On September 8, Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first chief executive, died. It prompted reflection, not only on a political figure who once stood at the centre of the city’s public life, but also on nearly three decades of change since its return to China.History is rarely shaped by a single person or isolated decisions. Individual choices, institutional adjustments, social expectations and external circumstances all interact to form the historical process. This is particularly true in Tung’s case....