Riki welcomes HH the Dalai Lama to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008
Photo: Tibet Relief Fund
Longtime friend of Tibet, Rikki Hyde Chambers OBE, died on October 31 in hospital in London aged 77. Rikki has been a champion of the Tibetan cause for over 50 years and is well known and loved throughout the Tibetan exile community for his staunch support of Tibet and work with the Tibet Society.
Riki grew up destined to follow his family into the movie business and started life as a child actor but said he felt he must have had a karmic connection with Tibet; as a young man he was interested in religion and, inspired by what he had read about Tibet, and his correspondence with his penfriend in Darjeeling, his first job was working for the Tibet Society in London in the 1960s. Riki said that then, and ever since, he has been inspired by the Tibetans he has known and how they have come to the west and integrated, and made a very significant contribution to the countries where they have settled. He said that his contact with refugees has had a very big impact on his life. And that his involvement with Tibetans inspired him to become a Buddhist.
He described the early days of advocacy for Tibet: the flow of information was all on aerograms – single sheet airmail letters – or hand written letters, it was slow compared with today, but very effective. A lot of his work was with immigration tribunals and enabling young Tibetans to stay in Britain rather than get sent back to India. And in those days China “didn’t bother – they were too busy with the cultural revolution” which made advocacy easier. He said that there was a general perception that Tibetans had magical powers and part of his job was managing expectations and convincing people that Tibetans were ordinary people, often in a very difficult situation. David Bowie was a regular visitor to the Tibet Society office and did a benefit gig in the Albert Hall.
Riki was very involved with the Buddhist Society – the Tibet Society office was in the Buddhist Society basement. He was also involved with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first ever visit to the UK and has been involved with the organisation of subsequent visits.
Riki worked for Parliament for many years, without losing his connection with the Tibet Society; he said his experience with Tibetans had inspired him to become passionate about democracy and his work in Westminster enabled him to help people, eg with immigration problems, and also worked with parliaments in transition in small countries. His connections in Westminster paved the way for reciprocal visits between British members of parliament and members of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.
He was part of the movement to nominate His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the Nobel Peace Prize, working over a number of years in liaison with other countries. Riki commented that he has been very impressed by the Tibetans’ determination to follow a path of non-violence.
Photo: Free Tibet
Riki visited Tibet once and said that his overriding memory was that of peoples’ fear. His visit took place in the aftermath of big uprisings in Tibet and people would press notes into his hand. He wrote a report and was invited to give evidence to the European Parliament but was very saddened to know that people inside Tibet thought that if the outside world understood their situation, that things would change, and that he knew it would not happen that way.
He wrote several books about Tibet, wanting to get across the story of what happened there.
Riki’s advice to Tibetans, given during an interview for A Mission for Tibet in January 2018, was that Tibetans, and in particular the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, should stop depicting themselves as victims and to focus instead on the considerable contribution the Tibetan diaspora makes in the world.
He is much missed throughout the Tibetan world. Sikyong Penpa Tsering, President of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile said, “I’m extremely saddened by the demise of Fredrick R Hyde-Chambers. He stood for the Tibetan people since 1960s when very little was known of Tibet and has carried the voice of the Tibetan people since then. His contributions will remain unparalleled. Our prayers and condolences.”
Quotations and anecdotes from Riki’s interview with Dechen Pemba for A Mission for Tibet in January 2018.
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