The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. (non-admin closure) Winged Blades ^Godric 03:11, 19 June 2017 (UTC) reply

Duncan Pescod

Duncan Pescod (  | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – ( View log · Stats)

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Hong Kong senior civil servant. This article was speedily deleted for notability and copyvio concerns, but Wikipedia:Deletion review/Log/2017 May 23 decided to send it to AfD to determine the issue of notability. This is a procedural nomination and I am neutral.  Sandstein  08:00, 3 June 2017 (UTC) reply

Not that it matters terribly, but Pescod is no longer a civil servant. He runs a statutory body independent of the civil service.— A L T E R C A R I   ✍ 13:39, 5 June 2017 (UTC) reply

• Delete or limited merge. I see a carpet-bomb of references (in what appear to be WP:RS) but they're all local and routine coverage you would expect from a civil servant of his rank. Most of the article reads like a resume (and a good chunk of it is total trivia about his personal life). My own searching finds mostly social media and routine references to his connection with West Kowloon Cultural District. As a WP:ATD, a limited merge to West Kowloon Cultural District might make sense; leave out all the personal trivia about his houses, family, and early schooling, and include just a couple of sentences about his relationship with the project. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:24, 3 June 2017 (UTC) reply

One of the biggest concerns raised about this article has been its local nature. And it is local. Local like MoMA is local, like Southbank director Jude Kelly is local, like hundreds of other articles that are local in topic, but of wider interest (to, eg, everyone in the contemporary art world, everyone interested in the globally-contentious politics of Hong Kong).

Hong Kong is a de facto city-state of 8 million—that's more than Los Angeles and Chicago combined, for the Americans out there. It is an art world hub rivaled only London and New York. A deeply controversial HK$20B arts project in this tumultuous political atmosphere is of interest, and naturally, so is its chief.

Now to specifics.

"References . . . they're all local . . ." He has been covered by foreign publications CNBC, Variety and the Art Newspaper.

"References . . . they're all . . . routine coverage." No. See WP:NOTROUTINE. Hong Kong Free Press published "Wrong man for the job? Artists express fears over appointment of new West Kowloon CEO" about claims of his unsuitability for the WKCDA. The Harbour Times interviewed him about his role in the recovery of the WKCD project— "Pescod takes the WKCD underground." The SCMP wrote about his involvement in the illegal structures scandal— "Illegal structures found at housing chief's property." Unreferenced coverage includes "Duncan Pescod takes heat for secret arts hub consultancy reports," published six days ago by the Standard, "Can Hong Kong pull off its grandest arts project?" CNBC.

"Most of the article reads like a resume." Writing style or structure can be changed.

"A good chunk of it is total trivia about his personal life." I believe you are referring to the 45 words on his early life—so less than 10% of the article.

"Personal trivia about his houses" I'd be willing to ditch the bit on his Peak mansion, although I'm not sure how trivial it is that the housing chief lived in government-subsidised luxury in one of the most-densely populated cities on the planet. I will not, however, cede the paragraph on his involvement in the widely-covered illegal structures scandal.

"Personal trivia about his . . . family." His wife was mentioned in passing in one sentence, and not even named?

"Personal trivia about his . . . early schooling." There is one sentence about this.

Please let me know if you have any questions.— A L T E R C A R I   ✍ 13:39, 5 June 2017 (UTC) reply

• Keep

Evidence for notability

• This man is running a highly controversial semi-independent government agency in a city-state of 8 million people with HK$21.6B budget.
• His appointment to the Authority was covered in the media, in a move seen as entrenching of pro-establishment interests in a highly visible and increasingly embarrassing project, as was his promotion to chief of the Authority.
• While he was Director of Housing, he was involved in a scandal in which public officials (incl the Chief Executive) were found to have illegal built structures on their properties.
• He was the most senior non-Chinese civil servant when he was working directly for the government.
• Many other less notable Hong Kong civil servants have articles. See Rita Lau.
• He has an entry on Chinese wikipedia— zh:栢志高.

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS Pescod takes the WKCD underground (2016), Pescod elevated to top post at West Kowloon agency (2015), Wrong man for the job? Artists express fears over appointment of new West Kowloon CEO (2015), Illegal structures found at housing chief's property (2012).
Please note that I am only including English written media.

Further argument

Providing information about prominent public officials is one of Wikipedia's noblest achievements.

Is the man running Hong Kong's most ambitious ever arts project (including the building of M+ Museum, which will house biggest & most comprehensive collection of Chinese art in the world) really less notable than Robert Hammond?

See also

Talk:Duncan Pescod

User talk:SouthernNights#Speedy deletion of Duncan Pescod

Wikipedia:Deletion review/Log/2017 May 9

User talk:Cryptic#Duncan Pescod DRV