YWCA chief dismisses claims of pressure
The chief executive of a social service organisation has dismissed an allegation that the group had been pressured by the home affairs minister to remove a social worker.
Dr Miranda Chan Lai-foon, chief executive of the Young Women's Christian Association, said Tsang Tak-sing had no role in the decision to remove social worker Eddie Tse Sai-kit from the group's Tai O office.
The decision had been made by the group's board of directors in late January after it received a third letter from the Tai O rural affairs committee complaining that Tse was damaging community relations, Chan said yesterday.
The letter had been received by the YWCA after a meeting with the minister on January 23, she said.
In its other letters, the Tai O rural affairs committee had complained about Tse's criticism of the government's handling of severe flooding caused by two storms last year.
Tse filed a complaint to the Legislative Council complaints division, claiming that the group's decision to remove him was a result of pressure from the minister. A Legco meeting will be held to discuss the complaint later this month, with Tsang and Chan attending.
In a statement last month, the Home Affairs Bureau said that at a meeting with YWCA management in January, Tsang had said he wanted to see the group join the Tai O rural affairs committee in working for the well-being of local residents, in line with the government's policy of promoting a harmonious society.
Chan said there had been no detailed discussion of the matter and the minister had only mentioned it at the end of the meeting. 'Since then there have been no letters between us, no calls, no suggestions and no hints. How can you say that we are under pressure?' she said.
Asked if the group had been under pressure from the Tai O rural affairs committee to move Tse, Chan replied: 'It is true to say that it affected us, rather than pressuring us. The third complaint letter directly affected the decision of the board of directors on the matter.'
She was angry at suggestions that the YWCA had become a 'river crab', which in Putonghua is pronounced the same as 'harmony'. One of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's election platforms was to make Hong Kong a harmonious society.
Several staff meetings had been held recently to allow the management to give details of Tse's case and to dismiss suggestions that the publicly funded YWCA had been under pressure from the government.
Despite some staff members' fears Chan said: 'There is absolutely no external pressure on us.'
The YWCA will hold a press conference giving more details of the matter later this month.
