A former property executive with a strong arts background has been tipped as a top candidate to succeed Graham Sheffield, who resigned last week as chief executive of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority for health reasons.
Stephan Spurr, who is in his 50s and left his post as the general manager, office, of Swire Properties at the end of last month, was on the final shortlist when the West Kowloon Cultural District authority picked Sheffield five months ago. Two people close to the authority said Spurr was not chosen because, during negotiations with the authority over the job, he asked for more autonomy to run the cultural district.
'He would have been a better candidate,' said one of the people. 'However his property background and demand for more independence may have been considered politically incorrect.
'The authority should hire a person who is from Hong Kong, who is able to stand up to the bureaucracy and tell the officials what he wants them to do for him.
'And they should hire someone who has enough local contacts to keep him ahead of politics.'
Born in Japan and educated in Canada, India and Britain, Spurr has a strong background in the Hong Kong property market due to his time with Hong Kong Land and Swire Properties. He is also an avid arts lover and a drama fan. He was the vice-chairman of Shakespeare4All, which he directed for a few years.
During his more than 20 years of service with Swire he managed to incorporate his passion for the arts and culture into business. He was a key planner when Swire transformed rundown Quarry Bay into the upmarket, artistic Island East office area during the past two decades. He was also involved in a number of arts-related projects, including Artistree, which turned some of the office space in Island East into a multipurpose venue for exhibitions and performances by arts groups. The venue was opened in 2008 with the well-received Victoria & Albert Museum's Vivienne Westwood retrospective - a show rejected by the government, which believed the public had no interest in such an event.
