kong, until the late 1990s. They had three children, Susan, Jacqueline, and Richard.

Sir Jack and Lady Cater returned to Britain, and settled on Guernsey in the Channel Islands in 2001. Cater suffered from Alzheimer's disease during the final few years of his life. He died in Guernsey on 14 April 2006, aged 84.

A memorial was held for him in Hong Kong at the St. John's Cathedral on 21 October 2006, attended by many senior officials and prominent figures, inter alia Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Run Run Shaw, David Akers-Jones, former Secretary for Security Alistair Asprey, as well as Raymond Wong and Lily Yam, respectively the then current Commissioner and a former Commissioner of the ICAC.

In popular culture In the 2021 Hong Kong film Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong, Sir Jack Cater was portrayed by Michael Joseph Rosenthal.