Rogerio Lobo's father settled in Macao over eighty years ago from Portuguese Timor and married Branca Hyndman. Thus Rogerio Lobo can trace his family to Henry Hyndman, a Scottish sea captain who served in the English East India Company at Singapore and settled in Macao at the beginning of the last century. Captain Hyndman's son, Rogerio's great grandfather, lived to be over ninety years old and was much respected and loved as a former teacher at the Macao Government Lyceum. An extract from an article in the Macao Tribune on December 25, 1943, appears in JP Braga's book The Portuguese in Hong Kong and China:
"Across the street there lived a nona-genarian than whom Macao could boast of none more upright, wise and good. It is extraordinary how my whole outlook on life was so deeply influenced by this grand old man. His was a life that inspired others with devotion to duty, his was the heart that harboured no malice against anyone. Rather, to him used to come old and young when they needed advice."
Mr Chancellor, I have taken the liberty of mentioning this, even at the risk of embarrassing Rogerio Lobo, because I am convinced that traditions of philanthropy and community service are perpetuated through the family. And Rogerio Lobo freely admits that his penchant for public service and his concern for community welfare were inspired by his parents. After studying at the Lyceum in Macao and La Salle College in Hong Kong, Rogerio Lobo entered his father's business in 1945. He soon found himself immersed in deeds of philanthropy. As a founder member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and later its President, he, together with a group of friends, started the practice of taking children from squatter areas on outings to the beach, airport or just for a walk through town. The desperate poverty of the squatters in the years just after the War can be judged from the fact that the JCC had to "hire" the children so as to compensate their parents for the loss of revenue resulting from their afternoon off.
The giving of one's time is the most valuable gift of all and for over thirty years Rogerio Lobo has continued to spend time freely on many, many charitable committees; such as, Society for the Deaf, Society for the Blind, Caritas Committee and the Community Chest. In the field of public service, he has served on the Advisory Committee on Corruption, Tenancy Tribunal and the Medical Development Advisory Committee. He has been concurrently a member of the Urban Council, Executive and Legislative Councils and is now Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council. He has served in the Civil Aid Services long enough to have received its long service medal in 1970 and has been its commissioner since 1977. All this has been done while carrying on his business and raising a large family of which he is justifiably proud. Having grown up in a close and happy family and having in turn provided an ideal home for his children, Rogerio Lobo is convinced that the key to a stable and contented society is to be found in the family and the provision of a healthy environment for it to grow in. His concern for the improvement of the quality of life in Hong Kong has led to his advocacy of such widely divergent projects as the provision of mobile and floating libraries, control of hawkers and home ownership programmes. He has not been afraid to face controversy and has frequently let his conscience be his guide in matters involving public welfare. His recent pronouncements have earned for him, in some quarters, the title of "Sandwich Man". This is not meant to be a reference to his eating habits, nor is it meant to be a reference to an earlier career in advertising. It is a reference to his championing of the growing number of people who find themselves squeezed in the middle rungs of our financial ladder, and his use of the word to describe their situation. Upon closer analysis, they are, in fact, Sir Jack Cater's "heroes of our economic success".
Mr Chancellor, Rogerio Lobo has been honoured by Her Majesty with the OBE in 1972 and the CBE in 1978. For his long and loyal public services, extending over thirty years, the University likewise would like to honour him and I request Your Excellency to confer upon Rogerio Hyndman Lobo the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.
Citation written and delivered by Professor Arnold Hsieh Chia Loh, the Public Orator of the University.
