Building more than blocks

They say that a photo is worth a 1,000 words. In the early 1970s, Queen Elizabeth II was at the height of her reign. One of the pleasures of her job was sailing to Hong Kong aboard HMY Britannia. Architect Donald Liao, too, was at the peak of his career, as the first Chinese director of Hong Kong's Housing Authority.

On one of the Queen's visits, he took her on a tour, a visit to Oi Man, one of his new housing estates. A photo captured this historic visit: Liao pointing at a design feature, with her looking on attentively and former governor Murray MacLehose relegated to the background.

"Public housing in the 60s to 80s was the pride of Hong Kong," Liao recalls. "Every single royal family member was shown public housing estates. I was at the Housing Authority for nearly 30 years, though the last five years in government were more political, as I participated in the handover negotiations. I was on the British side but I had a Chinese face."